Talked to someone in E.Tucson from Avondale,AZ last night.

[TNFrank]

I was testing out my radio and wanted to see if I could hit the Tolleson repeater from my daughters house. It's hooked to an AllStar network so when I called it up and I got a response.................from East Tucson, AZ. We chatted for a bit and then signed off but I was amazed that we could communicate that clearly from such a long distance(for us) over the linked repeaters.  The GMRS repeaters in my area are all but dead but wow, HAM repeaters, that's where it's at. Dozens of them, especially in 2M and 70cm bands and some that are linked with AllStar, EchoLink, etc. let you pretty much talk Around the World from your backyard. I'm so glad I got my HAM license. It opens up a whole new world of frequencies and repeaters that I can use. If anyone is on the fence about getting theirs just do it. You'll be glad you did. 

[SteveShannon]

17 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

I was testing out my radio and wanted to see if I could hit the Tolleson repeater from my daughters house. It's hooked to an AllStar network so when I called it up and I got a response.................from East Tucson, AZ. We chatted for a bit and then signed off but I was amazed that we could communicate that clearly from such a long distance(for us) over the linked repeaters.  The GMRS repeaters in my area are all but dead but wow, HAM repeaters, that's where it's at. Dozens of them, especially in 2M and 70cm bands and some that are linked with AllStar, EchoLink, etc. let you pretty much talk Around the World from your backyard. I'm so glad I got my HAM license. It opens up a whole new world of frequencies and repeaters that I can use. If anyone is on the fence about getting theirs just do it. You'll be glad you did. 

Way to go, Frank!  It’s fun, isn’t it?

[TNFrank]

Now if I could just get some of my family to get on board so we can have EmComms if the Cell System ever goes out. That's my entire reason for getting into GMRS/HAM, Emergency Communication.  As much as I hate to say it, HAM seems to be the way to go, GMRS doesn't have many repeaters and what they do have are down all the time. I still think GMRS is useful in a limited capacity but if you want any kind of distance you need HAM Linked Repeaters to cover the miles you're looking for. 

[SteveShannon]

2 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

Now if I could just get some of my family to get on board so we can have EmComms if the Cell System ever goes out. That's my entire reason for getting into GMRS/HAM, Emergency Communication.  As much as I hate to say it, HAM seems to be the way to go, GMRS doesn't have many repeaters and what they do have are down all the time. I still think GMRS is useful in a limited capacity but if you want any kind of distance you need HAM Linked Repeaters to cover the miles you're looking for. 

While not as vulnerable as the cell systems, the loss of the internet, is not impossible, regardless of the redundancy built into it.  Local access is especially vulnerable.  A single dig-in can disrupt access for an entire state in some cases.  If you really want distance without reliance on any infrastructure, you’ll want to get into HF.  People will tell you that it’s not reliable, and it’s true that you can’t just dial up another country at will, but there are shorter distance traffic networks, HF radio to HF radio, where people are trained to pass messages accurately worldwide by relaying the message in a predetermined manner.  
GMRS (and FRS), is excellent for distributing messages to your family that you gather via ham radio. 

[TNFrank]

I really do want to get into 10M at some point in time. My little Radtel RT-900's will do 10M, how well is to be seen and I'd need an antenna for 10M to really take advantage of what little power they offer. I know there's some small QRP(I think that's the right saying) radios that are 5 watts and made for POTA activation on 10M and are really portable but before I invest I'd like to do more research. 

[SteveShannon]

14 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

I really do want to get into 10M at some point in time. My little Radtel RT-900's will do 10M, how well is to be seen and I'd need an antenna for 10M to really take advantage of what little power they offer. I know there's some small QRP(I think that's the right saying) radios that are 5 watts and made for POTA activation on 10M and are really portable but before I invest I'd like to do more research. 

That’s wise and honestly you’ll need to get into the 80, 40, and 20 meter bands in order to talk worldwide.  For instance, the Montana Traffic Network is on 80 meters at 0030 Zulu every day. It’s part of the National Traffic System, which is presented here: https://www.arrl.org/files/file/NTS Presentation 6-2012.ppt

[TNFrank]

As a Technician 10M is the best I can do. The RT-900 puts out just shy of 6 Watts, that should get me a bit of range though probably not world wide. I just need to look into an antenna tuned for 10M that's somewhat portable and I should be good to go for short range POTA. 

[WRXB215]

If you get into CW, you have space on 15, 40, and 80 as well.