None of them are unlicensed. 5 of the VHF 'color dot' frequencies went to 'license by rule' under MURS. They are limited to 2 watts and narrow band.
It would be a perfect place for this sort of use, but it's probably easier to just jump on ham radio.
I've found that some hams even encourage this.
It's not. And it's confusing for most to even comprehend the type acceptance thing.
There are plenty of usable radio services for this kind of stuff:
CB
FRS
GMRS
MURS
But when the average knuckle head looks at those radios, they either see the "Up to ## miles range" thing, or they see 'watts', as in CB radio. Those that don't understand assume that 'more watts must be better' and simply buy off of that.
Then there's the Cheap Chinese Radios. They see them on Amazon, or their friend buys them, and it just snowballs from there.
There are some really good commercial quality MURS radios that would work great.
There's good GMRS radios that would work well.
And if CB'ers could understand what it takes to make a CB work well, that would help a lot of people.
I really like my Uniden 401HH handhelds. They have worked well for limited use on the property up here in the hills, excellent little, simple CB HT's. Not only are they a simple no frills HT without any options and extra buttons beyond channel selection and squelch and volume (for good and bad), they are also the cheapest type accepted, or non type accepted for that matter, CB HT on the market. You are lucky to find them for ~$42, more like $45-50, especially with all types of radios, including CB, flying off the shelf.
So you ask Johnny Knucklehead "why don't you get yourself a nice CB HT in a legal band where you don't need a license and are in the right place in things", and then when ol Johnny looks up the price of a Baofegn and the 401HH, much less the Cobra 50 or President's new fangled fancy CB HT at over $130, and the he looks at those out of band illegal non type accepted Baofengs at $20, you have most the argument.
Johnny will say "I can buy two Baofengs for the price of one 401HH! Plus it has a lot more fancy things and frequencies, and all my buddies have $20 cheapo radios too!". Even if ol Johnny wanted to try to comply with band services on some personal level, he eventually succumbs to market forces of cheap radios, and bad influences of his friends who also use said illegal radios.
Oh, and what about GMRS and MURS which have less compromised rubber duckies on them, and fancy FM? Oh, type accepted radios, even from China, are more expensive and more limited than the $20 non type accepted ones. If Johnny wants to do GMRS or MURS, he is more likely to just use his non type accepted Baofeng on those frequencies, STILL. Because $20.
The market won this one. Dump enough cheap radios on a market and don't be surprised when this type of stuff happens.
And I still can't believe these kids want to play in the Ham bands, when it is at least a smarter and better idea to run those Baofengs on MURS and GMRS. A lessor evil if anything.
