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Practice what you will use. Use what you practiced. Even if people would be allowed to use the radio in an emergency, they will not have had any practice. GMRS is fine for the technology (in spite of what some hams will tell you). You just have to manage the licensing. And, now that it is $3.50 a year....

Only for licensees. The rules don’t change because of a major incident GMRS/FRS is already commonly used by CERT and other local response teams. My own community has GMRS in its plan.

Technically, the answer is ‘Yes’ you can use two radios with a single antenna. Whether it is practical and cost-effective is a completely separate matter. If the two radios operate on separate frequency bands, and the frequencies of concern are sufficiently separated, and you use a diplexer or duplexer of appropriate specifications then yes it is possible. A duplexer is what is used with repeaters that need to receive on one frequency and transmit on another simultaneously. A diplexer provides commonly for a splitting of frequencies (think low range and high range). In the later you may image a single wide-band or dual band antenna being split into say VHF and UHF frequency ranges and then connected to separate VHF and UHF radios. Splitting the band for dual Rx purposes is one thing. Being able to receive on one while transmitting on the the other is another matter. Different specifications are required to prevent one radio from adversely affecting the other. Research diplexer and duplexer on the net and you should get an education. Putting a switch in that will route the antenna to the radio you want to use may be an appropriate and affordable option. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

The Lake Cumberland Amateur Radio Association as just published the first of what is expected to be a 3-Part series on getting a GMRS repeater on the air. The first one is pretty good. I have high hopes to the remaining in the series. Enjoy. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM

There is a good chance that GMRS may not work for this application, regradless of how much power unless both are on the highest rooftops without taller buildings in between. Rooftop to rooftop would work like a dream, ground to ground with tall buildings between reduces the chances of success.

I'm in agreement about doing our best to at least make people aware of the "proper" route. My jaded side says at least a little bit of the certification requirement for gmrs vs ham is money-based, both in the cost of certification and licenses (similar to my thoughts on CARB certification for auto parts...) That said, probably a big part of it is the amount of knowledge required for a ham license, vs gmrs being pay the fee and here's your license. This allows ham stuff to be a lot more open, as you're more expected to know where you can and can't operate, where gmrs stuff is locked down almost to the level of the lowest common denominator, so the bubble pack buyers can just grab something and go without much research or background, without the possibility of running over their local public safety frequencies (this way, their oversight can be complaint-driven, rather than having to devote staff to actively policing)

Me personally, I think the restrictions of type certified radios for free/public (not business or government) is completely stupid. I feel like most people don't know what is what and can easily end up breaking the rules by mistake. The truth is, I believe that while most ham radios are pretty cheap in quality, they are way better than any new part 95 product on the market today. Many of them are more than capable of performing inside the restrictions of GMRS. People should be allow to use them. That said, if someone is using one for GMRS, I couldn't care less, but I wouldn't go on the internet putting in writing that you are doing it and if someone asks me for advice in the forum, there's going to be a "by the book" response from me.

There is a MARS/CAP mod. YMMV http://www.hampedia.net/yaesu/ft-60r-modifications-extended-transmit.php