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I think you intended to ask if GMRS is long range communication. It is not. Without the grid it is limited to very short range between two handheld radios. Using a repeater a person might achieve a hundred miles, assuming the repeater has a 50 mile coverage radius. Ham radio has the potential of communicating at very long ranges and some of the newer software programs leverage that technical capability to provide an alternative to internet based email, file sharing, and chat. But I want to emphasize that getting that kind of performance out of ham radio is not as simple as passing the tests, buying a radio, throwing a wire over a tree, and getting on the air. It requires practice and trial and error to determine what works for your location and when.

You're doing it wrong!

https://www.radioddity.com/collections/consumer-radios-cb-radios/products/radioddity-cb-27-pro

Thanks And I plan to try again didn't do too badly considering I hadnt studied for extra. I needed 37 to pass, I got 26.

Looks like there is a ham club in your area, they may be able to help. non affiliated link below https://www.w9uvi.org

OMG..... THIS AGAIN?!?!?! Talk about the beating of a dead horse and we are 5 pages in AGAIN. Not typing the reply again. Go read it here. You really don't want DMR on GMRS. You might think you do.... but the problems it will cause will quickly set you straight.

Congrats on your General, now you have a global reach with the right equipment. The next step is Generalissimo (i.e. Extra).

Since June 9. I don’t know if this is related to the Russian criminal hack of the US government computers: ” FCC ULS down, Amateurs Unable to Submit Applications, Filing Deadlines Extended The FCC Universal Licensing System (ULS) has been experiencing an outage since Friday, June 9, 2023. Amateur licensees are unable to submit applications or process renewals. Filing deadlines have been extended. The FCC has been communicating updates with VECs, including ARRL VEC about the situation, which remains fluid. As of late afternoon on Thursday, June 15, 2023 the FCC had no timeline for when the ULS would be back online. For the latest information, watch the ARRL News feed. The story about the issue posted there will remain updated with the latest information.”

How does “installing a repeater just because they want one” even remotely equate to “install a new repeater to save lives?”

If they are not cognizant of what's already installed in their area and are interfering with an existing repeater then yes, they are being irresponsible.

I'm sure this will spark an argument... but I want to make a few corrections. I'm not trying to pick on you... just want to put a tad more accurate info out there. Like you... my post is not very technical... more of a general concept. You are mistaken about wider signal having more range. The opposite is true... narrow band has better range. Wide has better audio fidelity. Wide receivers have less usable sensitivity than narrow bandwidth receivers because the wider the receiver, the more it fills with the broad spectrum noise. It then takes more desired received signal to pull the data out of the noise, reducing range per watt. This is why major manufactures collectively agreed, many decades ago, that 2.5 kHz bandwidth for SSB voice transmissions would be considered "normal" bandwidth. Also, the "bandwidth" and "channel spacing" are not the same. It looks like you may have mixed them up. In real-world application, GMRS WFM (aka wide band) "channel spacing" is 25 kHz and the typical occupied bandwidth is 20 kHz. The NFM (aka narrow band) channels are spaced 12.5 kHz and are typically 11 kHz occupied bandwidth. I measured one of my radios moments before posting this. My radio on wide band is 19.3 KHz with 4.4KHz deviation and narrow band is 10.3 KHz with 3.5 KHz deviation (a little hot). In laymen terms, the more bandwidth you use, the more data you can send. The more data you send, the better the fidelity can be. In GMRS voice, that data is your voice. Therefore, on wide band, you can have better audio fidelity due to more information transmitted and received. The reason audio from a narrow band transmission has low audio on a wide band receiver is because the receiver is tuned in such a way that it is listening to a wider spectrum of radio than the transmitted signal, and it is expecting more deviation than provided for the voice. The empty RF space is filled with random noise (same noise that reduces sensitivity / range) and the lack of deviation leads to lower audio levels. You combine the two and it can sound like less than half the expected/normal audio levels. The inverse is true when a narrow receiver hears a wide signal. The receiver is only hearing about half the signal (making it sound lower in tone) and the over-deviation causes a loud audio level... sometimes sounding a little distorted.

I'm quite sure he appreciated that reply.....