FreqieRadio

I know it’s technically a ham radio, but am wondering if anyone has any experience with it.. is it better quality than the BF-H8/BF-9G? I have tried both of those and they seem to have some weird behaviors like being unable to tone scan.. and intermittently crappy reception that magically improves if you press the menu button. 
The intention would be to use it for GMRS primarily.. I can’t justify spending $150+ on an wouxon HT when I can get their compact 20w mobile product for like $190 (likely my next purchase) and prefer the more feature rich models. 

Wow first post and I get the famous Notarubicon guy! Challenge accepted! 😜

If a Factory-Reset does not help, throw them in the trash and spend $40 on 2 new ones from Amazon - problem solved and lesson learned.. That lesson being that eBay is a den of liars and thieves.

I am not speaking for Randy... but I agree it's not for everyone.  The are large, get hot, have more than enough power and programing capability to get you in trouble (if the FCC ever starts enforcing the rules).  You could legit get a surplus radio that wasn't decommissioned correctly or not at all and all of a sudden you can find yourself on Fire, Police or some federal agencies digital encryption system and a lot of trouble.  (Not an I guess or think.  A buddy found a bunch on ebay)
 
Then, one in good shape will be anywhere from $700-$1,000.  You need to acquire one that is new enough that the programing software will run on modern Windows unless you have a way-back machine or are a computer systems engineer who know how to 'fake it' with a legacy OS.  Then, you have to know how to program it once you actually get the software going.
 
I wouldn't tell anyone that they are not capable of accomplishing any of this... but unless you are a tech savvy person with time and resources on your hands, it can be time consuming and frustrating to start with.  Given that many new users struggle with using tones and getting repeater access configured, I don't normally point people in this direction.

Geezus..Learn to read the room dude.. 
In my Jeep I started with a BTech GMRS 50X2, after a year or so i upgraded to the KG-1000G which I used for a few years and then replaced that with a Motorola XTL5000 (NOT recommended for most people).. IMO, the KG-1000G is the best choice for most people in this forum.
The entire time I have been using a Midland MXTA26 antenna.
A simple setup like this (any of the 3 radios I've had) will work more than well enough for most people, no need to learn about db gains or noise reduction %%.. Those terms, when over-used, are most often spouted by "some people" that feel an uncontrollable urge to try and show everyone how smart they think they are.

It’s the exact radio. Yeah it’s ham. In use some ham equipment for my Gmrs base. I don’t tx on ham though. I just want the gps function for the handhelds. Some have Gmrs locked out. I saw that some have a software update that unlocks it. 

Well I gotta get one at a time. Then pro’s ain’t cheap. But yes. I sure will!

In about 2 weeks ago.

My GMRS repeater is at about 1,800 feet in Southern California and covers around 40-50 miles in 3 directions on about 25 watts, but only about 1 mile in one direction because of mountains.
My group had another repeater at about 5,500 feet in Southern California and it covered LAX to San Diego and Scirocco Summit on 50 watts.
Line of sight and antenna height are critical.

Rt99 works with the Gmrs pros gps function. I don’t need my ham. Thanks 

Comet GP-6NC GMRS/FRS Commercial Dual-Band VHF/UHF Base Vertical Antenna
Get a Cheap 20' Push up flag pole and some lmr400 and you will have a very nice set up.

I don’t know, but I’m always game to speculate.  Could it be as simple as the fact that they operate  in an area where there is more access to a GMRS repeater? 

Recently we have begun holding the National GMRS Net once per month on the last Sunday of each month. This is due to reduced interest in holding a weekly net, and due to quickly running out of fresh topics to discuss.
We will still link each regional hub together nationally each week during the same time period, but won't hold the net on the other weeks. Feel free to chat on Sunday evenings and make distant contacts during this time, but also please be mindful to not hog the repeater system so others can jump in there and participate as well.

this may be a first, but I agree with Mr WRKC935 - Unless you really know what you are doing and more importantly WHY you are doing it, I would recommend not taking the risk of upgrading the radio.
Source: I own several XTL5000s, XTS5000s and XTS2500s - i've never put any through an upgrade because its too risky and I have too many friends that ended up with very expensive bricks - and they dont even know why they did it.

They make the radios legal for use. That’s about my opinion 

I have the BF-H5 which is essentially the same radio, and the H5 transmits HAM, MURS and GMRS.

There are also people like you and me rolling through stop-signs every night, which might be a better comparison. To compare breaking an FCC rule to murder is absurd and something only a true "sad HAM" would say.
So.. Congratulations.

The almighty and great Queen Randy(Notarubicon) has officially designated, in the absence of leadership, that GMRS channel 19 should be the "official" channel for traveling ie.( highway use) for those who are operating GMRS radios.  I agree with him if we start the movement it will be the standard just like channel 19 was in the day of the CB riggers.  
Only those with a GMRS license are "authorized" to key the PTT on the radio however.  All fun aside this is a great idea and should be unofficially adopted just like channel 19 was for the CB radio guys.  What say you?
 

I have been down your path.  I have a 50W MXT575.  I love the 6db Midland antenna for my truck.  Great set up.  Tried to use it at my house. Experimented with it on the roof on a pie plate for a ground plane.  Not great.  Not even as good as the same radio and antenna on my truck in the driveway.
Then I tried an Ed Fong.  Short mast with minimal height.  A little better.
Then moved up to the Tram 1486 and all the way up to the peak of my roof.  Another step improvement, but still not satisfied.
I am currently at a 12 element yagi (PCTEL) with a rotator.  12 db gain.   The best I can do without a tower on height.   Much better.  Stronger on receive and transmit.  The most stable so far.
I am still not clear of the trees, and have some near by elevation gains that I have to contend with.  But I do have others in my area with a very similar set up and better elevation.  This set up is the best by my judgment when they hit the local repeaters.  Full quieting, very strong signal.
Also the higher gain means you can use less output power, which is always a plus.
In any case, the comments about good quality coax are a must to pay attention to.  Messi and Paoloni makes some great coax.  But Two Way Radios has some great folks to help you with many of the items I described above.  They have been a big help for me.  You can order coax to the exact length you need, so you don't have any unnecessary loss, and no connectors.
Your mileage will vary.  Depends on your starting elevation, obstructions, repeater height, your budget, many factors.   I am sure that any of the intermediate setups for me above would have been perfect, if I lived even a half mile away from my current location - with a little extra elevation and a clear view of the horizon.  So don't take my experience to mean those options will not work for you.
How far you need to go also depends on your goals.  Do you want to hit every repeater in your state and the surrounding states???  You're going to need lots of gain and lots of height and as little loss as possible in the feedline.  Do you want to be able to hit a single well placed repeater and be able to check in on your local net.  Maybe a lower cost option will work for you.
One last thing if you happen to have the 575 version:  I used the shortest coax possible, and have a radio that allows the mic to be run on ethernet cable.  That shortens up my coax and minimizes losses that way.  I cut the coax length in half by doing that.  And it gives me two locations for my radio.  One at the radio upstairs, and another downstairs where I ran the cat5 cable to.  At some point you do get some loss on the ethernet cable, so test your lengths before running through your walls.  And I put a wifi switch on the power supply, so I can turn the radio on and off from downstairs - even remotely turn it on and off if I want to reach out to my base station while I am mobile.