Jim Hampton writes:
Well, forget the FCC - your problem will come very quickly from the repeater
owners and users.

That makes me curious, Jim. Where will I find mention or listings of
these operations? If they indeed have set up repeater networks as you
imply, they must talk about them somewhere.

There's something there I should at least know about and perhaps
something to be gained from buying some better equipment later on.

Of course, if you don't have your
sub-audible tones set to open the machine, you won't open it ...

And if I don't use the upper 7 channels on my radios, right? They are
the only frequencies used by these radios that are listed in the
bandplan charts I found online for repeater operations.

My consistent range runs 20 to
40 miles with a handheld to a repeater (depending upon local terrain). Out
in the open, it runs closer to 40 to 60 miles using a 36 inch whip

As I would expect with several watts into a good antenna on UHF.

Thanks,

Mike D.