Lscott

That's a valid point. I think a fair number of GMRS users would agree given the limited number of repeater frequency pairs available.
IMHO one should look at what the original purpose of GMRS was targeted at. You get a feeling for that based on the licensing rules, basically a family with parents and siblings. The typical communication would be limited to a small area. I don't think the intended operational vision was communication over large geographical areas, such as state wide or multi-state systems. A city wide or county wide system might be more reasonable.
I'm neutral on the topic. I don't have a dog in the fight, not a repeater owner/operator.  I'll let others do the heavy lifting.
Advice given to new attorneys by the old experienced ones : "If the law is against you, pound on the law. If the facts are against you pound on the facts. If both are against you pound on the table."

Of course somebody will have to "volunteer" their time to maintain the list and weed out bad listings. This is were ideas like this usually fail nobody wants to put in the effort.
Also some just don't care if their radio is Part 95 certified or not. A lot of users are operating older, and new, Part 90 only gear. So far the FCC doesn't seem to be interested in busting them. I'm not recommending the practice, but so far that seems to be the case.  

Well it's the difference between a 1/4 wave long antenna verses a 1/2 wave long antenna. The minimum length antenna to radiate RF is a 1/2 wave length long by theory. Since a 1/4 wave length antenna is "missing" the other part, the absent 1/4 wave length, it has to be made up for some how. That's where the ground plane comes in, it doubles the antenna length so it looks like it's a 1/2 wave length long to the transmitter.
To make the idea simple to understand place your finger against a mirror so it's perpendicular to it. You'll see immediately the reflection of your finger touching the end of your real one. That's basically what the ground plane does for a 1/4 antenna, it "mirrors" the other half of the antenna so it looks like it's really a 1/2 wave length long.
With a 1/2 wave length antenna you have a choice where to attach the coax cable, in the middle or at one of the two ends.
If the coax is attached in the middle the impedance is around 70 to 75 ohms more or less. That's a reasonably good match to a 50 ohm coax resulting in an SWR of about 1.5:1, which all most all radios will have no issues with it.
For a vertical antenna the most convenient place is on the end. For some complicated reasons the impedance is far higher than the 50 ohm coax cable. For those antennas a matching section in built into the base. An example is the common "J-Pole" antenna. It's really a 1/2 wave length antenna with a 1/4 wave parallel transmission line matching section on the end. The feed point is selected such that the ratio between the voltage and current is 50, which is the required value for the 50 ohm coax. If the coax feed point was exactly on the shorted end the voltage would be zero, resistance = voltage/current, so the impedance would be zero. At the other end the current is nearly zero, the un-terminated end of the one element, thus the impedance is extremely high. Thus the match point must lie someplace between those two points.
This is about as simple of an explanation without getting deeper into the theory.

I’m glad I don’t own and operate a functioning repeater system. I don’t need this kind of headache.

A lot of mutual interference and signal jamming. That of course depends on the length of the transmissions and power levels. Long winded communications using 50 watt mobiles would be the worse case.

Any publicly accessible radio service will have some degree of interference issue. The real question is just how much. Also remember not everyone is going to be on the air at the same time.
If you're looking for a more robust plan then looking at several different radio services would be the route. Part 95 services would be GMRS.FRS, MURS and finally CB Radio. With the exception of GMRS you can buy radios for FRS, MURS and CB, use them with no license requirements.
Then the final option is Ham radio Part 97. The later you need a license, each person, and have to pass an exam to get one. The Tech Class is fairly easy, however some people just don't want to be bothered. It does give you much more spectrum to operate in with and will greatly reduce the likely hood of interference.
None of the two, Part 95 and 97, allow encryption. So, if you need to exchange sensitive information you'll have to either do so illegally with encryption, that's going to be a personal choice and nobody here will publicly recommend it, or find some other method to exchange the information, prearranged codes etc.
I also would NOT depend on a repeater either, Ham or GMRS. Most are simply grid powered and will fail immediately on a grid-down condition. Some do have backup emergency power but may not last that long. Your best bet is assuming you're on your own using direct radio to radio, simplex, communications.

Good advice. And remember, UHF will only get you so far. That may be far enough but if you intend to reach for hundreds of miles, you are going to need HF. To use HF, you will need at least a Technician license. And that only gives you a little sliver of HF. Bumping up to General opens up much more HF.

I agree. Another reason I'm very grateful to those who do. 👍

A lot of mutual interference and signal jamming. That of course depends on the length of the transmissions and power levels. Long winded communications using 50 watt mobiles would be the worse case.

Also, other repeaters are not the only possible victims of interference from a linked system where distant stations cannot monitor local outputs for traffic.  Simplex operators on those eight 50W simplex/repeater channels can also negatively be impacted.

I hope it doesn't mutate in another cell phone store. At the end the local Microcenter computer store had more electronics parts for robot builders in one section than Radio Shack had in the whole store.

I'll bet it did. 🤣

I'll bet it did. 🤣

You’re right. The wire leading from the center tap of the SO 239 becomes part of the radiating element. For that reason they are usually connected directly to the radiator or with a very short wire.

I hope it doesn't mutate in another cell phone store. At the end the local Microcenter computer store had more electronics parts for robot builders in one section than Radio Shack had in the whole store.

I hope it doesn't mutate in another cell phone store. At the end the local Microcenter computer store had more electronics parts for robot builders in one section than Radio Shack had in the whole store.

There’s actually a Radio Shack in Bozeman that never closed. From their ads it appears they mostly sell RC cars. 

Then turned in to "cell phone shack." Then went bankrupt. I did hear they might be coming back in a few areas.
I also remember going to Lafayette and Olson Electronics as a kid. They're gone too. 🤨 Heath Kit is kaput. Lots of kids, and adults, got their first exposure to electronics building their stuff.

I used the Rigexpert AA-1000 to make my measurements. 
 
The antennas are a bit sensitive to the environment where you make the measurements so I’m not a bit surprised by slightly different results. Also the antennas are all hand built and tuned. That can result in differences too.
I haven’t heard good comments about the Surecom meter. Most are about the same as yours, inaccurate results. But people like them and they keep selling. 

The RigExpert antenna analyzers are nice. The main attraction I have for them is the scan function. As a Ham you don't operate on just one fixed frequency. It's important to know what your antenna tuning looks like of the range you are going to use.
I built one of the cheap 300 ohm TV twin line J-Pole antennas just for fun to see how well they work. These are the type recommended to have newbies build because they are simple to make and usually work well enough for an HT indoors or out on a field trip. The SWR is also reasonable.
You ABSOLUTELY need the RF choke at the base of the antenna. I just used about 10 to 15 turns, single layer, of RG-58 rolled up on a 1 inch wood dowel pin.
Good luck trying to find 300 ohm TV twin lead now days. Oh well.
http://hamuniverse.com/2meter300ohmslimjim.html
Antenna Scan Results (2M Roll Up Twin Lead).pdf

HRO carries 300 ohm ladder line:
https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-016485

I used the Rigexpert AA-1000 to make my measurements. 
 
The antennas are a bit sensitive to the environment where you make the measurements so I’m not a bit surprised by slightly different results. Also the antennas are all hand built and tuned. That can result in differences too.
I haven’t heard good comments about the Surecom meter. Most are about the same as yours, inaccurate results. But people like them and they keep selling. 

I used the Rigexpert AA-1000 to make my measurements. 
 
The antennas are a bit sensitive to the environment where you make the measurements so I’m not a bit surprised by slightly different results. Also the antennas are all hand built and tuned. That can result in differences too.
I haven’t heard good comments about the Surecom meter. Most are about the same as yours, inaccurate results. But people like them and they keep selling. 

That’s nothing to worry about. You can use the antenna full time with that SWR ON GMRS. Most radios don’t start having issues until the SWR is 2:1 or higher.

If the radio is not Part 95 certified it is not certified for use on the GMRS frequencies. As folks will point out, it is not a law, it is a regulation. Will the FCC come looking for you if you use a non Part 95 certified radio on GMRS? Probably not as there is no way to tell by hearing the transmissions. If you are a douche canoe and are using your radio to cause  serious  and prolonged interference to other users and get caught, the FCC folks may very well add that to your list of regulation violations.
If someone is interested in GMRS I will explain licensing and a need for a certified GMRS radio is. What they do after that is up to them.