I currently have a couple Baofeng GT-3's. I have a big rope-type antenna I can throw over a tree branch and get way up. Use primarily as yet another form of emergency communication while I'm out in the WY wilderness hunting Elk where there's no cell service.
HF, Satellite phone, etc are your best options if you are way off the grid. Relying on repeaters that may or may not be there isn't a good plan. If you are really out in the wilderness, a proper HF radio or satellite phone is the only reliable way to get communications in/out of the area.
I'm looking to upgrade to a better DMR handheld capable radio/terminal/receiver. Preferably Part 90/95/97 certified, as to legally hit HAM (70cm / 2m+), MURS, FRS, GMRS.
You won't find a "part 97" certified radio. Part 97 does not require radio type certification.
Part 95, you'd have to be more specific. There are several individual radio services under Part 95.
MURS, specifically rule 95.655 prohibits a radio from being certified under MURS if it has frequencies in it that are anything other than the 5 MURS channels.
FRS currently only allows 0.5 watts and a non-removeable antenna, so having that in a radio severely limits what you can do legally.
While it is certainly possible to find radios that will do all this, you will not find a "legal" radio, or a legal way to run a radio, like that.
I think you need to narrow down your expectations a bit. Wanting a "do everything" radio and wanting it to be legal isn't going to work out very well.
If your needs are specifically aimed at personal safety, then HF amateur radio, a satellite phone or a personal locator beacon (PLB) would be a better investment. I always try to steer people to either a satellite phone or the PLB if there is a need for any sort of reliable emergency use. I use satellite phones at work and when I take off on my ATV through remote areas of far Northern California or Nevada, I always take a PLB. While we all carry several radios, the PLB is the one I'd rely on in a true emergency.
I would like to pair the above with a decent digital-capable mobile radio for my truck with the same or more capabilities. IE: Adding 6m & 10m bands, etc. Paired with a good effective antenna and tuner or matcher. Any suggestions here?
Again, this is kind of a big list, and getting one radio that does all of it is either going to be very expensive ($5k and up) or you are going to need to carry several radios to do it all and do it all legally.
Again, HF might be a better solution looking at all the requirements you have. I'd even go as far as saying a really good single side band CB radio might be a good option IF you are not trying to cover huge distances. At least with that, you'd have a chance of making a random contact locally.
Would be nice if both were fully MOTOTRBO Tier I & 2 capable. The idea for me is to extend my capability to hit both analog and digital repeaters wherever I might be to get out emergency messages, as needed. And....to just hobby and play with, of course. Cheaper is better, as always....but I understand I get what I pay for and I'd really like to be legal in all realms.
Much appreciated.
MotoTrbo is specific to the Motorola brand. While it's DMR under the surface the trunking protocols are brand specific. Finding all you want from your list above AND a Motorola MotoTrbo radio just crossed the "impossible" line.
DMR can be had in single band hand held radios of high quality. If you are willing to go to cheaper gear, I think there is someone who makes a dual band DMR capable radio. You can get mobile radios that will do DMR and stack together to be controlled by a single control head, but again, you are getting into the thousands of dollars budget area.
While amateur radio use of DMR is growing in popularity, you would be MUCH better off sticking with just analog. There are far more analog amateur repeaters out there than there are DMR. Dropping the DMR requirement makes some of the requirements a bit easier to achieve. Wanting it all AND DMR is not going to be reasonably achieved. Not with one radio.
A good idea would be to take a close look at the specific areas where you hunt and then searching for amateur radio repeaters that cover that area. If there are ones that cover that area, then focus on those and find radios that will work on those frequencies. You shouldn't limit yourself to just a VHF or UHF amateur radio, there are -some- 6 meter and 10 meter repeaters, but they are rare.
A good multi band VHF/UHF portable amateur radio might be a good option. You can get ones that will do 6 meters, 2 meters and 70 centimeters. With a really good antenna and a bit of luck, you would probably be able to reach a repeater.
This isn't impossible, but you do need to consider the amount of money involved in meeting all these requirements. Some of what you are looking for is easy to do. Some of it is going to add greatly to the cost and complexity of the equipment you'll need.
Personally, I'd recommend getting a good dual band amateur hand held, a dual band mobile for your truck and a PLB to take out on your hunts. That should cover most of your needs and would be a reasonably priced solution.
