WRXB215

There was one guy that received a letter from the FCC that listed four violations. The last one was for using a non-type certified radio. That is not the reason he was investigated. They showed up because he was jamming a repeater. While they were there, they noticed he did it with a non-type certified radio and just threw that in for good measure.
To my knowledge, that is the only time it has ever shown up on a letter and, like I said, that was not why they showed up at his house.

Quitter!
😂

There was one guy that received a letter from the FCC that listed four violations. The last one was for using a non-type certified radio. That is not the reason he was investigated. They showed up because he was jamming a repeater. While they were there, they noticed he did it with a non-type certified radio and just threw that in for good measure.
To my knowledge, that is the only time it has ever shown up on a letter and, like I said, that was not why they showed up at his house.

A lot of folks use Ham radios. A lot use commercial / LMR UHF radios.
I often joke that "How do you know if someone's using a Motorola? Don't worry, they'll tell you."

I would recommend using RG-8X cable. It has far less loss than the typical RG-58 type and just slightly larger in diameter. You can use larger coax like LMR-400, less loss, but its much more bulky and heavy. But for a portable application I would assume you would like something small, light and easy to carry.
All my portable radios I typically use BNC connectors. Those don't cause SWR problems and are low loss when using quality types. You can find adapters from just about any connector type to BNC. I have BNC adapters for all of my radios.
I would use the minimum length of coax to get the job done. The link below is for a 25 foot RG-8X cable with male BNC connectors on the end. If you really need 50 feet then use two with a BNC barrel adapter. Otherwise the 25 foot one would likely be more than enough.
https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/dxe-8xdb025
I use a portable mast system with about 25 to 30 feet of RG-58 cable. The higher loss on the cable helps to keep the SWR on the antenna down below 2:1. That's a trade off I made and I had the cable already. If a find a good buy on a RG-8X jumper cable I'll swap out the RG-58.
https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/257-portable-mast-antenna-system/
 

Have you tried comparing your FRS radios to the Baofengs, in the exact same cars with the exact same people at the exact same time, just to ensure you are actually getting a full apple-to-apple comparison?

Mostly but not completely so.   A radio that wastes a lot of RF on off-frequency harmonics is not putting that energy on the center frequency.  97% of your RF on center frequency or 79% on center frequency?  Granted, 50% is sufficient at normal/close ranges.

The op seems like nothing more than a troll to me.

Yep, sometimes people just start pushing buttons to see what will happen. ☹️

Yep, sometimes people just start pushing buttons to see what will happen. ☹️

DTMF tones are frequently used to control repeater functions.  Or someone simply doesn’t know how to use their handheld radio.

I’m guessing you have some settings wrong. GMRS should never work worse than FRS. But without more information it’s difficult to say.  What channels are you trying to use to talk to each other?  What’s your power output? Are you on wide band or narrow?  How do they work outside of the cars?  How far apart were you?
Try to isolate whatever problems you’re having.  Do others hear a poor signal coming from both of your radios or one in particular? 

It's not a "GMRS Radio" thing, it's a "Baofeng quality control" thing. Some are great. Some are less good, and you never know which one you're going to get.
Your expectations aren't wrong about GMRS in general. But you might have gotten a pair from a bad batch, unfortunately.
 

Maybe if you told us what kind of radio you have... and..maybe.. if you told us what steps you are taking.. and.. MAYBEEE.. if you told us what exactly is not working..or what happens.. or really, any detail at all.. .. then.. maybe.. just maybe.. someone could help..
But otherwise, welcome to the forum!

I walked into the Ham Radio Outlet in Anaheim a few months ago. I was (and still am) pretty much a noob as far as radios… and I had my new H3… I just went in to browse since it was all new to me. I asked the sales guy a few questions here and there and he asked what I was using so I pulled my little H3 off my belt and showed him… his response “Yeah well those are not legal”… I showed him the certification under the battery and he says, “sometimes they just re use numbers from something else”. I went home and looked it up on the FCC site. The old sad ham was full of $h1t. Kinda turned me off to that place. 

It seems to be a regional thing. Some people claim it's dead but around the greater Houston area, it's alive and well.

Join the crowd. The only thing that holds me back is lack of funds. 🤣

I'm starting to think this one is the UV-5R of mobile radios. It's popularity is quite impressive.

I'm guilty of this myself, I purchased 2, uv-82hp myself many years ago for emergency communication just in case shtf. Well shtf in western nc and because I have never used the radios or developed a network they were useless.
Never again will I, nor my family be in this situation.
I will be an active member of the gmrs community and do what I can to promote and build our gmrs community.

I'm starting to think this one is the UV-5R of mobile radios. It's popularity is quite impressive.

That sounds like a perfect use case for GMRS. 👍

Years back I had to go to a GM plant to look at some malfunctioning equipment. The security guards wanted my SSN to let me in. I told them to F’off and left.

Since you can only vote in the state you reside in, then it should be fine to have a state standard.

I’m glad to hear you say this. It has been my experience as well. I was thinking it odd that someone would do this when everyone around where I am has some inexpensive radios as well as their expensive ones and I don’t hear anyone giving grief over using them.  

I seriously doubt anyone is literally yelling at you. I could whisper something to my kids when they were kids and if they didn't like what I was saying, they would say I was yelling. Furthermore, me and every one of my ham friends, in addition to expensive Yaesus, Kenwoods and Icoms, own at least one, if not multiple CCRs. And we're certainly not going to tell people we're on an Icom if we're really on a Baofeng. We're proud of being cheap fiscally-responsible.