TidRadio H8 HAM on GRMS channels with 10 watts? What high powered radios are open channels?

[WRZF693]

Hey folks..

I know the TidRadio 10 watt ham radio isn't meant for GRMS frequencies, but if you used it as a ham radio couldn't you just type in the GRMS channels and use say a repeater channel so you'd get the full 10 watts ? Not that I'd ever do so, but just wondering..  Could you buy the h8 ham and then just program in the GRMS frequencies  and erase or only use the HAM channels to listen to ? Again, not that I'm suggesting this to anyone, just wondering if it would work? Like in Emergency?  
Are there any higher powered HT's that have all the frequencies available to use in an Emergency? 

Thanks in advance.. Great forum! 

[Jaay]

Anybody wanting to use High power on any of these talkies needs to REMEMBER, Very few of these duck style antennas are rated for anything Over 5 watts !

So be aware, Not only can you toast the antenna, but possibly damage the radio too with extended use of 8-10watts. You Can actually feel the base of the antenna get Warm after just a couple minutes of high power.

[WRTC928]

  On 3/24/2025 at 3:21 PM, Jaay said:

Anybody wanting to use High power on any of these talkies needs to REMEMBER, Very few of these duck style antennas are rated for anything Over 5 watts !

So be aware, Not only can you toast the antenna, but possibly damage the radio too with extended use of 8-10watts. You Can actually feel the base of the antenna get Warm after just a couple minutes of high power.

Expand  

I've never experienced that. I think it's likely that most higher-power radios are sold with higher-rated antennas.

[TDM827]

Good question, with plenty of good answers. 

Like others you might be looking for a "unicorn" radio that does exactly what you want on various bands. It probably does not exist, without at least getting a small stable of antennas. Everything is a compromise.

For when I occasionally want to listen to HAM it got really simple when I broke down and bought a dedicated ham radio solely for monitoring some of the HAM bands. Cost a little bit of money but solved the issue. 

Between that and an SDR I can easily monitor what ever HAM bands I choose without worrying about it. If you want to be mobile an SDR on a good tablet works.

[SteveShannon]

  On 3/24/2025 at 3:21 PM, Jaay said:

Anybody wanting to use High power on any of these talkies needs to REMEMBER, Very few of these duck style antennas are rated for anything Over 5 watts !

So be aware, Not only can you toast the antenna, but possibly damage the radio too with extended use of 8-10watts. You Can actually feel the base of the antenna get Warm after just a couple minutes of high power.

Expand  

Exactly! When the base of the antenna is getting warm, it’s being heated mechanically (thermal conduction) by the RF output transistor which must be much warmer. I would be more concerned about that than the antenna. Twice the power requires four times as much current. 
There’s very seldom any range advantage to merely doubling power for UHF.