PACNWComms

Looks like a good build OP. Have used CDM-1250 mobiles for portable repeaters in the past, often in heavy Pelican cases with deep cycle marine batteries.....tripod mounted antenna up 30 feetor often got me 8-12 miles (placing it on the highest hill I could). Recently rebult this commercial unit that fell apart from many shipments across the country. Motorola CDM mobilebased as well.

I am alright with FRS and GMRS in the same radio......but do wish MURS was integrated into many "blister pack" radios as well. My first Cheap Chinese Radio was an Anytone 878 variant, and the VHF/UHF bands as well as Promiscuous Mode has helped a lot. After 2017, when the rules changed, I saw GMRS as being the best bang for the buck for many users......no test, just pay the fee and you are legal for ten years. Need to talk to others on FRS that lack a license, you can do it. Cost of hardware is cheap and abundant....I see allof this as a good thing. Many people think radio is "dying" with encryption, cost of fire and law enforcement radios, and yet getting more people to use them is taking place before our eyes with the proliferation of FRS and GMRS. I know people that buy FRS, then want more range, so they pay the fee for a GMRS license and then get into GMRS,often from watching certain personalities on YouTube (NotaRubicon comes to mind - I know he reads these [good info to the newbies]).

As others mentioned, once 18, get a GMRS license and a couple of radios. Advantage to GMRs is the no test license, 10 years for $35 fee, and that hardware is cheap. Then, with linked repeaters (often in cities and not necessarily rural farmland), you get the ability to talk to people in other cities. Sitting at my desk, I talk with people a hundred miles away via linked repeaters......this could be done via amateur repeater and radio, but would have cost more money (I had to pay the fees and take a test for the license), and then there is the "sad ham" mindset many have (I also live in a part of the country where the sun does not shine too often - leading to depression for many in the winter months). GMRS being UHF, tends to work better around buildings and slightly built up areas anyway......rural, I would be recommending MURS instead in the VHF band. Amateur if you have the license and hardware, GMRS if you do not like tests, and MURS for VHF and longer line of sight distance.

Holy carp, I feel worse than watching a Rapid Radio ad.....

My crew in Heath, OH is hunkered down with 14" of snow. People are working from home remote if possible, and only first responders allowed out on roads. Radio is working great in VHF, UHF, and 7/800 MHz bands. Radio-over-Internet-Protocols links were checked as well. Everything working right now, and that is my only site "snowed in"......Ridley Park, PA and a few others are used to it and in the office though.

I just keep a Rite In the Rain notecard near each radio, and that gives me the ability to jot down a call sign or info on a specific incident or experience. Then I can go back and look them up online if needed. My dash camera gets a "picture" button press when I see an amateur radio callsign vanity plate, or a vehicle with more antennas than stock. All the documentation I need for GMRS and amateur users (after working all day in commercial public safety radio, that is).

I am one of them that would have liked to have this configuration.....P25 Phase 1 and DMR would be exactly what I need.....administering a Motorola "M" core with DSR backup (P25 Phase 1 - we only have Phase 2 for some interop on local government network), and DMR, MotoTrbo. Motorola will not do it themselves, they like making us buy two radios where Astro and Trbo work alongside one another. (Up to 60 cities across the United States now, in my network). Thank you for posting, I may have to buy another Anytone radio now, to play around with it a bit. (My 8678 sits in my backpack, acting more as a cheap troubleshooting tool - Promiscuous Mode and all). My Anytone 878 was a mistake, I even ordered it from Bridgecom, and it has taken three years or so to remove myself from their email/text/Youtube ecosystem.

One reason the Harris XG-100P (handheld portable) and XG-100M mobile radios became popular after use by many federal agencies replaced them (Feds with tax payer funding meant they could afford them).....their second life is often by people like us, wanting something legal for us on many different radio bands. Harris spent the money and time to make sure they were legal for many different bands of radio spectrum. But, the price of admission is considerably higher than most amateur radio types want to pay. This then makes owners act like they are superior, as they spent more money (I see this with /\/\otorola types too).

The reason I bought a demo unit, Harris XG-100P many years ago, the many bands that they were approved to operate within.....and I still use it sometimes today. Granted it was still $1200 for the radio and version 14 Radio Programmer. Great deal then, as it is now too. Brough to the public about a decade ahead of /\/\otorola's APX8000 too. I also have a "cheap" Anytone 878 variant for MURS/FRS/GMRS use.

Also annoys me how many "emergency management" entities are going solely with cell phone based systems, even FirstNet has its issues and having both cellular and straight radio for backup comms is always the best way to go (HF to SHF, with landline and other methods to augment). Glad I am not working true emergency management anymore, too many people that think IT can keep comms up in emergencies. Or, those that want to push the lowest common denominator, some scam that is advertised well but not honest and practical. We need a good nationwide emergency to set things back twenty years or so......but then grant money would just get thrown everywhere.

Similar to what Rapid Radio seems to be shilling, no monthly fees and continent wide coverage. I often have customers that see the ads and think they will have a ~$300 "radio" that will work anywhere in North America, with no monthly fee. Rapid Radios use cellular band, and have a one year SIM card activation included in their initial cost......then you must be in cellular range. And can only talk within your network. Zello is far more useful, as is FRS/GMRS radio (GMRS with a license of course). To think.....the ~$1000 cell phone that many people carry might work for other things too? Great point on mentioning Zello.

Had to specify radios for the MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopter, and its civilian affiliated missions......original specifications only stated "P25 compatible". Took a year to get some Collins engineers to understand: analog-conventional, Frequency Division Multiple Access (Phase 1), and Time Division Multiple Access (Phase 2). Once the Air Force got involved (and they realized I was retired and knew the Huey/and variant predecessor well), they let me go for the jugular and carotid.....educated a few engineers on trunked radio standards. 18 helicopters fielded and I am now educating some other engineers on "Flash"(ing) Motorola and affiliated radio hardware, for specific options (TDMA for example). The AeroConnect RT-7000 has a Motorola APX8000 card in it, with all the associated drama of the big /\/\ involved (as well as Cobham/AeroConnect). FRS/GMRS is being added to a zone for search and rescue, trunked P25 Phase 1/2 for interop with law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical in another, and other zones dictated by the helicopters home base. The last lesson will be the NIFOG (National Interoperability Field Operations Guide).

I am still in the "pair the blue dot every time" version myself.....forces me through a routine each morning. But, a co-worker has been playing around with the the new versions as well. Seems to go over well with the end users. Not sure how the camera is going to work out, many were worried when laptop computers had cameras by default too though. time will tell. (I actually had to place painters tape over some Motorola 6-bank chargers, as they had the second set of cups for the RSM's with cameras, some sites bought those while others did not, but all the 6-bank chargers were the same). Had to manage expectations for a short time, until budget caught up (private fire departments, we do not get grant money). The original end users of wireless remote speaker mics was forklift drivers, that had a problem with running over their radio after hooking up a towed load. Radio went on the forklift fender, was left and often run over by the towered load or the forklift itself. Replacing that wireless RSM was much cheaper than a radio. My use case came from me mentioning that I often broke wired remote speaker mics in armored military vehicle doors.....doors that would slide the coiled cord instantly. Do that a few times and a Bluetooth option looks cheap. Need to try on of the newer ones, once I get my hands on one.

I use Motorola Bluetooth Remote Speaker Mics (RSM) with Motorola mobile radios, where a zone has been set for GMRS use. Often in clear open areas, my RSM gets that kind of range. I also use one for my daily job, with a 7/800 MHz APX4000 being the radio it connects to. Recently, Motorola has been fumbling their model numbers, firmware, and what will work with which product lines. Some Bluetooth RSM's from Motorola used to work with both APX and XPR Trbo series radios, but now they are differentiated a little more, by model and firmware. Beware, many sales sites have not updated this. (For example, my PMMN4095A Bluetooth RSM works with Motorola APX series radio, but not Trbo). Be careful if you go down this path.....but, it is not a repeater, only a wireless microphone going to your radio, so no legal issues. They are also on a Motorola proprietary wireless setting (unless you disable that and set it for a more common standard, which does reduce range but allows for non-Motorola wireless devices (small remote PTT, hearing aid use, that type of thing).

"Cheap" for my GMRS use case was to buy beat up Motorola XPR6550's off of ePay, ......must also add that I bought these a few years ago, notice the price is a bit higher now, as the dollar does not go as far as it did when I made the purchases. So ~$50-60 per radio and ~$35 per re-case kit. Gets you around ~$95-100 per XPR6550 UHF, then of course you must have the software and cables, which adds another $50 or so (software is free once you get a /\/\otorola account). Still prefer commercial radio for GMRs use over Baofeng, Wouxon, and others.....just due to build quality and transmit/receive sensitivity. Just starting out, a UV-5R is a good start. Until you want something better......