Closing the loop on this now that I have my license (WRKL820) and have registered. I picked up a pair of Midland GXT1000 radios on sale to get us started. They communicate just fine with the old ICOM FRS radios on channels 1-14 as WRAK968 suggested they would. The manual I had downloaded for the IC-4008A must have been for a different geography (?) with all 14 frequencies listed in the 467.5125 to 467.6750 MHz range. The GXT1000s should be just fine for our immediate needs - relatively short range simplex communication when hiking and camping. In the meantime I will investigate what repeaters are available in the places we will be using the radios. Once we decide we need repeater-capable radios (or need more power/range), we will have to decide if a handheld or vehicle mounted radio makes more sense for our use. Thanks again for helping a newbie. -Scott