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Need an inexpensive cup holder mount for your small GMRS mobile? Try a 3" plumbers test plug. I got mine at Menards.

Here are some photos. The main unit is under the passenger seat with the face unit velcro to the phone charging cubby. I can still slip my phone back there to charge easy enough. The hand mic is the only thing that got screwed in. Although, it’s not the best position since I’ve been bumping it with my knee. Luckily it has a quick to use lock switch on it. The magnetic antenna base is a lot bigger than I thought it would be. A bit of an eyesore but it is what it is. I went out with it this morning but couldn’t reach anyone on the local repeater. 10 minutes before that I was loud and clear on my HT. So I’m not sure what the problem is with it. The wire is crimped a bit from where the hatch closes in on it, would that be an issue? I wanted to test it out some more but my dogs were going crazy barking so I just headed home after three attempts at reaching someone.

I literally just got off a cruise (Royal Caribbean). The boarding security took out my GMRS HT's, turned them on and off to make sure they weren't bombs, and handed them back to me. I'm sure you'll be fine! FYI, Greece, Italy, and Montenegro apparently couldn't care less, either...

When I knew I would be traveling to the Denver area, rather than contacting each individual repeater owner, I contacted the Denver GMRS club as a non-member, and asked for permission to use the various repeaters around Denver and Co. Springs. Their response was a friendly [paraphrased] "Why don't you just join us? We get lots of requests for travelers (e.g. temporary repeater users) and we encourage them to just join up, which gives you access [tones] to ALL or our repeaters, no permission necessary." So I signed up, and used their repeaters, and talked to the guys there. What a great bunch. They were welcoming, friendly, talked freely, etc., all to a stranger and temporary user of their system. I thanked them publicly, and promised to be back, and so I am retaining my membership with them. I highly encourage responsible local GMRS clubs. ...

Twenty years ago I worked Germany and the UK almost every day with a HR2510 in my truck. That was a lot of fun. When conditions are right. you can work the world on 10/11 with 100 watts.

The repeater owners check for requests for access when they feel like it.. Some do it quickly & often, some never do it.. It is also possible that the repeater is no longer online. If the repeater has the tones listed publicly its usually ok to start using the repeater and/or ask for permission over the air unless/until the repeater owners asks you to stop.

Since the OP asked for opinions, I will offer up my opinion. I disagree with his statement that more GMRS repeaters are needed. In my opinion, GMRS is not a hobby, it is a service primarily intended for short-distance communications, to facilitate the activities of the licensee’s family. Since that intended purpose comes directly from the FCC’s definition of GMRS, I don’t see why we need more repeaters. My opinion is that GMRS is not ham radio. It is not CB radio. But the high profile GMRS repeaters in my part of the world are used by people that already talk on CB, and on ham radio . The conversations are exactly the same, regardless of where they talk, so why do we need to waste precious bandwidth on GMRS for those conversations, when we already have other band allocations for that ? For those that believe GMRS serves a function in civil emergencies, I would also direct you to amateur radio, specifically the ARES/RACES groups that provide those functions. Again, I believe we do not need to duplicate these functions across radio services. It is fine if a local neighborhood repeater such as mine could serve people in a time of need, but that is not it’s true purpose, and I don’t have lofty goals of making it that way. And most people within the couple of miles range of my repeater would not have access to repeater-capable radios, and likely only have FRS radios, so it would be of no use in that case. My repeater covers maybe 4 miles…on a good day, and only with mobile radios (hey, GMRS stands for General Mobile Radio Service, not “sit in my easy chair with my walkie talkie and talk to someone 40 miles away via a repeater”). It serves the needs of my family for short distance communications. We do use Zello as a means to extend coverage, if necessary, but it is again only for the family…not for a guy in Michigan to ragchew with a guy in Florida, or to hold “nets”. This is exactly why the amateur radio service exists, and where these activities should take place. A nearby GMRS repeater is connected to the MyGMRS network, and it simply transmits conversations of people not even within the state, all day long (not really all day, just exaggerating to make a point). A nearby ham repeater is connected to the America Link network, and transmits conversations of people not even within the state, all day long. What is point of having these broadcast stations, when local users are not using these repeaters ? We do not need more repeaters for GMRS. We need fewer people that think GMRS is CB or amateur radio.

Forgot to mention..Thanks for reminding me... Always beware of the "some people" that try their best overcomplicate everything.

I agree.. I have put one up, and am [partially] responsible for getting a 2nd one up, covering most of Southern California.

I think the difference in relation to hinge is just hinge location changes between models, the height in relation to the cowl seems pretty similar. That said, I also agree that the proximity of the body is probably the biggest issue. Tried a base setup clamped to a metal rack (about halfway up, to clear the ceiling...3.5:1 swr. Moved it to a tripod in the closet, away from the rack and anything else metal...1.1:1 on the same frequencies. I believe @marcspaziis using lip mounts on the edge of his jeeps' hoods with good results

@OffRoaderX, I think TNRonin needs a link in order to fully understand... LOL

Me personally, I won't publicly condone rule violations. That's just stupid, for an unfathomable amount of reasons. Also, if someone asks about the rules, I'll genuinely try to provide a good/correct answer. Beyond that... I really don't care who does what. I just like to argue on the interwebz when I'm bored.

I don't know what frequencies are popular. I would buy a Uniden hand-held scanner that has the Close Call feature. That will pick up whatever TX are nearby without you having to know the freqs.

Just a caution to be civil here. This thread has the potential to get political fast, and that's not okay here. For casual listening to the protesters, I have no issue with sharing that information. I do have a problem with using that information for nefarious purposes, however. Just like how it's okay to share information for monitoring police and the military within the confines of the law, but once you try to use it for nefarious purposes that goes out the window and becomes a problem here.