The local GMRS folks have me thinking about joining. In my area, they have built a Linked Network that covers 1/3 of a large state. Corner to corner is at least 150 miles maybe 175. That's an impressive stretch to be able to communicate going in on your nearest repeater with an HT .... and talk to folks across that distance. Already have a full power UHF home station on the ham side .... will have to think about the license and joining the ownership group. License $50 and minimum yearly group fees is $90. I suppose that's pretty reasonable for the capability.