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Still another option is talk to a local ham club and tell them you'll buy the equipment if they they install it at one of theri sites.

I have a couple of the VHF and UHF XPR-6550’s as well. They’re not bad radios. I’m primarily a Kenwood guy. The chief complaint I have is the limit of 16 channels per zone. I do a lot of scanning with my radios so the above is a major pain so at the moment I’m not using them much. I know the 7550’s don’t have the limitations however the funky antenna connector is a deal breaker. That’s why I went for the 6550’s to experiment with. They’re also cheaper when buying used. I also have the XPR6580 to experiment around with on the Ham 33cm band. There is a nice hack using in memory hex editing for CPS-16 to change the lower band limit from 935MHz to 902MHz. Unfortunately there isn’t much 33cm band activity around my area currently.

I’m trying to get a buddy at work to just try for his Tech Class license, he already has his GMRS license. Was also into scanning. He’s interested but seems to get hung up with other commitments to go for a VE test session. I did get him to switch from the CCR he had, UV-5R, to a better radio, a used Kenwood TK-3170. That’s just about all he uses now. My boss said something a while ago about “maybe” getting a couple of radios to stay in contact with his 12 yo son at school. Hasn’t brought up the topic in a while however. I emailed him some info and radio brochures. At the time he said he was looking at a couple of the CCR’s you see on Amazon. He said if his kid wrecks the radio or looses it he’s not out of a lot of money. I guess that’s one point in favor of CCR’s. I think the best option for him is GMRS at the moment. I have another buddy who I got interested in Ham Radio, he was already into scanners and CB. He got his Tech Class license and now is really getting into digital radio. He also just for fun got his GMRS license recently too. He still uses 11m CB with his “export” radio. I’m trying to do my part. All of the people above are younger than I am.

First off, it is doubtful people will show up at your house because you install a repeater. Under Part 95 repeaters don't have to be coordinated by an assigned FCC coordinator and listed. Your repeater operates under your call sign on GMRS. The only way you might get people showing up is if you have HOA restrictions and you violate them. Secondly, your repeater will only be available to people operating on GMRS frequencies, not FRS or Bubble Pack radios that do not require licensing. Bubble Pack Family Radio service radios are what you would find in most people's "go pack" as they are what's found at your local Wal-Mart or Best Buy. Before spending that cash I would also do a little research and see how many potential users that could currently use your repeater. Do a search on the FCC website to see how many people are currently licensed for GMRS in your county. Expect that number to slowly grow once you install the system. People will still need to purchase GMRS radios and hopefully get licensed for them as well. Again, you aren't going to find GMRS radios in the local big box stores. Thirdly, and most importantly, you need to think about your coverage area. Talk out isn't as important as talk in or receiving signals form low power hand held radios. For that, you will need height on your antenna which means a tower or pole mounted antenna. Finally, your repeater is a LOCAL resource, it won't be of much use in an evacuation as there would be no one local to use it. It may be of use to those evacuating through your coverage area but it won't help you or your family if you leave the area. In all actuality, I personally believe you would be better served by having you and your family get amateur Technician licenses and use the money to install both a 2 meter base and mobile system for your house and vehicle. Tech licenses are not difficult to get and the infrastructure for 2 meter VHF and 70 cm UHF repeaters is quite robust across the country. For amateur help go to the ARRL website and look up what amateur clubs are in your area. Many clubs have websites where you can look up the number of repeaters in your area. You can also use sites like Repeater Book to do an area search for repeaters. Amateur clubs will hold classes free of charge to teachthe required rules needed to be licensed and there are several free websites that offer practice tests to help you pass an exam. All this advice is worth exactly what you paid for it as it's just my opinion. Bill WRCM737, K4BJW

Yes Michael, what a joy... Thanks for reading into my joy... hope other get it as well. I connected with Kaylee 12 yo and on Sunday Net she has a following like everyone comes to talk to her... She has done another Fox Hunt http://www.jbewing.com/FoxHunt.pdf and got two more girls to study with their EXTRA dad... Kaylee is the girl on the right by the Jeep. In the last photo Kaylee in middle and I'm the old guy with gray hair... NOT BULD. So Michael, good look for your kids to mentor/coach/study buddy... Know your kids will be able to take advantage of the fund a person to get more kids and parent into getting Ham ticket.t http://www.jbewing.com/FoxHunt.pdf Thanks for the encouragement... MacJack... P.S. we been doing DMR as we have the best regional DMR repeater linked.

My point mostly was that these radios may not be tested in production. So you may get a good one or you may get one that under-performs or even interferes with other services. Testing is expensive and tossing the ones that don't pass is even more expensive. So they just build and ship. Maybe they do a functional test or something very basic. Lots of cheap Chinese stuff tends to be this way. Harbor Freight, for example, has some great stuff for cheap, but sometimes you have to pick through the stock to make sure you get a good one. Quality is inconsistent. I think Wouxun is a level above this. I think they do test their radios. One reason is that Ham Radio Outlet sells them but will not sell Baofeng. They test some samples to make sure they are legal and basically in spec. before deciding to carry them. Of course the major brands Kenwood, icom, Yaesu, Alinco, are reliably good. And even if you see a Yeasu that appears to be made by somebody like Baofeng it isn't necessarily the same. They production test everything and they don't sell what doesn't pass. So you're getting a hand picked Chinese radio. The radio tester guy from our club does use the Baofeng. So it's a serviceable radio. He just understands the limitations. Vince

With the limited bandwidth allocated to GMRS, and no repeater coordination at all, it would cause all sorts of grief. Analog and any form of digital simply cannot co-exist within the current 8 channel landscape.

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