WRWM700

That's inaccurate.

If you haven't caught on, gortex there likes to pretend they have extensive knowledge of apparently everything GMRS. Yet does not have a clue how to tune an antenna or that you could run that repeater in analog mode. I'm starting to think everything they say is a "moot point"...

I take it you've never tuned an antenna. Not a problem. If you need an antenna to operate on a set of frequencies, you tune to the middle of your target range. GMRS operates on 462 and 467 MygiggleHurtz. You can do the math (I hope) to find the middle of the band. Wait, do you actually think because 464.500MHz doesn't have the label of HAM or GMRS you think this is "inaccurate"? Titles have nothing to do with whether or not a frequency is in the middle of the band in question. Not only that, with it being in the middle of the band, not only is it accurate, it's ideal. I do appreciate you making it abundantly clear you have almost no idea how to RF. Makes it easier to disregard your replies in the future. Now go out and do your own research and stop making stupid human comments. They waste everyone's time and make you look really, really silly. Just imagine the people who just read your reply there that do know how to tune an antenna. All the laughter and ridicule happening right now, because of you!

*Directed at WRTZ750* A commercial repeater will always be superior to these things. 2 moto MCS2000 series (or similar, Kenwoods are easier to program) with a repeater controller and proper vertical+horizontal separation of TX and RX antennas (the dB amount of isolation is cumulative) will get you started. Save up for a good duplexer. Used is fine. Then you can reclaim an antenna and the coax for another installation. Who doesn't want more antennas in the yard (besides the wife)? *No longer directed at WRTZ750* No one who uses GMRS thinks. Not "thinks about *insert subject*", just thinks. These briefcase repeaters are for very close range, portable applications. For tower (stationary) repeaters these things suck. Never even used one and I can tell you, they suck. Here comes the thinking part, so prepare yourselves. Quick note since people will bring it up: I was a cellular/pager/RF comms tower tech for United Radio in Syracuse, NY before I changed fields to IT. I have seen installations and test equipment Sad Hams could only dream of touching. I DO NOT have a HAM license, but if there are any Sad Hams who wish to deem myself as unqualified, please find the nearest short pier and talk a nice long stroll off of it. UHF Things To Know™: Height is king. LOS is required. Coax line loss is huge in the UHF bands. The higher you go, the more picky the RF Electricities get. Any duplexer that can fit in a briefcase that small WILL NOT WORK. $200 Chinese duplexers DO NOT WORK. OK knowing this lets take a look at a conservative situation. You antenna is 30ft up. Your coax run is 50ft of LMR400 (LMR is fine for duplexer connections from the ANT port to the antenna ONLY) to be able to reach the 40W briefcase repeater. Type: LMR400 Length: 50ft Frequency: 464.500MHz (middle of band) SWR: 1:1 (being generous) Pwr In: 40W (These are 40W because of shitty duplexer insertion losses BTW, actually a 50W xmitter) Matched Loss: 1.37dB SWR Loss: 0dB Total Loss: 1.37dB Real Pwr to ANT: 29.2W So your 40W repeater is really a 29W repeater in this case. Bump that up to a more typical 100ft run and it's a 21W repeater. This stuff is all calculated for and mitigated on a real tower. Simplest way to overcome this is with a decent dB gain antenna. Example: Cable Loss per 100 ft at Operating Frequency = 2.73 dB Cable Length = 50 Ft. Calculated Loss = 1.4 dB Power into Cable = 40 Watts Power out of Cable = 29.2 Watts Gain of Antenna = 3 dBd ERP of Antenna System = 58.3 Watts See? Now you're more than a 40W repeater. A decent antenna costs more however. The gain covers both TX and RX so no need for a preamp. Most antennas use dBi as the measurement because the numbers are bigger. They are not real, however. Subtract 2.17 from any dBi rating and you have the actual dB measurement. Now from looking around on here and reading the stickies, I cannot discuss how all of this can be easily and cheaply mitigated with a nice 100W commercial UHF radio for xmit on your repeater. There are many calculators that will show you what your xmit power will be in the situation above though and/or my inbox is open. Other options awarded to you with used commercial radios is the remote control head style radios. Most of those simply use an RS232 style interface. This can easily (fairly) and cheaply be modified to use CAT6 cable to extend the cable connection to up to 125ft. You could then mount the xmit radio much much closer to the antenna to shorten your coax run while also moving the transmitter farther away from the receive radio thus reducing desense more. GMRS can be great for you if you just do your research and think.

There is a level of overthinking here I didn't think was actually possible. 1. First off, these are rules, not laws. Secondly (and legally - wife is a lawyer) hidden meaning can only be determined on a case by case basis. I could say "Be sure to deliver the package where it will be seen" and literally mean leave the damn box where the idiot recipient will see it this time. Or I could mean leave the explosives where they would have the most effect. Until something has happened and the audio (just example) is played in court, it's just words spoken OTA. Those rules and regs are specifically there and constructed the way they are so that Uncle Sam can haul your ass off to Gitmo if you decided to use GMRS for terrorist purposes. Again though, until said terrorists do something or are placed under investigation, it's just words OTA. 2. The FCC does not have a 10 codes list because they are regional in nature and are not even uniform across counties, let alone the USA as a whole. They mean if you're using your 10-codes list, then that's OK, it's allowed. 3. At any time, you are not assumed to be hiding anything unless there's proof beyond a reasonable doubt you are. See #1. You can use any 10 codes list you want, including your own, without publishing it anywhere. No one will assume you're hiding something. They will assume you're some type of weirdo nerd radio person though, so be prepared for that. In conclusion, this is just a whole other kind of over analysis. @OffRoaderX made an excellent point in one of his videos: The number of GMRS rule enforcement actions by the FCC is 0. "They don't care." This is something folks who have used 11m band know all too well. 4W main/12W SSB PEP is the legal limit for power there. I can point you to countless FB groups, forums, YT channels, etc. of folks who not only know this, but flaunt it. We're talking 10,000W+ amplifiers, both tube and pill. Giant 7+ element, high gain beam antennas making their ERP 30,000+ watts. Let's make up a number of 100 for example purposes here. Every year, of those 100 wattmongers, maybe 5 will get busted and even then most times it's a fine issued ($5k+ so it does sting). No equipment confiscation, just a fine and a "don't do that again, please". Most times these folks make amps for sale and a "nice" one (one that has a decent LPF) that's say, 2000W will run about $2500-$3000. You can now just imagine how much they care about a $5k fine. "They don't care."