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MPPT Equalization mode is not the same as pulse desulflation or even similar to the devices that claim to pulse desulflate.

" Several companies offer anti-sulfation devices that apply pulses to the battery terminals to prevent and reverse sulfation. Such technologies will lower the sulfation on a healthy battery, but they cannot effectively reverse the condition once present. It’s a “one size fits all” approach and the method is unscientific. Applying random pulses or blindly inducing an overcharge can harm the battery by promoting grid corrosion. There are no simple methods to measure sulfation, nor are commercial chargers available that apply a calculated overcharge to dissolve the crystals. As with medicine, the most effective remedy is to apply a corrective service for the time needed and not longer. While anti-sulfation devices can reverse the condition, some battery manufacturers do not recommend the treatment as it tends to create soft shorts that may increase self-discharge. Furthermore, the pulses contain ripple voltage that causes some heating of the battery. Battery manufacturers specify the allowable ripple when charging lead acid batteries. Last" updated 2016-09-22 This is from http://batteryuniversity.com I am not aware of a quality charge controller that contains a desulfation stage.

I have run batteries for years and have tried a desulfalator and have yet to see any positive affect. I have charged from grid and from solar and a quality Charge controller is the most important element to maintaining expensive heavy batteries. I have seen chargers with built in circuits, batteries still last only around 3 to 4 yrs. I use an Outback Flex 80 for solar charging and I consider it among top of the line. for my AC charger I use a Samlex 2415UL. I maintain FLA batteries and these are the chargers I find work the best.

I'll leave coax suggestions to other users, However I do believe a full circle loop will allow you to enter through the wall easily. The loop will also act as a drip loop as well as reduce damage from movement wile servicing the ends. I would place your lightening arrestor at this loops prior to entry. Is your pole going to be stabbed into the ground and a eve bracket? or are you going to also use a bottom bracket?

Oh please do. And do not be afraid to ask more questions. Be sure to get all necessary info before your build, especially if your build incorporates a battery or solar panels.

There is not enough information to give you a single answer. Is there power avail. at the 200' site? You should not need a 40' antenna as Gmrs is not HF, However a short tower at the 200' site will help get your antenna above average mountainside foliage. there are many ways to setup a repeater, 2 mobile radios with a cable link. or you can purchase already made units. The Riton and Bridgecom repeaters are Part95 certified. I would not buy anything just yet, make sure you can get access to the 200' site, as a repeater at the base of mountain would be of very limited use.

I have not yet tested this radio, However I have tested many Baofeng and Pofung radios and they are strong rugged units.

You say your home is at the bottom of the mountain. Do you have access to the top of the mountain?

Gel or AGM batteries have a fixed cycle life. 300 to 500 is common. a daily cycle could result in battery needing replacement, annualy to every 18 months or worse. For such a remote location Gel/AGM could be well suited, if you don't care to carry distilled water to the site for maintenance. Most importantly is to purchase the appropriate size Amp Hour battery for your load. If you find your self wiring batteries in parallel, You do not have the proper battery and it will fail in short order. Batteries should only be wired in series so charging and discharge is balanced. When batteries are wired in parallel they charge and discharge unevenly and become unbalanced, unless batteries are removed from the parallel for an equalization charge routinely the batteries will fail sooner than later. Yes when using solar and batteries, less is more. No point in TX'ing 40 watts if 10 to 20 will do the job.

You are going to need More Array and More battery. You need to run an energy assessment on this equipment before you deploy this gear in the field. set up an antenna for testing. place a shunt and meter in power line to radios and take measurements of amp draw and do the math to find your daily Watt hour. go with the worst winter case and scale up at least 2 to 3 days anatomy. You will also want to balance/initialize brand new batteries on an AC powered smart charger first. Solar is only good for a few hours and can not do this. If you expect the batteries to last more than 6 to 8 months, you will need to go to the field site and run a generator and battery charger every few month for several hours. or whenever battery SOC is less than 70% after a full day of solar. I have done this project and it requires a lot of thought. My set up uses 2 X 100 watt panels MPPT charger and 2 X 100 AH batteries @ 24 volts, with a 13.8 volt step down. My system is a bit elaborate but still seems better than running a 12v system. MPPT CC's are expensive, you can do this with PWM @ 12v but plan it as 300 watts of solar. There is also a thing called a split array, or virtual tracking array. By aiming Multipliable panels SE, S, SW, can give you longer solar insolation and reduce the need to lug a generator to the site as often.

Just taking the exam for "General" helps prepare you for taking and passing it next time.

Wow! It's about time. I would get one but I need to be able to TX on VHF also.

I would run AC power to the location and keep all coax run as short as possible. As has been stated go with the higher location,

Some of those DB antennas are 15 feet long.

I used to have LMR400 from duplexer to the antenna. Now I have LMR600, however for a portable you do not want to have to deal with it's limited radius.

That thing will play double duty in the winter. If it get's cold inside just key it up a few times. LOL..

I have some items useful for portable deployment, My favorite is the park on monopole base. small and simple to use with a short section of mast. secured with the weight of your car or truck. can accommodate telescoping mast and keep your cable run short so you could use smaller cable like 195 or 240.

They are not happy with the sat dish either, but there is not much they can do about it. Access to the common air waves applies to Ham radio also but access to Satellite communications is more accepted and easier to get away with inside the HOA system. I am curious though, is this stealth installation to keep HOA unaware of the antenna or did the HOA agree to the stealth installation?

I had my repeater in a large tree for about a year. Mine was around 45 feet. worked very nice, but was a lot of worry, with wind here. so I finally got a tower. Also HOA, but voluntary. I actually enjoyed deploying an antenna in a tree, I enjoyed planning it, learning from mistakes and fabricating tree safe brackets and such. Was a blast!

Voice inversion isn't really private.

Welcome to MyGMRS Dennis, were glad to have ya...

Point to Point, using two Yagi directional antenna, assuming LOS, "Tower to Tower" you should only need a few watts. More watts seldom improves a less than ideal install. Height and true LOS is much more important for Point to point.

MURS does not allow repeaters.

A solar repeater set up can and has been done. But requires heavy expensive batteries. and more importantly maintenance of those batteries. Even lite use will kill a small battery in short order. Unless you employ a quality LVD= Low voltage disconnect, you could be replacing those expensive heavy batteries regularly. If you build a repeater from two mobile radios, you could run a simple 12 volt set up with 2X 6 volt Golf cart batteries. Depending on usage a single 12 volt battery may not be enough. Once you have your repeater average load figured out, you can determine the battery needed and size of array necessary to maintain said battery. Our repeater is a BridgeCom 40 watt, "not solar" I have a 35 AH AGM battery connected to it's backup port, It automatically cuts power back to 20 watts when on battery and still kills the battery in just a few hours of lite use. Do not buy junk Solar panel kits for this or really any worth wile project. the Harbor Freight 45 watt kit is junk and will produce 25 watts under the best of conditions. Unless solar panels are aluminum frames, stay away. Although an MPPT charge controller is ideal, this set up can be done with a cheaper PWM, you will just need 30 to 40% more array to make up for inefficiency. IMHO is better to just go with MPPT. and lastly, you will need a quality, locking, vandal proof environmental enclosure, to protect all of this expensive gear. Hoffman makes awesome enclosures.

I was out that way in June, Lake Anna and the area, I did not get a hang delay on that repeater or another one a bit further away. given the terrain, one would need a hilltop repeater setup or a nice 60 plus foot tower or access to.