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While the information you posted is correct, without any further explanation it might not explain the whole issue of using Certified GMRS equipment. This is especially true for those new to GMRS. So, for their benefit... a quick search of the MyGMRS forum will show that this is a regular, and oft debated topic. I think the major points come down to: The FCC specifically mandates the use of certified GMRS equipment on the service.Part90 certified equipment exceeds the technical requirements for GMRS, but does allow the user to operate outside the GMRS band, which is not allowed. BTW, The ICOM F221 is Part90 certified.There is some evidence, though not explicit, that the FCC turns a blind eye to the use of Part90 equipment on GMRS.There is no way anyone can tell if a given signal comes from a certified GMRS radio. (Though, you can tell if it comes from a poor quality transmitter.)There are no recorded cases of anyone ever being cited for operating a non-certified radio on GMRS.Most GMRS repeaters on the air today are not certified.There is some question as to whether older certified GMRS Part95A equipment (I.e. from before the end of combined GMRS/FRS radios in 2017) is still certified for use under the new Part95E. The FCC has never addressed the question, so, it is assumed it is still certified. But, the certification standards are not the same.Now, I am not going to tell anyone they should not concern themselves with the FCC rules. What I will say, and this just echoes an opinion commonly expressed on this forum, is each person has to decide for themselves what they should do as far as their choice of radio equipment.

Just want to give a thumbs up to the radio and to the seller. I bought an Icom F221 for GMRS from Used-Radios.com about ten days ago. I bought the F221 because I have had the VHF version F121 for over ten years and it's built like a tank. No surprise, the F221 is also a solid rig. Easy to program if you have the cable and software. The radio is pretty tightly enclosed to I think it should stand up to a dusty environment, i.e., SxS's and open vehicles. My F121 lives in my Jeep and works great. This F221 is temp-mounted in my pickup and looking for a home, either in the Jeep or go-box... Anyway, the people at Used-radios.com were good to buy from. The radio arrived with a brand new factory bracket still in the plastic sleeve with the OEM sticker listing the radios it mates with. Unfortunately the F221 wasn't one of them. I emailed Used-radios and they replied right away and sent the correct bracket immediately. It arrived today and all is well. Good company and good (really good) prices for commercial radios. These are used but come with a 90-day warranty. Fleet trade-ins, etc. You could hardly tell this one was used. Very satisfied. That's it from here. 73. Rick

backwards. Radio simplex is transmit and receive on 462. When in repeater mode, the radio transmit is 467, still receives on 462. The repeater listens on 467, and transmits on 462. ...and don't forget to set a CTCSS tone on both transmit and receive of your repeater that is compatible with your Midlands, and also set up your repeater for narrow-band operation for best compatibility with narrow band Midland radios.

I saw these a while back on a ham FB page: 146.52 window decals: https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/101642588_4471831492842613_4985971591977369600_n.jpg?_nc_cat=104&_nc_sid=07e735&_nc_ohc=OrRkGRoqFrQAX_KleFe&_nc_ht=scontent-sea1-1.xx&oh=0c52b7e09bb53bed70b8518a62d10c2a&oe=5F698766 It was on the SW Montana Ham Radio Group page.. https://www.facebook.com/groups/118325085671211/

The following article may be useful. The link is elsewhere in this forum. Midland 400 use 13 for DCS Code 073 and 39 for 265. Hopefully, others will be able to explain this, but this may be a start. https://www.k0tfu.org/reference/frs-gmrs-privacy-codes-demystified.html

Gotta remember to put a label on my mic with the right callsign...

Start with a good quality 1/4 wave antenna on an NMO mount. If you find there are stations that you hear, but weakly, then try a 3db gain of some type. Lots of recommendations on the forum. But, most likely, you will be fine with the 1/4 wave.

Before anyone spends any money on an antenna you should really try a simple 1/4 wave dipole. They are cheap to buy, and easy to make on your own (lots of instructions online). The simple fact is that as a Line-of-Sight service, GMRS/UHF doesn't go very far anyway. It makes no sense to spend money for gain to create a signal that will not travel any further. Of course, there are many cases where a gain antenna (uni or multi directional) makes sense. But, the vast majority of applications can be well met with the most basic of antennas.

I can't tell you how effective the roll-up design is, but I can attest to the fact that "base" (same type of design) works awesome. I've owned one his students tuned for MURS and have a GMRS tuned one on my roof right now. They work well, and he's a decent person when he'll send personal answers to my dumb questions. Plus part of the profit goes to underwrite educational expenses of his grad students building the antennas....in my mind those last two points set him well above the other makers of similar systems. Wish I had a more technical answer. I'm extremely confident someone here does, though.

One is part 95 certified, and one isn't.

And, if the SWR on both is 2:1 or lower, seal everything up put away your tools and leave it. If you keep trying to “fix” it you will end up with an antenna for the 100 gigahertz band.

"People are akin to sausages - what they are stuffed with, they keep on carrying inside" - said some dude long time ago. It is very important to be factually correct, when putting together explanatory educational post. The gain factor, the dB measure are touted around often, it is not an unimportant detail. And I did not object to explanations and analogies.

Marc, I applaud the effort, but you've got the "gain" thing incorrect. Gain is a relative measure: something over the reference. And decibel is a logarithmic unit. "my antenna has 1db gain" translated to English means "intensity of the field created by my antenna is 1.26 times higher than the intensity of the field created by <what exactly???>". 0 dB = no gain over whatever reference you are using 1 dBi = 1 decibel over isotropic antenna ("i" is for isotropic) 1 dBd = 1 decibel over half-wave dipole ("d" is for dipole) Half-wave dipole has 2.15 dBi gain, that is 2.15 dB over isotropic antenna, and the intensity field is shaped like doughnut Quarter-wave monopole over ideal ground has 2.15 dBi gain, and the field is shaped like the upper half of the doughnut 1/2-wave and 1/4-wave antennas often called "no gain" or "unity gain" because they have 0 dBd gain (who might have thought...). Manufacturers and resellers may specify dBd or dBi. When they just specify dB it is better to assume that dBi is stated.

For a really high gain antenna that is likely true. For a modest gain one the answer isn't so clear cut. I recommended a Comet CA-2x4SR dual band antenna for a friend at work, who got his GMRS license, and looks forward to getting his Ham license as soon as local clubs open up for testing again. You can get it in either a UHF or NMO type mount. http://www.cometantenna.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/CA-2x4SR.pdf He mounted the antenna on the fender of his pickup truck. It would have been better on the roof but at 40 inches tall it made things difficult going into parking garages, drive thru windows at banks and fast food joints. I used a Rigexpert AA-1000 antenna analyzer to do an SWR sweep of the operating range. https://rigexpert.com/products/antenna-analyzers/aa-1000/ On UHF the SWR was OK. As long as the SWR is under 2:1 most radios should have no issues and work OK. 432 MHz - 2:1 438 MHz - <1.1:1 454 MHz - 1.9:1 464 MHz - 1.2:1 467 MHz - 1.6:1 469 MHz - 2:1 The SWR on VHF was even better. 140 MHz - 1.5:1 152 MHz - <1.1:1 160 MHz - 1.6:1 This is close to what the published spec's from Comet are for the antenna. While the UHF band has some notable dips and peaks in the sweep it is still very usable. The antenna was mounted close to the roof pillar. I would guess if it was mounted further away the SWR sweep would have looked a bit better. You're right about a 1/4 wave having a large bandwidth. I built a couple out of PCB mount type female BNC sockets and some 1/16 inch stiff buss wire for the elements soldered to the center pin and the flange, bent down at 45 degrees for the ground plane. All about 6 inches long. Sitting on a table top the SWR scan showed a max SWR of 1.4:1 at 430 MHZ and 470 MHz after some slight trimming. The minimum of almost 1:1 was at 445 MHz.. I'm using this on top of a bookcase at the office with a handheld UHF radio. It works better than the typical rubber dummy load, called a rubber duck antenna, that the radios ship with from the manufacture.

Take a look at this thread... https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/1977-a-word-on-antennas/