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Just my (conspiracy theorists) opinion, it's the same answer for radio, firearms, and everything else the government touches... it's not about safety or the people; it's about control.

You set Pin8 to PL/DPL - CSQ detect on the Repeater's RX (receiver) radio. This is how you make sure that only intended transmissions (from your group's properly programmed mobile/portable units) will be received on your repeater's 467.xxx frequency. The transmit radio is then being told to key up upon that receive decode action. There is no need for your Transmit radio to detect incoming PL/DPL. It's function is to transmit - but you should still generate a PL tone or DPL code for the Transmit output. Some people try to program the receive and transmit radios the same way - with the idea that they'll be able to swap them around more quickly once the transmit radio burns up. IMHO that's the wrong move. My take would be to program each radio for it's intended use, and set it up properly the first time. You can always save & store the codeplugs for later use to reprogram or re-purpose a unit via the Clone function. If you take the time to set things up properly - AND TURN DOWN THE TRANSMIT POWER - the repeater will live longer, users will be happier, and you will have more time to go about improving the system instead of thrashing around trying to figure out what broke this time. Repeater-builder.com is an excellent resource for anyone trying to build, setup, or program their own repeater.

It’s far easier from an administrative standpoint. Manufactures only have the technical requirements for one service to meet the qualifications for certification rather than four. Some of those requirements are incompatible with the other services. If the rules change for one then the radio would lose the certification for all. That’s how it would have to work. Assuming people would just refrain from using that service where the radio can’t meet the requirements is not going to happen. The fiasco with combo FRS/GMRS radios before the 2017 rule changes is a case in point. Almost nobody got the GMRS required license to use at the time GMRS exclusive channels.

The FCC is just keeping us safe, how dare you question their motives!

We know, you just can’t help yourself. If the government didn’t create a bunch of rules to complain about we would beg our congress critters to make some. Otherwise we would need to find something useful to do with our time.

Haha, LOL! Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Napoleon are watching a parade on Red Square in Moscow in 70-s. Alexander: If I only had tanks like these I'd conquer all of Europe and also Asia! Julius: If I only had missiles like these I'd rule the whole planet! Napoleon: If I only had a propaganda machine like that one, nobody ever would know that I lost at Waterloo!

Be careful with Marine VHF. I was browsing the FCC site and found this, perhaps I was looking in the wrong section: Using Hand-Held Marine VHF Radios on Land You must have a special license, called a marine utility station license, in addition to a ship station license, to operate a hand-held marine radio from land -- a ship station license IS NOT sufficient. You may apply for this license by filing electronically in ULS with the FCC. To be eligible for a marine utility station license, you must generally provide some sort of service to ships or have control over a bridge or waterway. Additionally, you must show a need to communicate using hand-held portable equipment from both a ship and from coast locations. Each unit must be capable of operation while being hand-carried by an individual. The station operates under the rules applicable to ship stations when the unit is aboard a ship, and under the rules applicable to private coast stations when the unit is on land.

The kind of short version is we share a well. The booster pump and reservoir tank are closer to my house. The tank is 10 feet lower than my house and 20 above his. Over the last 6 years we have experienced at least 15 power outages with several of them being multiple days long with the longest being 5 days. The pump house with it's own electric meter is closer to me. With a transfer switch we can run the well and booster pump on a generator. The 5 day outage was accompanied by 6 feet of snow over a week which made snow shoeing up and down the hill the only method of travel. We will run the generator for the well and booster pumps on a schedule and use radios for coordination. He was using one of my radios. Now he has his own. Last week we lost power three times for 3-4 hours at a time. We have started turning on our radios when we lose power just in case.

I have no understanding why the FCC can't, or wont allow multiple type certifications for a single radio. My point here is that I can't see any reason that you can't legally buy a type certified radio that covers both MURS, FRS, and Marine VHF. Is this because the manufactures don't want to bother with this? Or is there something within current FCC rules that I'm missing that prohibits this? Currently there's four "services" that do not require licensing, Marine VHF (license requirement eliminated in 1996), MURS, FRS, and Citizens Band (11M). Marine VHF is an interesting one. The limitations are pretty generous. The way I understand the current rules for Marine VHF is that as long as you are using to communicate with another person on (or near?) a navigable body of water, it's within the rules. So technically, if one party is on a kayak in a creek large enough to allow kayaking, and the other is onshore (and at no specifically defined distance from the water), communication on the Marine VHF band is permitted. Anywhere in the country. The power limitation is 25 watts for Marine VHF. What burns my bacon is you can buy a radio(s) that does have this capability (but they're not "legal"), so the technology is available, but the FCC wants you to buy 3 radios... Hmmm... maybe I just answered my own question...

You can go fishing at least.

Ahh it wasn’t that bad. The usual debate stuff. Yeah okay, me too

I'm officially jealous.

I think I'm gonna just jump in my Jeep to goof off and be happy with the selection of radios I have... Thank god (or Allah, Zenu, or whoever) BLM land is only 5 minutes from my house...

I have the UV-17R Pro GPS, which I think is an upgraded version of this one? It's just okay, I would recommend it for listening mostly. I ordered it for the airband and GPS features, which work fairly well. However, I found that if you want to listen to two channels at the same time, then the scan banks for each need to be the same. For example, I cannot listen to airband on A and GMRS on B. But I can do two different GMRS on A and B. The display is nice, unless you take it outside during the day, then it becomes difficult to read (like most radios). Also, the programming software is not very good, and not CHIRP compatible (yet). The good part was that after I got this, I ordered a Wouxun KG-UV-9D Mate a couple weeks later. Now THAT is a radio, and recommended if you plan on doing any communicating. Too bad it costs 5-6 times as much.

I used this for years when I lived in a ground floor apartment. Not ideal but it did work. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/268-ca-2x4sr/?context=new

The real reason is an attempt to "stupid proof" the services. They want to force you to deliberately make an effort to transmit on the service you intend to use. If you had a mismash of frequencies from multiple service scanning at once, the chances of you responding to the wrong service with the wrong call sign is very high. If you have 2 different radios, you deliberately grab the GMRS microphone and transmit on the intended frequency. Now, it has happened to even the experienced operators, grabbing the wrong microphone and using the wrong call sign. Are there good best management practices that can be used to minimize the cross use of services, and tossing out the incorrect call sign? Sure there are, but how many new licensees have enough trouble understanding how to program a single repeater, let alone run zones/scan lists/etc. Now toss in inexperience, and difficulty reading the rules directly from eCFR. It is much easier to say separate radio for each service than to try to write BMPs into the code as hard and fast regulations.

It's good to hear that your grandpa did both. As a grandpa, I also do both and I hope my grandchildren have at least some interest in radio because of me. You'll no doubt see some stupid arguments and snide comments here about ham vs GMRS. Ignore them. It's mostly some people stirring the pot to get a reaction. Ham radio and GMRS have a lot of differences in how they are used, but a lot of similarities in how they work. Enjoy both. Welcome in.

Welcome! As far as pointers go, I have a couple that may help. 1.) GMRS is a "bring your own contacts" type of environment. If you call out and don't hear much (or nothing) don't let it discouraged you. 2.) GMRS is in the UHF radio segment and is an RF line of sight service. So, when it comes to range, height is might. 3.) In radio, all the magic is in the antenna. Don't get to hung up on power output. That said, more power isn’t a bad thing. As far as setups/radios go, what is it you want to accomplish? Where and what you're doing, combined with your desire for simplicity or Bells and Whistles will determine what you need.