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I completely forgot about this post. The repeater was sold for the asking price and is now sitting on a mountain top tower in Oregon...

Good Morning everyone. GROL holder, new GMRS license, looking I to getting my HAM as well. Anyway down to business. Trying to get a decent set up to talk to the house together. Here are the details: House: Nagoya NMO-200c antenna with ground plane kit 50' RG8x cable Baofeng UV-5R connected to a AMP-25 UHF amp(40 watt unit). Antenna is on second floor currently. 37watts output SWR 1.2:1 Mobile: Baofeng UV-50x2(50watt unit) connected to UT-72 mag mount on center of roof. Outputting 30.4 watts with SWR of 1.08:1. (VHF test only put out 22watts 1:1 swr, may be sending it back too) I have had to cycle a few Btech products back as the wattage was way off from advertised. First AMP-25 only output 20watts in the same set up, all BF-8HPs only put out 6watts not 8 etc(says uv6-r in the box if you pay attention). Anyway... With the above set up between base and mobile stations we can only get transmissions around 1.5 miles, which is rather disappointing. Any tips tricks etc would be welcome. Was thinking of ditching the mag mount for a nmo drill mount but don't think that's going to do much.

For handhelds consider the Kenwood TK3180s for their ease of programming, durability that run on 5 watts with option to switch to lower power mode. The units themselves are not compact but with the KNB33L lithium batteries, you’ll shed a lot of weight and bulkiness compared to the heavy KNB32 NiMh cells. For programming you will need KPG89D software and a programming cable found on ebay. Some TK3180s run on SJ180 software (Like mine did) and won’t work with KPG89D but people recommend you stick to KPG89D. To enable KPG89D on these units, you need to get the SJ180 software and TK-x180 E&K firmware. (can be found online). 1st step is to open the radio with SJ180 and enable “Firmware Programing” found in optional features tab. After firmware programming is enabled,make sure COM Port is selected, then you write it to the radio through programing tab in SJ180. 2nd step is to install the firmware. Close the SJ180 software/program. Open the TKx 180 firmware FPRO file. A grey window will pop-up where you’ll click on folder icon. There you will search for file name ending in HEX something like “TK2180K_ REL22_1 HEX.” Hold down the S Key on the radio and power it on while holding the S key, this will enable programing mode on the radio.Then click on COM Port 3 in the FPRO file and Write the selected HEX file to the radio. 3rd step is to open KPG89D and program your radio. (I forgot the step of holding the S Key on radio and powering the radio to enable programing mode.)

I dont know much about the MXT 400, I do know there are other reviews on the site, some good, some not so much. I can say the Kenwood 880 is a strong commercial and emergency service radio that was used for years. They were designed for abuse and can take it. I also found the kenwoods are a little less cost wise if you do your research correctly. I purchased all of the mobiles at about $40 per radio, one for each vehicle, one base camp radio, and 2 for a portable repeater project I am doing. The portables were about $55 each since I had to buy new batteries and antennas. Still less than the MXT400's price of $250. Kenwood 880H (the 40 watt model) usually go for around 75-100, but even those you can get deals on. The nice thing about the 880/380's is that there are extra features on them. One feature we use is the texting feature. I've programmed 14-15 status messages using fleetsync and we can use them to text one another or the entire group. Fleetsync also allowed for Radio ID, which allows me to see who's calling even if they don't talk on the radio. One last thing, if I recall, the MXT does not allow you to store repeater information on the radio. You'll need to change the settings for each repeater you may use, or each time you change the channel. The Kenwood stores the frequencies into channels so you can have 5 different repeaters on one frequency using 5 different codes, and all you do is press up or down to change between them which is nice when your driving and cant watch the radio and the road at the same time. Im sure there are some pros to the MXT400 radio, but I couldnt tell ya any off the top of my head.

The attic install is less than ideal. Roof line install is a much better situation. Lightning is much less of an issue if your mast is grounded and you have a grounded inline lighting arrestor. I have a 55' tower 6 years and no strike. Go with the chimney mount and ground, you will be much happier.

Well, older equipment might be the way, or part 90 cheapo radios (Not sure if the Baofeng 777 is part 90 cert anymore) I use Kenwood 380's. You can usually find them on Ebay. I think I got mine for around 30 per radio, (3 radios, 2 chargers) Software is available for free on hamfiles. Simple programming and strong radios.

Legally? All any user of your license is required to do is to identify as WRDV917. Whether you are nearby or in the other side of the country or with or without cell coverage is not relevant. As @BoxCar suggested, you can add additional identification information, like unit number x or mobile x, or base, your name, or whatever you wish. But, that information is not required and actually has no official significance. Look at it this way. The FCC only wants to know what license a given station is operating under. In other words, your call sign. Any other identification is for your own purposes. However, the group you joined may have their own internal rules or standards and while not legally binding, might cause you problems with the group. You might want to ask someone if they have a set standard.

I might add that GMRS has tolerances as far as frequency that are far lower then most HAM gear. With GMRS being smack in the middle of the part 90 portion of the band it is important to maintain some type of standard as to not cause interference to the adjacent service. Requiring a type accepted and certified transmitter is the best way to do this. Posted this again just to be clear, I am a HAM but use part 90 gear for UHF and VHF. If the chart below posts you will see that typical HAM banded gear can allow error rates as high as 10ppm, With GMRS being a wide band service in the middle of the narrow banded part part 90 service its important to use certified transmitters. I have had plenty of HAM gear on my Aeroflex 2975, very little would pass 2.5ppm tolerance. http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/error.jpg

I did a short Youtube video on this. Got a lot of flak from RR defenders. They are sponsoring a bunch of off road channels on YouTube now so their re-badged overpriced stuff is getting more and more out there and gaining more supporters who IMO either dont' know any better or are getting free stuff from them anyway. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChdwiXtukR4

Rugged Radios is a complete rip off. I would never buy anything from them, the radios they sell are rebranded CCRs with a ridiculous markup.