I have started a county wide search and rescue team of all volunteers.
We need a radio frequency that can be used with repeaters to cover county wide communications.
One that not every member has to have a license.
But also one that will not break the bank
Before you start this process, make sure you fully comprehend what a repeater costs. They are not cheap, and they are not something you buy off Amazon and set up yourself on a Saturday morning. They are not 'plug-n-play'. You are looking at thousands and thousands of dollars for decent/reliable equipment. You'll need suitable radio site(s), which will not likely be free. There is maintenance costs that need to be covered.
Individual user radios will be expensive if you want anything that is suitable for this sort of work. Don't think a $25 Chinese POS radio is going to solve your needs.
If you are in any way associated with your County, talk to them. If it's a large enough county to have a trunked radio system, you -may- be able to get access to their system, but don't count on it. Radios that will work on those systems get exponentially more expensive.
($400+) for a fcc allocated frequency is beyond our reach currently.
As said above, if you are a not-for-profit organization and have the legal paperwork to back that up, the FCC will not charge you for the license application.
You will be required to pay for frequency coordination from an FCC approved frequency coordinator. That is a requirement for license application.
Cost can vary depending on what you exactly need. I had a couple of UHF simplex frequencies coordinated for work, and I think I paid $125.
Coordinating a repeater pair over a wide area is going to take more work and will cost more.
-Frequency coordination is required by the FCC for what you want to do.-
Any ideas on any type of natural disaster frequencies that doesn’t require a license?
Not that will use repeaters.
If you don't want to license a frequency, that limits you to radio services like CB, FRS, or MURS. None of those will allow repeaters. None of them will be suitable for what you are doing.
There is no license waiver for "natural disaster", public safety, emergency, volunteer, "we can't afford a license", search and rescue, etc.
Not trying to discourage you, but this is a very expensive thing you are walking into. Not being able to afford a license or frequency coordination isn't a good start. You really are looking at tens of thousands of dollars in equipment to get a suitable/reliable repeater, and probably a lot more depending on the terrain. It may be a good idea to take a step back and think about all of this. Cooperating with another established agency might be a better approach.
