BoxCar

No, but almost no radios are manufactured in the US.

+1 on Atlantic Battery having the right battery.

There are ham groups in your area you can contact. Many hams (like me) are dual licensed for both services. Some clubs have both services on repeaters also. My home club is looking into adding a GMRS repeater to our primary site as an example. I would begin by contacting the Myrtle Beach club to ask for assistance. https://w4gs.org/For-New-Hams/

The answer is really pretty basic - it's what's inside of the radio. Transistors, chips, capacitors and all the other parts and pieces are all made to operate within an ideal environment. The wider the operating environment, the higher the cost for the component. Then there is the design. The oldest (and one of the best overall) is the heterodyne which mixes a known frequency with the received frequency and the resulting product is processed for the receiver. The newest design is SDR or software design which converts the incoming signal to digital bits and the processes them. The other design has everything inside an IC or chip. The SOC or system on a chip is the least flexible but very good within its specifications. No GMRS radios or handheld models use SDR so they are either heterodyne or SOC. The transmitter portion of the radios is pretty much the same no matter the receive portion of the radio. So, its the components and the care taken in fine tuning them that makes up the real difference.

Yes, the frequencies (channels) are set by regulation.

My experience with longer antennas on hand-helds is you may hear better but it doesn't translate to transmitting further.

Welcome to the S*** show that's radio hobby use. You'll find that any external antenna mounted the higher the better will be an improvement. Along with a better antenna, good quality coax is required. The baseline for coax is Times Microwave LMR 400 or equivalent. RG-8 coax is a big No-No.

10-4 Good Buddy!

There is no real difference between the radio brands. Yes, commercial and public safety models generally have better specifications but that is reflected in the price. System on a Chip (SOC) radios work perfectly for general hobby/personal use. Personally, I think the Motorola, Kenwood and other "top-tier" radios are all way overpriced and for personal use. I recommend some of the Tytera, TYT, Wouxon and other brands as being perfectly usable for general use. 5 W output is 5 W whether it comes from a Moto or BaoFeng.

Dweebs are dorks that don't have adhesive tape on the bridge of their glasses.

You don't loose 1/3 of your coverage area by narrowbanding. The most I ever saw back in 2013 was about 1 or 2 miles at the extreme edge and some even gained some additional coverage area. I monitored ALL of the Public Safety narrowbanding request as part of my role as the national frequency coordinator for some frequencies.

It would be better if they listed the tones used as not all radios use the same tone code scheme.

You can create an account on Repeterbook and install the phone app. It will return local repeaters based on your phone's location.

No. Perfection is the enemy of good enough.

I . The key point is "explaining what corrective measures you have taken to resolve the violation." Consider a letter from an agency as a hurdle you need to get over. Each successive letter is a higher hurdle so detailing what you have done lets the agency tell you extra steps needed or, they accept what you have done as a completed action. Typically, they won't tell you you've done enough, just you need to do more.

Send the one back. It has a problem..

With what you provided in our request, no. If you stated what kind of help you neede, such as locating cables, software or something specific, then yes, someone can and will provide help. Now, what help do you need?"

The term wire line can even be questioned now as many networks are transitioning to fiber made from glass or optically pure plastics..

It will help if you share the part of the country you reside in. Otherwise, it's hit-or-miss about you finding anyone visiting this forum connecting with you. GMRS is primarily a "bring your own contacts" service. It's aimed at family and friend usage more than chit-chat contacts like amateur radio.

plenty of nuthin' here too.

I will state there used to be a moderator on the forums but he went away in 2022. (

Yup. We assigned what was available. Requests often came into our shop with frequencies specified but couldn't be used because someone else was already using it as a repeater input. For LMR, repeater outputs are listed on licenses but not inputs.

Welcome to the zoo, Bart. You've asked the right questions to get started on your journey. As some answers, here's my take: 1. There are no "base station" radios available for GMRS. There are 3 types of units available, Hand Held, mobile, and repeater units. Hand helds are the Walkie Talkie units which have around 5 watts of power. Mobile units can have up to 50W of output power and these are intended for vehicle installation. Repeaters are a combination of a receive and transmit unit operating o two frequencies referred to as a pair. Repeaters are available with power outputs of 10 to 50W. Units used for base stations are mobile units with an AC power supply. 2. I will assume you do have electrical power at your site, either commercial power or from a generator/solar source. You'll need this to power/charge your radios. 3. A 10W repeater such as a Retevis unit will be all you need and they are less than $400. The antenna doesn't need to be an expensive base station type. A decent mobile antenna mounted either to the roof of your camper or on a pole should be adequate. Use good coax between your repeater and antenna. The coax should be Times Microwave LMR400 or equivalent. RG-8 coax used for CB's is a definite NO-NO. You can use a pole or stand to increase your antenna height and the pole should be easy to take down and stow inside if you are worried about storm damage. Your antenna should be at least 20 feet above the ground for maximum coverage of your area. The repeater won't reach all the valleys and could be shadowed by the hill, so you'll need to test to find the dead areas. 4. Hand held units should be all you need for your area, and they don't need to be more than $35 - 40 each. You can even use less expensive units as long as they are GMRS units capable of repeater operation. All total, you are looking about $700 for the repeater, cables, antenna and pole along with the power supply. Your power supply for the repeater can be something like a https://www.amazon.com/LRS-50-12-Switching-Supply-Single-Output/dp/B019GYODX0/ref=sr_1_16?crid=3NTVXK6LBBVIR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.upFR096NaA19tx34bdpzI_C1r7w37pkURRyOxBW8B5CNiLXEUdfa9UCqu3m5bvDCk3obEmiIizxqoOdAdyRs6dus9j4LHpl6FZUxJPZglTwN6cwZjljZyeO2n5CGP8Fp3SvEerebxcX4_idXg87gANyP0uRkV4Z4O91kPdxU2R6uDZZOsMUTKyvLhbdV3-vWjJkiof6KIRFThSvBqyWgS7peNm0noT3FweDxoxdFy9F9LhjAq9phBdLeGuiju6Guwp8YFxGsBwESG1gL6sxsca9IR38eRfggVb3YXzAco-I.r1wiDCBPB46HUAdemAyyW8lQNMNYNK3OwiTpnea6LDQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=mean+well+12+volt+power+supply&qid=1718796722&s=electronics&sprefix=mean+well12+volt+power+supply%2Celectronics%2C117&sr=1-16 should be adequate for powering the repeater.

I ran a Starduster back in the mid 70's and went by Bit Bucket locally. I also had Whiskey numbers for three states and a slew of others.

Yup, welcome to the zoo!