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Excellent point. This made me check some of my radio gear, with the XPR6550 radio label on the left and the newer XPR7550e label on the right. Occupational Use to Satisfy FCC RF Exposure Limits. The XPR6550 is considerably older than the XPR7550e in this case, but had the same type of label, whereas the older XTS1500 did not have a label like this. Not shown is also the APX4000 that does have the occupational use label, like the two Motorola Trbo radios, so it might have been ten years or so for this tag to be present (at least for Motorola manufactured radios, do not have any other brand next to me right now to verify).

Practicality is the most simple answer. SAR is the more complicated answer. Battery size and battery life are the limiting factors regarding transmit power. Sure, you can jack your small hand held portable up to 8 or 10 watts, but how long will your battery last? Does a 10 watt transmitter become a feature or a liability when your battery life is measured in single digit minutes? Nothing holds anyone back from putting a 50 watt mobile into a backpack and strapping it to a 12volt battery, but at that point, you're losing some of the portability. Plus, where are you going to find a ground plane for your 5dB mag mount antenna?? The SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) is more complicated, but basically it's a measure of the amount of Electromagnetic radiation that's being transmitted (and absorbed) near a human body. SAR measurements for hand held devices (portable radios & cell phones) has been part of the Type Acceptance process with the FCC, but they've also recently taken a more active look at regulating amateur hand held devices: SAR writeup in 2021 ARRL Most newer commercial portable radios now carry a tag like this one, limiting the device to being used for "occupational use only" Not sure how long ago those started showing up, but it's only been in the last few years that I've noticed the labels.

I suspect a calculation of exposure limits would result in a practical limit, but I don’t know what that would be. Such calculations are required by the regs.

Do you have information on that antenna? Have you tried adjusting the length to see if you can "tune" it into a good SWR? Your problem likely is no ground plane. Oddly enough, if your faceplate of the go-box was aluminum not plastic it might be enough.

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Don't know how it could be misinterpreted the regulations are pretty clear on it.

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

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Increasing 5 watts to 10 watts is +3 dB. Is that worth it?

I had a longer post I'll rewrite later on a computer. In short, i take it as needing to be aware of exposure requirements.

Concur: need antenna details. That looks like a rather thick whip, and almost looks like it is extendible -- if it is, you'll need to adjust its length (and maybe mark the final point). Most whips are 1/4 wave and require a ground plane to provide the "mirror" image to make a pseudo-dipole.

Based on the following paragraph in the regulations, the FCC hasn’t issued station licenses since 1987. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the entire concept of Base Stations and Fixed Stations dates back to then and means nothing now:

I suspect you are correct here. A little dive into RF exposure evaluation and I have concluded… These are things I’m okay not understanding. ?

You want to transmit 50 watts adjacent to your brain?!?

If you're wanting to talk simplex, the Midlands aren't a bad option. While their simplex channels are indeed narrowband, it's not really any issue if the radio on the other end is set for narrow as well. They're also about as foolproof as it gets, save having to reference a table in the manual to translate tones to codes in the menu. The db20-g is a solid option as well, though a hair less foolproof in gmrs mode, and allows a lot more freedom unlocked...great all arounder (I have 2 of the anytone version, at779uv). They will have to be reprogrammed when switching between modes (locked vs unlocked). Also very close in size to the mxt115...there's comparison pics somewhere in another of my posts (that I'll try to find). Edit: they're in my "gear" album.

Its a nifty little radio, but unless everyone else in your party also has one, most of that nifty'ness doesnt matter. As for basic use and fars, it's pretty much the same as any other radio.

I was thinking the same...default value, like 023 in DCS...gets ignored unless tone mode is set to tone, tone sql, or one of the dcs settings.