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I was camping on Washington Island (WI). It's north of the "thumb" in Wisconsin. Basically the northern part of Wisconsin. I was scanning for local repeaters using a Wouxun 905g and started hearing some traffic. I tried making contact, but they said they couldn't make out what I was saying. I walked out of the woods to a nearby hill (about 20ft higher than my campsite). I made clear contact, asked where the repeater was, and my jaw dropped when I found out it was a repeater in Evanston Illinois, 230 miles away as the crow flies. It turns out they have a 200ft+ tower with a Yagi pointed north. The radio path was almost entirely over the lake. 230 miles! My mind is still blown. Anyone else done something similar?

Don't assume the FCC checks a radio for anything other than the requirements to meet the certification requested. They don't even test most units; they leave it up to independent but certified labs. The FCC is also not interested in any software provided for a radio, so it isn't included in the testing as it doesn't generate any RF from itself. If the radio's output deviates from those submitted for acceptance, then the radio no longer meets certification -- period. Most radios that are type accepted for parts 90 and 97 are also Part 15 which is where the radio does meet it certification as amateur radios are all Part 15. I'll lay odds that any GMRS certified radio also carries a Part 15 certification as part of the FCC ID.

I'm familiar with that repeater. Although the yagi is pointed to the north-northwest, 99.999% of its path to your location was over the lake, which has zero obstructions to block the signal. ?

A decent tuned flatpack will work. It needs tuned properly for the frequencies in use. Anything less than 3db of loss is a plus. IF your dealing with portables at an event dont focus on TX power. A 4 watt portable is not going to talk any further to the repeater. Also running lower power will help the decense and loss factors. IF the repeater can do 25ish watts on TX then after duplexer you should be 10-15. Everyone gets focused on TX power.

Congratulations on the 230 miles! 50 Miles is my personal best on UHF. I agree with others that perhaps tropospheric ducting may have assisted in propagation. It would be nice to know if communications is consistently that good between those two locations or if it varies greatly. Michael WRHS965 KE8PLM