transmitter power

These budget radios seem to be all over the place when it comes to transmit power. In other words, they rarely live up to their specs, at least not from the reviews that I've seen. Has anyone had a problem where this had become a major issue? I really don't want to waste money on something that...

I was perusing the FCC ULS database for some public safety frequencies and I came upon a rather curious observation. A UHF frequency license for a Fire Department Fixed Base (rptr) is listed as having 100 watt transmitter output, with a 14.3 watt ERP. How is that accomplished? Are they allowed...