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You could build a far better repeater from commercial gear... cheaper, and be type accepted too...

The straight answer is: No, a longer antenna will NOT help. An antenna HIGHER UP IN THE AIR will help tremendously. Those guys walking around with a 19-24 inch long rubber antenna flopping around from the top of their walkie-talkies are on VHF ham bands, not GMRS. ...or else they are idiots. BTECH will gladly recommend that you buy anything that they sell, if it makes you happy.

Since I couldn't get a direct answer, I downloaded and installed chirp. I am assuming you used Chirp's default FRS/GMRS lineup. If that is the case, you should have FRS 1-14, and GMRS 1-8 All channels are simplex. GMRS 1-8 are actually channels 15-22 on the bubble pack radios. If both radios have the same FRS/GMRS chart installed then they should both work if they are on the same channel. Now, you keep talking about GMRS channels 9 and 10 which is NOT in the factory chirp file which surely you now understand my confusion and why I asked about how you have programed the radio. GMRS 9 and 10 could be FRS 9 and 10, they could be repeater channels, they could be a goofed up channel you put in. Without seeing data and instead being given info on power output means I cant help you figure out where the mistake is. It could be a programming error, a bad code plug, could be one of the radios was defective, could be human error. Without the info I asked about I cant even begin to figure out what is going on.

I am hitting the armored one repeater no problem. That repeater is another story about how do I get into this repeater stuff. In a nutshell I missed the back letter on the 2nd code. I was driving myself nuts with that until I changed to the correct code.... I am not sure what tone codes you are refering to for the Oconomowoc675 repeater. I thought all I da to do was set the encode and decode settings in the KPG-49D software to 141.3 and I would be good to go. I looked at the page again for the Oconomowoc675 repeater and I don't see any mention of PL tones. Than again, this is all new to me so I am probably overlooking something..... And thanks for all the replies to my questions. Hopefully I can reciprocate all the help I am getting today in the future to somebody else.

I am awaiting shipment of a BTECH V1 and was thinking I would have access to a repeater to communicate, not just listen.

It depends on how the repeater is set up. Some have a really sensitive squelch threshold, others require a lot of quieting before the repeater unmutes. Some repeaters also have insensitive receivers, resulting in you hearing the repeater much better than it hears you. Combine a touchy squelch with a deaf receiver and you'll have a repeater that you sound very scratchy into, but you'll always hear the repeater's tail clearly.

Interesting I had the same problem today. Key up, talk, tail end of the repeater blip. I turn on my other GMRS to the same repeater and I don't hear my self, I just hear the repeater tail end. It is just a matter of being a weak signal and out of sight? Supposedly this repeater has a 13 mile radius and I was maybe 8 miles away. Is the fix to get a better antenna?

Here's the one I used. https://www.scadacore.com/tools/rf-path/rf-line-of-sight/

Try this site for a nice topo map https://www.ve2dbe.com/rmonline_s.asp

I have the same problem with both my HT's, due to elevation and LOS limits. I am only 3 miles away (LOS) from a repeater and need 40/50 watts to hit it, but in another direction, I can hit a repeater 22 miles away with 5 watts, because nothing is in the way. Have you done a topo eval? Some members here have shared some online resources that are pretty cool for a quick review.

Are you set for wideband (25kHz) or Narrowband 12.5? If you're transmitting a narrowband signal into a wideband repeater (which most GMRS machines are) - then you'll sound like a weak signal getting in.

You'll get yourself all twisted up trying to find "Legal" Part 95a radios with Type Certification. Especially if you want a certain standard of actual (not just advertised) performance. Take a deep breath, and go searching the FCC violations for ANY instance where a user was fined specifically for using Part 90 radios in GMRS. You'll search high & low without finding a single instance. Your options for good (and relatively inexpensive) radios increases dramatically once you take the step over to Part 90 equipment (which meets or exceeds all Part 95 technical spec's.) I am not a lawyer, your mileage may vary. Caveat emptor, etc.

Personally, I like this idea. However, I suspect it will be controversial. May I suggest that rather than adding this to the official repeater listing, you could create a thread in the Private Discussion topic to report member discoveries. In that case, other members with more information, like the owner does not want it used by others, or it is officially open, etc. could also contribute.

I hope to write some of these at some point, just waiting for the site rebuild

I would suggest an addition to the repeater listings that would allow some degree of crowd sourcing of current status. In other words, let users add something like a QSL card or signal report. It could be simply binary as did or did not work. Or, it could be more detailed. Location at the time of the report, signal strength, etc. Then, "last verified access" could be added to the repeater report page and, possibly, people could search on, reported active in the last: 30, 60, 90 days, etc. In the signal report it might also be possible to report if anything differed from the listing, like Frequency, PL, or location. The specific information would not be given, except in the case of a fully-open repeater. But, at least other users would know there had been a change. And, finally. The owner could receive an, optional, email each time a signal report was received. In any case, the basic point is even if the owners do not update their listings, other users could help a bit.