Lscott

It helps if you can read Chinese too.

You see about the same thing at this site too. On this site the faces are blotted out to protect the guilty.
https://radiofreeq.wordpress.com/2016/01/19/militia-radio-frequencies/

You hear the same crap about CW too. If you can't "beep" at 25 WPM you're not a real Ham.

That’s sort of useless too. The only tone that matters is the one for transmit. Myself I never use a tone on receive. All my commercial radios can be programmed that way. So, in that case I couldn’t care less what tone was used on the output.

I believe that’s patented Motorola technology. In that case you’re limited to Motorola radios. I guess if it’s just for your family it’s likely no big deal. You can program the radios for them.

That only works to the extent you can keep the tones secret. The weakest link in any security method are the people. Sooner or later someone is going to tell a buddy what the odd tone is so they can talk. Then you’re done.

That only works to the extent you can keep the tones secret. The weakest link in any security method are the people. Sooner or later someone is going to tell a buddy what the odd tone is so they can talk. Then you’re done.

That only works to the extent you can keep the tones secret. The weakest link in any security method are the people. Sooner or later someone is going to tell a buddy what the odd tone is so they can talk. Then you’re done.

I didn’t say it was easy. That’s an absolute modifier. I was making a comparison. 
I said it was easier than getting a license for ham radio. 
 
Navigate FCC site + $35 = GMRS 
Navigate FCC site + $35 + Test = Ham
 

That was the primary purpose the FCC had for GMRS. Simple communication for the general public.

They are going to be close to the antenna and in what is known as the "near field" so it couples into the driven element. That can booger up the impedance match, SWR issues, and the radiation pattern. It's not a guarantee you'll have problems but keeping the antenna away from from structures like that will at least avoid the potential for them. You read through the past comments over time here and you'll see this mentioned from various people.

That was the primary purpose the FCC had for GMRS. Simple communication for the general public.

That was the primary purpose the FCC had for GMRS. Simple communication for the general public.

You need to stack a few Yagis up and dump that wimpy dish.

Not really. The ideas are fairly basic if you don't jump into the theory really deep. Doing some searching on the Internet one can find some sites that do a decent job of explaining the fundamentals. If you get into building and designing antennas a bit more knowledge is required.  

Not really. The ideas are fairly basic if you don't jump into the theory really deep. Doing some searching on the Internet one can find some sites that do a decent job of explaining the fundamentals. If you get into building and designing antennas a bit more knowledge is required.  

But you also see a lot of them hanging on the user's belt, in pockets and strapped to utility vests. Some even have provisions for sticking the antenna on the speaker microphone. Can't design for every usage condition.

But you also see a lot of them hanging on the user's belt, in pockets and strapped to utility vests. Some even have provisions for sticking the antenna on the speaker microphone. Can't design for every usage condition.

You hear the same crap about CW too. If you can't "beep" at 25 WPM you're not a real Ham.

Simple answer you can't can't.
Some people have toyed with the idea of using a single frequency "trunked" repeater where every radio has to be registered with the ESN, by using the internal Electronic Serial Number, to authorized access. As far as I know there isn't a way to change the radio's ESN.
The typical analog system is known as LTR, Logical Trunked Radio, and the variation using the radio's ESN called Passport.
Some people have bumped into used radios with the special Passport firmware loaded. When they try to reprogram the radio using the "normal" software the display shows SJ-180 and fails to load the code plug. I even had a used Kenwood TK-3180 HT with that firmware loaded. I managed to load the normal LTR firmware so I could use the regular radio programming software. I do have a copy of the special SJ-180 programming software too.
This is also fairly common on digital voice mode repeaters. The process to get a radio on one of those is a bit more complex requiring a "system key" file, licenses etc. just to program the radio. Normally with those radios you can't even read the radio without the system key file. There are hacked versions of the radio programming software out there that will read the radio and save the contents as a ".srv" service file without it. See attached screen shots of a used NXDN trunked radio I read with that software.

 
Understanding Passport Radio Systems App Note.pdf

I would be VERY careful taking a two-way radio to most countries. While it's "safer" to take Ham gear you can still run into issues. You get stopped for inspection the custom agent is going to ask a lot of questions about why you have it. Without proper documentation you might end up getting your radio confiscated on the spot. In some countries it's not even legal to "monitor" communications you're not licensed to use! One example is the UK.
https://www.monitoringtimes.com/html/mtlaws_may04.html
I wouldn't even consider taking a radio to Mexico. The police might think you're a cartel member. Any cartel member seeing your two-way radio might think you're an under cover cop or rival cartel member. Either way you could get shot.

You might want to consider up-sizing the coax to LMR-600 for that long length.

I would be VERY careful taking a two-way radio to most countries. While it's "safer" to take Ham gear you can still run into issues. You get stopped for inspection the custom agent is going to ask a lot of questions about why you have it. Without proper documentation you might end up getting your radio confiscated on the spot. In some countries it's not even legal to "monitor" communications you're not licensed to use! One example is the UK.
https://www.monitoringtimes.com/html/mtlaws_may04.html
I wouldn't even consider taking a radio to Mexico. The police might think you're a cartel member. Any cartel member seeing your two-way radio might think you're an under cover cop or rival cartel member. Either way you could get shot.

You might want to consider up-sizing the coax to LMR-600 for that long length.

You need to stack a few Yagis up and dump that wimpy dish.