Nomad, thanks for the excellent post.

I wasn't aware of the channel 1 issue and in fact have been using channel 1 for random chatter, since it's easy to remember. Wow, oops. I'll switch to a different channel for that.

I think unlicensed FRS units with external antennas, scramblers, more than 1/2 watt of xmit power, etc. are not allowed under FCC regs, though maybe GMRS licensees can use those devices on the shared FRS/GMRS channels.

It occurs to me that emergency crews etc. could be equipped with radios that send all 38 subaudible tones simultaneously during their voice transmissions. That would let them talk to people who have tone squelch enabled, for example to let them know that someone else is trying to use the channel for emergency. It would be fairly straightforward to make an external mic that plugged into existing radios, that generated all those tones.

The cheaper units mostly don't support subtones at all. Subtones seem worthwhile to me if you're in an area with lots of users, but in remote areas I guess they don't matter.

Unfortunately I've never seen an FRS radio with the simple interface that old CB units used to have, namely a clearly marked rotary knob to select the channel. They all have pushbutton menus and LCD displays that are confusing for inexperienced users and therefore require practice. That makes it impossible to lend a unit to an inexperienced user and later tell him over the radio "there's some interference in this channel, let's switch to channel 3" because if he gets confused by the menus, you may lose contact for good. If you know of any low-cost models with a simple knob, let me know.

The small, low-cost units generally use AAA batteries, which I guess is fine, just like AA's are fine. The Garmin Geko GPS receivers and plenty of small flashlights use AAA's, so it's possible to standardize on all-AAA batteries in your outdoor equipment.

I have heard that Motorola FRS radios use some kind of audio compression that increases the range when talking to other Motorola units, but which distorts the sound when talking to non-Motorolas. That seems unfortunate. I have two Motorolas right now but I think I'd buy non-Motorolas if I were doing it again. (I've only used my Motorolas to talk to each other, haven't tested against other brands yet).

My Motorolas are pretty sturdy and work well, but they had molded plastic belt clips that broke off. So there's now no way to attach them to a belt or lanyard except by putting them in a pouch. If I buy more units, I'll look for sturdier clips or lanyard points.

I agree with you about fancy built-in features like GPS, but one cute feature I've seen (and in some very cheap radios, too) is a built-in LED flashlight. That's simple enough that it won't confuse anyone, and it can come in pretty handy.