Radioguy7268

Compander = Compression/Expander 
It's a method to re-constitute your voice after the insignificant audio has been squeezed out of it. Just like concentrated Orange Juice doesn't taste the same as fresh squeezed - Compandered audio isn't the same as the Original audio.
For 12.5 narrowband, it was considered a win in the overall audio picture, but you gave up some tonal quality while it did reduce background noise and hiss. In 25 kHz wideband, I never really saw the benefit to using it.
It's also a system wide setting, so if only one radio on your channel is using it, all the other units will not hear him clearly & vice/versa. Better to have everyone using the Compander feature, and not all radios offer the feature - and not all radios treat the compandered audio exactly the same during compression/expansion. It can lead to odd sounding audio.  I've also seen some radios display a lack of sensitivity at the edge of coverage when using compandered audio. 
I played around with that a bit in the late 90's with the onset of narrowbanding.  the TLDR was: use if it it works, but you're better off to implement it from the start. Migrating a user group over to it was a PITA - especially if they had a mix of radio models.

I have done similar with our SAR repeaters. We use a different input PL on the repeaters but common transmit PL. That way ou can hear folks on both repeaters regardless which channel I have selected. In the old days this was considered poor man voting but worked well for many public safety agencies. 
 

Law Enforcement Radio Network = LERN, or LEARN.  It's a group of networked GMRS repeaters throughout New Jersey. They reach into southeastern PA, DE, & NYC.  You're supposed to be Law Enforcement to use the system.  Not sure if it's still linked. I rarely heard anyone on it when I used to monitor GMRS in the area.
/off topic

Law Enforcement Radio Network = LERN, or LEARN.  It's a group of networked GMRS repeaters throughout New Jersey. They reach into southeastern PA, DE, & NYC.  You're supposed to be Law Enforcement to use the system.  Not sure if it's still linked. I rarely heard anyone on it when I used to monitor GMRS in the area.
/off topic

A mobile radio that sits on your desktop and has a power supply is NOT necessarily a Base Station.
As Marc eloquently stated above, it's the operation that counts, not the configuration.
A Base radio operates on the lower 462.xxx frequencies.  A Control station may appear very similar to a Base, but a Control Station transmits on the 467.xxx frequencies, and listens on the lower (base side) of the pair.

Before you get too excited about the long range possibilities of a low band repeater, talk to anyone who has actually built one, or tried to use one.
Beyond the problems of skip, near-far, and antennas that can double as fishing poles, you also find out that you need to have one antenna tuned for the transmit frequency, and another tuned for receive. Typical bandpass cavities are 5 ft. tall, you will need enough space for at least 6, and you better keep them in a climate controlled environment, unless you want to keep a separate set tuned for each season.
You also need to know that a typical low-band mobile antenna is only good for about a 500 KHz spread while your proposed pair is 3 MHz apart. Noise is a huge problem, terrible at times. It's only gotten worse in the last 25 years.
There's a reason why Commercial (paying customer) Low-band has become a wasteland. Actually, there's many reasons beyond the ones I've mentioned. Most manufacturers have abandoned the band.

Before you get too excited about the long range possibilities of a low band repeater, talk to anyone who has actually built one, or tried to use one.
Beyond the problems of skip, near-far, and antennas that can double as fishing poles, you also find out that you need to have one antenna tuned for the transmit frequency, and another tuned for receive. Typical bandpass cavities are 5 ft. tall, you will need enough space for at least 6, and you better keep them in a climate controlled environment, unless you want to keep a separate set tuned for each season.
You also need to know that a typical low-band mobile antenna is only good for about a 500 KHz spread while your proposed pair is 3 MHz apart. Noise is a huge problem, terrible at times. It's only gotten worse in the last 25 years.
There's a reason why Commercial (paying customer) Low-band has become a wasteland. Actually, there's many reasons beyond the ones I've mentioned. Most manufacturers have abandoned the band.

A Fixed Station is one that's been repaired.
/s

I once had a "channel saver" repeater set up to scan on 5 UHF trunked channels.  The concept was that the system needed to be operational within one year on all 5 frequencies in order to file a Construction notice with the FCC.  In order to do that, we built up a 5 channel scanning repeater (all the frequencies were fairly close together in the 451/452 range). A portable could key any of the 5 licensed channels, and carry a short conversation to prove operation - just not on all 5 channels at once. A split antenna system was already in place, and we just used a widely tuned bandpass cavity on the transmit side.
We got the idea from Nextel, who was doing a similar thing on 800MHz analog channels they had acquired, but not yet transitioned into their iDEN system.
Unusual, yes. But not bizarre   But ultimately a waste of time and material. 

I made the change to “unusual”. 😉

I once had a "channel saver" repeater set up to scan on 5 UHF trunked channels.  The concept was that the system needed to be operational within one year on all 5 frequencies in order to file a Construction notice with the FCC.  In order to do that, we built up a 5 channel scanning repeater (all the frequencies were fairly close together in the 451/452 range). A portable could key any of the 5 licensed channels, and carry a short conversation to prove operation - just not on all 5 channels at once. A split antenna system was already in place, and we just used a widely tuned bandpass cavity on the transmit side.
We got the idea from Nextel, who was doing a similar thing on 800MHz analog channels they had acquired, but not yet transitioned into their iDEN system.
Unusual, yes. But not bizarre   But ultimately a waste of time and material. 

Regarding soldering. Back in Jr High we had to take several shop classes, wood, metal, electrical and drafting. You learned skills like soldering. Today I don't think they even have shop classes. That's one big reason most kids today can't do something as simple as solder. 

Glad to hear you got it fixed up.  The wideband entitlement issue is troublesome, as Motorola is no longer supporting older 'legacy' software, and the EID's only work on the newest, current software.  Otherwise, you are left with trying to hex edit the software & bypass the built in checks that forced narrowband in the newer software versions. 
As you discovered, R05.16 was the last legit version that allowed CP200's to be programmed wideband with 25kHz.

A Fixed Station is one that's been repaired.
/s

^^^  This!  Exactly this!
 
There is nothing in the rules that explains 'why' the rule is what it is.  There are several conflicting parts and sub-parts, that I have pointed out in the past, that support that 'linking' as a whole is not prohibited.  Only a specific method is prohibited.  Whatever is not expressly prohibited is allowed.
 
The truth is, I may retire this year.  If I do, my time would be freed up enough to stand-up a linked repeater network and then wait to see if the FCC is up to a lively debate in Federal court.  I don't know if I will, but the opportunity would exist and lately I am feeling kinda spicy about government overreach.
 
Don't get me wrong.  I have no personal animosity toward anyone in the FCC for simply trying to do their job and I have no intent on purposefully and intentionally violating any federal laws or rules... but we need a court case to settle the debate.  All I have seen from everyone, including the FCC staff, is conjecture and opinion based on something that is NOT written, implicitly nor implied. 

They write them this way so they can be "interpreted".  That way it can mean different things at different times.  Which is exactly what it shouldn't be.  And since these rules are for normal people, normal people should be able to read them and understand them without the need of lawyers and oiija boards.

A Fixed Station is one that's been repaired.
/s

A Fixed Station is one that's been repaired.
/s

A Fixed Station is one that's been repaired.
/s

A Fixed Station is one that's been repaired.
/s

A Fixed Station is one that's been repaired.
/s

A Fixed Station is one that's been repaired.
/s

I read about the rash of robberies happening to GMRS  users, so I started using FRS instead.
/s
 

Motorola moved all the current model software over to a new website. For most folks, that's at myview.motorolasolutions.com.  Unless you want to go through all the steps to migrate your account over to Myview, only to find that they probably don't have the legacy # RVN4191 CP200 software ( I myself haven't checked lately), you're better off to do a google search and try find it on the web. The benefit there is that you would likely find a version that's been hacked to allow wideband. The last versions of the analog CP200/PR400 R05.18 software were narrowband only, and most GMRS folks want the ability to program 25kHz wideband.
Note: the more recent CP200d is a different animal, and uses different software for programming.
 

Just like the word "unreasonable" is arguably the most important word in the 4th amendment of the U.S. constitution, the definition of the term "Plain Language" is the key phrase in the FCC rules.   
Actually, the precise definition wording of section 95.303 as shown above poses a very interesting question as it is being presumed that all foreign languages, by definition, are not considered coded or secretive.  It says: "Foreign languages and commonly known radio operating words...".   It does not say; "Common Foreign languages and ..."
The public at large cannot be expected to understand the wide variety of foreign languages that may be broadcast over the air.  Clearly some recognized foreign languages are not at all well-known and in fact our own military has used this strategy expressly to create "secret communications"!
"CODE TALKER"
Wikipedia: "A code talker was a person employed by the military during wartime to use a little-known language as a means of secret communication. The term is most often used for United States service members during the World Wars who used their knowledge of Native American languages as a basis to transmit coded messages."
As @UncleYoda pointed out, it is the FCC's responsibility to make the rules clear.  At this point, I'm not sure they really are.