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I'm going to close my post out with something that will piss some people off, and others will say I don't know what I am talking about... so if you don't want to read all of the post, you may want to skip to the END. The reason CB went to the wayside isn't known for sure, but I have a few ideas. Modulation type isn't one of them. I think there is zero chance of CB replacing FRS. I don't think it could even take a significant part of the market, and I will explain why. First, people get extremely frustrated because their mobile CB radio performs so poorly, with regard to range. As mentioned above, that is almost always due to the antenna. The primary problem is, the average DIY person doesn't poses the tools or skills to properly install a CB and antenna, nor verify if it is working correctly. This wasn't always the case, but somewhere in time, this common knowledge kind of vanished, leading people to think they can just bolt on the antenna and life is good. Then, there is the size of the antenna. The shortest proper length for a CB antenna is 104 inches. That's not a type-o... that is over eight and a half feet. Not everyone is willing to put an antenna that big on their vehicle. So, you see everyone using a compromised antenna... like the 4' and even 3' firestik antennas. I own a 4 footer and a 1 footer, but I know they are only going to work for a mile or less. FRS is at a frequency that only requires a 6" antenna, and the installation is way, way more forgiving. Just by it's nature, its not common to incorrectly install an FRS antenna. And when manufacturers put even shorter antennas on them, say a 3", it's no where near the compromise made in CB with a 3' antenna. So, you take a radio and antenna that doesn't install correctly easily and complicate that install with an antenna that more resembles a dummy load than an antenna, and yeah, the performance is gonna suck. Creating an even smaller, overpriced version in a handheld doesn't sound like a good time, either. Now, there is also another issue to deal with. While there are FM CB radios available, FM quality on CB is no where near the audio quality of FRS. FRS radio uses a lot more bandwidth, which means the signal can carry more data, aka higher fidelity audio. Many people will prefer FRS just because it sounds better. END Now to upset some people... I believe that a properly installed mobile CB and antenna or a quality CB handheld will outperform an FRS radio 100% of the time. I also believe that a properly installed mobile CB and antenna AND a quality CB handheld will outperform their counterpart in GMRS radio a vast majority of the time, when it comes to P2P comms. The two top reasons why GMRS has made it to the top of the pile is due to repeaters and the frequency used is ideal for heavily wooded and dense urban areas. While generally, I believe CB is superior in many cases, it seems that US radio use in dense woods and cities are the most common use cases... hence GMRS (and FRS) win over mobile and handheld CB.

My ole eyes and brain just did not compute this knowledge until, NOW! Thanks to all that asked and to those that answered! I kept seeing the words "Mobile GMRS" and thinking my MXT-400 qualified for that. But then comes along... "467 MHz interstitial channels. Only hand-held portable units may transmit on these 7 channels. The channel center frequencies are: 467.5625, 467.5875, 467.6125, 467.6375, 467.6625, 467.6875, and 467.7125 MHz. So now I realize why I don't have those channels in my radio! We had this exact problem on the trails (Trail Guild wanted to use CH 10.....) now it sinks in after studying this, again Thank you all~!

Two-way radio for the non-hobbyist or dedicated user seems to be a fad item, As the CB boom of the mid 70's came and went, it has died down; a small resurgence is occurring in that service as seen by the plethora of YT videos and FB groups. But F/GMRS is the current go to in the radio fad world. Prepper driven to some extent, but also the mass availiblity of the units (both FR and GMR) and the ease of use has made it the radio du jour!

It wasn’t a stupid question.

There is at least one technical reason why FRS would be a better choice: You can get way (wayyyy) more fars-per-inch of the antenna with an FRS than a hand-held CB.. a 5-inch antenna an on FRS radio can get you 10miles in excellent conditions, ~1/2 mile in decent/poor conditions. For those same farz on CB, you would need a 25-inch (just a guess, but much larger, you get the point) antenna on the radio, making a hand-held very unwieldy and a potential deadly eye-poking menace.

Doesn't have to be perfect, just tolerable to those on the other end. I don't want to be "That Guy"! Thanks again, Steve.

Yes, it’s possible. A secondary battery would be the most efficient and have the least opportunity to create noise, but there’s no guarantee it’ll be a perfect cure.

That's why I have those channels set to not transmit on my mobile units. They're there, and if I have a good enough reason, I can fairly quickly turn the transmit feature back on. Having them in the radio means I can listen and even scan them if I want. So far, I haven't felt the need to do that, but it's an option.

Hopefully you get your interference issues figured out. I know RFI can drive a person crazy trying to chase down.

Alternator was 17 years old and I found one at a higher amperage so I went ahead and replaced it. I grounded the antenna and felt that 3 bolts in the alternator should provide a good ground. I may strap it too. Ferrite beads on Alternator to battery cable, radio power supply, coax, and a few nearby power leads. I was going to place the chokes on the LED headlights as well, but there is no interference when I turn them on. It's only when the engine runs. The spark plugs and wires are about a year old. Plugs are resistor type and the cables are not the very top of the line, but the better of the in-store choices. Same whine. I ordered a filter today as a least resort.

No kidding! We go there every Sunday for breakfast. They have a piece of my artwork on the wall, too. Meet us there! 0900 ish.

No, I know of Wilsall . My dad’s cousin owned the Clyde Park Tavern in the 70’s or 80s.

See? Even if you ask a stupid question, you can learn something.

Picked up a pair on a Cyber Monday special. I was not really interested in them till I watched NotaRubicon's video on them. Tested them from inside a house to about a quarter mile away in thick woods. I was running a chainsaw and heavy equipment so I didn't have the opportunity to test everything I wanted to, like the shorter antenna. The long antenna gave excellent reception and was only slightly in the way. Since the radio is so much smaller than say a KG 935, it was really convenient to have on me at all times. The gator clip is outstanding, it's not going to randomly fall off. I thought the TX Beep would be annoying, but it was very beneficial to my daughter who was using it from the house. If you don't have much experience with a handheld you can short stroke the PTT key, but with the beep it lets you know when you've keyed and let go. I found programing to be simple and enjoyable with the manual. I think it is strange that all channels are pre set to narrow band, but easily switched. My only complaint after a day of use in the woods is when I set a DCS code, you lose that channel without a code. For instance if you save channel 18 with a privacy code, you cannot also have channel 18 with no codes to communicate with others without a code. I could be missing something, but that is my experience with it so far. If the stubby antenna works nearly as good as the larger antenna, it would be very convenient to have on you at all times without getting in the way at all. Battery life still says 100 after having on for 5 hours and using occasionally. Very satisfied with the initial run, time will tell.

Of course the best way to learn how to connect to a Repeater is to read the manual. It tells you how.

This doesn't sound like the best use of GMRS and based on what I'm reading here, it really seems that the OP's area is ripe for a decent 2 meter repeater setup. The amateur radio Technician's License (to start with) isn't terribly hard to get and with that, one can use those 2 meter frequencies and legally maintain the gear. I would think that the local emergency infrastructure would welcome additional communications and it would likely be easy to get tall tower space somewhere. Our club has a repeater antenna up on top of a local water tower. The initial setup is relatively expensive, but donations can often defray the costs.

On GMRS certified radios the channels [1-30] are already programmed. Channels 1-14 should have 4 digits after the decimal like 462.5625. These all end in 5 - they're 12.5KHz above and below the frequencies for channels 15-30. If you do a search you should be able to find a chart to help you visualize the relationship.

BLEEEP BLOOOP SQUAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWK. New... Call Sign - WSGK926 - North side of Murfreesboro, almost to Smyrna. New property in North Alabama just over the state line(1/2 mile) so doing runs up and down the entire region pretty much every week. Currently using the Murfreesboro and Smyrna Repeaters, will be using the southernmost repeaters on the drives down when I hit the Natchez Trace Parkway and farting around the property down there. HOWDY... SQUAAAAAAAAAAAAAWK over.

Nothing about the general personal radio services regulations nor those of part B (FRS) or part E (GMRS) support the position that a licensed user has a greater right to the 22 shared channels.

After upgrading handhelds from Baofeng and Quanshengs to a TD-H3, I'm running into some limitations. I'm aware of being able to reset the radio into either Ham/GMRS modes. And it's nice that the GMRS reset populates the radio with default channels. Would it be typical to program a separate GMRS channel, including a tone to a radio? For example, GMRS3 is in slot 3. But I want to add GMRS3 (Tone 1) in a separate slot. Between using Tidradio's software, Chirp, and Odmaster(Bluetooth) it looks like the default 1-22 channels and 8 repeater channels are what they are. The remaining slots up to 54 are repeater only (you can only select repeater frequencies and the Tx is offset automatically) And slot 55-199 are any Rx frequency, but no Tx is permitted. My question is, if I want a tone on a channel, I need to edit the existing channel? This is my first "almost real" GMRS radio, so I'm learning what can and can't be done. Thanks!

I wonder if you understand what the intended use of GMRS/FRS is? It's not social media. You come here for that. LOL! The reason the license covers your family is so families and friends can stay in touch for things like camping, hiking, off roading, use on the property, farm etc. Amateur radio (ham) is better for reaching out to strangers to make contacts if that is your interest. Sure there is some of that with GMRS but that's not really what it's for.