Quoted:
Is there a defined set of frequencies for running competition or training exercises?
VHF?
UHF?
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That's like saying "north america" or "south america", have to be more specific than that. If you're talking about the technical/physics characteristics of the different bands, that's dependent on the environment that you're using them in. Other considerations might drive selection of one band over the other.
Either of those are suitable. The GMRS frequencies would also be suitable. In some circumstances, a Land Mobile Radio (LMR) setup might be appropriate. The specifics of your environment, distances, etc will determine what is any of the options are better for you, or if any (or none) would work.
Quoted:
A little more background. I have mostly VHF gear. I have one old dual band ht.(yaesu). None of them have headset connectors in common. I don't want three or four different setups.
I have
HS370
MOTOROLA VHF
YAESU FT 270
FT 470
Motorola has a reputation for being tough radios. They are hard to program. I don't have a cable for that yet.
I have the cable for the hs370.
Yaesus don't need software.
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The two Yaesus that you have are amateur radio products and will not necessarily work very well on non-amateur frequencies. Their hardware just isn't set up for it regardless of whether the CPU is unlocked to allow operation on non-amateur frequencies.
Programming Motorola LMR gear at the hobbiest level is a challenging proposition. Older Kenwood, Icom, or Vertex LMR gear is generally easier. Older stuff will often require older versions of Windows or even DOS to run the programming software. Easy programming drives a lot of the interest in the chinesium radios (along with the low cost).