most radios out of the box will preform well but some require a full tune to operate properly. see if you can find a service manual for it. the RSSI is likely to be too high. both of my Kenwood repeaters and 8180 needed tuning, but that isn't out of the ordinary for how I like my receivers to work. I had my 8180 too hot when I first did it. couldn't get the squelch to go tight at all. my 850's open at .23uV on their own, w/preamp my private one will do .14-.15. the city one I never tested through the RX network. one of these days I'll check it and the effective receive sensitivity, should take a half hr to do but I have to take the network off the air to do that.