Radioguy7268

If you think using codes will "protect" you - then have at it.  If you're really looking at things from a SHTF perspective, analog radios are problematic to begin with, especially if you're in a single frequency/channelized domain.  If I have bad intentions, I really don't need to know specifically what you're talking about, I can pretty much determine how many different people I hear talking, and I can easily triangulate your signal to figure out where you are. 
 

Sometimes, yes.
They need to be properly installed, the rest of the site equipment needs to be properly grounded/bonded and protected. They are not magic. If you don't do the rest of the job right, tossing in a Polyphaser is just a waste of money.
If you pay attention to the rest of the job, install the surge protection properly, you will reduce your chances of damage to something closer to zero.
Search up the Motorola R56 standard. There might even be a video or two on it. It's a heavy read, but you will find out what you need to know to do it right.

Is it possible that you are misreading the cable, and it's really "RG8/U 95 foam" ??

Those compact "flat pack" duplexers are not really designed for 50 watt applications. I also didn't quite catch who was tuning those duplexers. I've seen some sold on Ebay that are horribly tuned, and others that have been tuned quite well. I would not blindly trust that a CCD (CheapChineseDuplexer?) is actually tuned to the frequencies requested when it was ordered.
I would also tell you that the amount of isolation between transmit and receive doesn't really allow you to run 50 watts through one of those flat packs (even when it's properly tuned) without some level of desense. In short - a portion of your transmit signal is going to leak over to the receive side and cause you interference - AKA desense, reducing the performance of your own repeater.
And finally - the point I always get back to.  Every rookie out there wants to get a full 50 watts, because more power is always more better - right?  Well, think about what you're doing. You may get a full 50 watts heading into your duplexer, and if you're lucky, 30 or 35 watts heading out of the duplexer & up to your high gain antenna.  But, what are you talking to? Hand held portables at 4 or 5 watts? How far can they talk back in?  You just reduced their talk-back performance by leaking some transmit power over to the receive side, probably killing 2 or 3 dB of receiver sensitivity. Now that 4 watt portable is effectively talking in with the same effectiveness as a 2 watt portable, because you're reducing the receive side performance all so you can crank 50 watts into the duplexer.  Back the power down to 20 watts, still have ERP to spare, and suddenly your 4 watt portable gets back into the system a bunch better, repeater coverage is balanced between transmit and receive, and as an added bonus, parts live longer due to reduced power.
Turn down the power. Improve your system performance.

Those compact "flat pack" duplexers are not really designed for 50 watt applications. I also didn't quite catch who was tuning those duplexers. I've seen some sold on Ebay that are horribly tuned, and others that have been tuned quite well. I would not blindly trust that a CCD (CheapChineseDuplexer?) is actually tuned to the frequencies requested when it was ordered.
I would also tell you that the amount of isolation between transmit and receive doesn't really allow you to run 50 watts through one of those flat packs (even when it's properly tuned) without some level of desense. In short - a portion of your transmit signal is going to leak over to the receive side and cause you interference - AKA desense, reducing the performance of your own repeater.
And finally - the point I always get back to.  Every rookie out there wants to get a full 50 watts, because more power is always more better - right?  Well, think about what you're doing. You may get a full 50 watts heading into your duplexer, and if you're lucky, 30 or 35 watts heading out of the duplexer & up to your high gain antenna.  But, what are you talking to? Hand held portables at 4 or 5 watts? How far can they talk back in?  You just reduced their talk-back performance by leaking some transmit power over to the receive side, probably killing 2 or 3 dB of receiver sensitivity. Now that 4 watt portable is effectively talking in with the same effectiveness as a 2 watt portable, because you're reducing the receive side performance all so you can crank 50 watts into the duplexer.  Back the power down to 20 watts, still have ERP to spare, and suddenly your 4 watt portable gets back into the system a bunch better, repeater coverage is balanced between transmit and receive, and as an added bonus, parts live longer due to reduced power.
Turn down the power. Improve your system performance.

QFT!  Talk with a frequency Coordinator, tell them that you want to put up your own Private Carrier system for "Part 90 eligibles" and license your DMR system as FB6 repeaters. Yes, it will cost you more than $35 up front, but now you have the keys to your DMR kingdom, and you can DMR to your heart's content, because every user on your FB6/M06 system now runs under your fancy Private Carrier license. You can (but don't have to) even collect user fees for the use of your system.
 
 

QFT!  Talk with a frequency Coordinator, tell them that you want to put up your own Private Carrier system for "Part 90 eligibles" and license your DMR system as FB6 repeaters. Yes, it will cost you more than $35 up front, but now you have the keys to your DMR kingdom, and you can DMR to your heart's content, because every user on your FB6/M06 system now runs under your fancy Private Carrier license. You can (but don't have to) even collect user fees for the use of your system.
 
 

That's not correct. When transmitting in DMR both time slots are sent so the entire 12.5/25 kHz channel is used even if it is carrying only one timeslot.

I'm close enough to know where (and what!) the Qmart is, and trust me, they are not the only local users on 151.625.  I've got a license for that frequency & use it in my VHF rental fleet. My biggest problem on that channel is a bunch of paving contractors who use it as an unlicensed "chat channel" while they're driving between jobs. Judging by what I've heard & how far apart they've been, they're using at least 25 to 40 watt mobile radios on what's supposed to be a low power channel.
Not quite sure why you would willingly admit to operating unlicensed on a freq, but if you're looking for a blessing I doubt you're going to find it. However, in reality you are not the first and probably won't be the last to violate the rules in VHF.

What are you using to measure the power output?  Do you know it's an accurate measurement? Do you have a way to measure frequency stability and frequency center if you start changing power levels?
What do you wish to accomplish by raising the power, other than to reach the "maximum allowed"?  Raising the power on a smaller repeater generally increases the heat being generated, and reduces the duty cycle of the repeater. Many smaller repeaters were advertised as being 50% or even 100% duty cycle at high power, but in reality they don't last when you run them at full power for more than a few minutes at a time.  I won't get started on the overkill concept of using a 50 watt repeater to talk to 5 watt portables.
Sometimes less is more. I'd rather have 5 watts ERP at 100 ft. above average terrain than 50 watts at 10 ft.
Not exactly the answer you were asking for, but hopefully something to think about.

The "best" is one that works well & fits your budget.
Are you looking to work simplex to local portables? Mobiles?  Or, do you just want to communicate through distant (or local) repeater(s)?  If it's through a repeater, do you want to work multiple repeaters in different compass directions? Or, just one specific repeater? How far away are the repeaters you want to work? Any issues of terrain? 75 miles in Kansas is a probably a different solution than 25 miles in the foothills of Colorado.
The answers to those questions would likely change the suggestions you are going to get, and you might want to put up a budget range or limit to define the dollars you'd intend to spend.
I've seen people work a repeater with a paperclip for an antenna. I've also seen guys working earth-moon-earth contests. Those are probably the 2 extremes you could fall between.

What are you using to measure the power output?  Do you know it's an accurate measurement? Do you have a way to measure frequency stability and frequency center if you start changing power levels?
What do you wish to accomplish by raising the power, other than to reach the "maximum allowed"?  Raising the power on a smaller repeater generally increases the heat being generated, and reduces the duty cycle of the repeater. Many smaller repeaters were advertised as being 50% or even 100% duty cycle at high power, but in reality they don't last when you run them at full power for more than a few minutes at a time.  I won't get started on the overkill concept of using a 50 watt repeater to talk to 5 watt portables.
Sometimes less is more. I'd rather have 5 watts ERP at 100 ft. above average terrain than 50 watts at 10 ft.
Not exactly the answer you were asking for, but hopefully something to think about.

I'm close enough to know where (and what!) the Qmart is, and trust me, they are not the only local users on 151.625.  I've got a license for that frequency & use it in my VHF rental fleet. My biggest problem on that channel is a bunch of paving contractors who use it as an unlicensed "chat channel" while they're driving between jobs. Judging by what I've heard & how far apart they've been, they're using at least 25 to 40 watt mobile radios on what's supposed to be a low power channel.
Not quite sure why you would willingly admit to operating unlicensed on a freq, but if you're looking for a blessing I doubt you're going to find it. However, in reality you are not the first and probably won't be the last to violate the rules in VHF.

I'm close enough to know where (and what!) the Qmart is, and trust me, they are not the only local users on 151.625.  I've got a license for that frequency & use it in my VHF rental fleet. My biggest problem on that channel is a bunch of paving contractors who use it as an unlicensed "chat channel" while they're driving between jobs. Judging by what I've heard & how far apart they've been, they're using at least 25 to 40 watt mobile radios on what's supposed to be a low power channel.
Not quite sure why you would willingly admit to operating unlicensed on a freq, but if you're looking for a blessing I doubt you're going to find it. However, in reality you are not the first and probably won't be the last to violate the rules in VHF.

Thats a MCC 7500 VPM console mic. While I've never looked at the pinout for converting it to another device it may or may not work. There was never a cable to go from this to a mobile radio so mic element may be different. I have also never seen the pinout for the gooseneck portion only the pinout of the VPM.
 

SWR meter: a measuring instrument most often used to ruin the tuning of good antennas.
NanoVNA: an inexpensive electronic device that is used miscalibrated to obtain the results that are misunderstood.

Motorola P/N is: HVN9025 Professional Radio CPS which runs under Windows 95, 98, XP, 7 - not so sure on Win10. Originally 32 bit, but the later versions would do 64 bit.
R06.12.05 (released @ December 2011) is the one to look for as it is the last one that allows wide or narrow selection on a per-channel basis (it also fixed a number of problems including the 64 bit Windows USB problems, and it can be found "out there". Revision R06.12.09 was the very last one, however it is narrowband only unless you have the wideband entitlement key.
There's also a ton of firmware flashes available (and probably needed for really old first generation units). There's also lots to know if you picked up an eBay refugee that was flashed/converted from an early LS trunking model.
The go to bookmark for anything Waris (Pro Series mobile CDM & HT750/1250) is:
W9CR.net
 

Motorola P/N is: HVN9025 Professional Radio CPS which runs under Windows 95, 98, XP, 7 - not so sure on Win10. Originally 32 bit, but the later versions would do 64 bit.
R06.12.05 (released @ December 2011) is the one to look for as it is the last one that allows wide or narrow selection on a per-channel basis (it also fixed a number of problems including the 64 bit Windows USB problems, and it can be found "out there". Revision R06.12.09 was the very last one, however it is narrowband only unless you have the wideband entitlement key.
There's also a ton of firmware flashes available (and probably needed for really old first generation units). There's also lots to know if you picked up an eBay refugee that was flashed/converted from an early LS trunking model.
The go to bookmark for anything Waris (Pro Series mobile CDM & HT750/1250) is:
W9CR.net
 

You need professional series software for that radio. Version 6.12.08 was the latest. Astro will not work.

I say this over and over. At least once a year folks decide we need to change GMRS to suite their needs and who cares what others do. I have been in GMRS since we rented a repeater PL. Alot has changed but in the end not much really did. analog and simple has been the game. If you want DMR or other stuff go to ham or business. 

I've said it before, I'll say it again. If you want to have your own repeater channel, don't bother trying to petition the FCC to change GMRS rules - just go set yourself up with a Private Carrier FB6 on a properly coordinated UHF business channel.
You won't need to convince anyone of your need, you just pay your money & go.
You can do Analog, DMR, NXDN, Encryption - whatever. Create your own special 10 codes, use speech inversion, whatever floats your boat. You can even crank out more than 50 watts on your repeater (although there are actual ERP limits to deal with).)
 

I've said it before, I'll say it again. If you want to have your own repeater channel, don't bother trying to petition the FCC to change GMRS rules - just go set yourself up with a Private Carrier FB6 on a properly coordinated UHF business channel.
You won't need to convince anyone of your need, you just pay your money & go.
You can do Analog, DMR, NXDN, Encryption - whatever. Create your own special 10 codes, use speech inversion, whatever floats your boat. You can even crank out more than 50 watts on your repeater (although there are actual ERP limits to deal with).)
 

I've said it before, I'll say it again. If you want to have your own repeater channel, don't bother trying to petition the FCC to change GMRS rules - just go set yourself up with a Private Carrier FB6 on a properly coordinated UHF business channel.
You won't need to convince anyone of your need, you just pay your money & go.
You can do Analog, DMR, NXDN, Encryption - whatever. Create your own special 10 codes, use speech inversion, whatever floats your boat. You can even crank out more than 50 watts on your repeater (although there are actual ERP limits to deal with).)
 

I've said it before, I'll say it again. If you want to have your own repeater channel, don't bother trying to petition the FCC to change GMRS rules - just go set yourself up with a Private Carrier FB6 on a properly coordinated UHF business channel.
You won't need to convince anyone of your need, you just pay your money & go.
You can do Analog, DMR, NXDN, Encryption - whatever. Create your own special 10 codes, use speech inversion, whatever floats your boat. You can even crank out more than 50 watts on your repeater (although there are actual ERP limits to deal with).)
 

I've said it before, I'll say it again. If you want to have your own repeater channel, don't bother trying to petition the FCC to change GMRS rules - just go set yourself up with a Private Carrier FB6 on a properly coordinated UHF business channel.
You won't need to convince anyone of your need, you just pay your money & go.
You can do Analog, DMR, NXDN, Encryption - whatever. Create your own special 10 codes, use speech inversion, whatever floats your boat. You can even crank out more than 50 watts on your repeater (although there are actual ERP limits to deal with).)