BoxCar

Not legally. The FCC regulations generally prohibit different services from cross connecting.

Please think this through. You can't contain radio waves to a single country. There are enough issues with frequency assignments along the Canadian border (Lines a & C) and with Mexico in the south. Add into the mix the digital modes which can link to the Internet and you have another issue. The Tech test is not that difficult and for a person with some basic knowledge of electronics and radio it only takes an hour or so of reading through the rules to gain enough knowledge to pass the test. The training course from the ARRL is designed for those who have no knowledge of electronics or radio other than where the power and volume controls are located. There are enough people on both sides of the fence advocating for both higher and lower requirements to keep this argument going aover possible changes to "improve" the service or its attractiveness to new users.

Is the unit still supported by the manufacturer and/or are parts readily available? What's needed to program the unit and does the software on your computer.

Antenna analyzers like the Rig Expert won't do a good job on measuring the SWR on a HH antenna. You can get a better idea of its performance using a Vector Analyzer but, like Marc says, it takes both training and understanding of how antennas work.

I have the radio and it's pretty good for an entry level unit. I'm not impressed with the menu system on the radio, but the RT system software makes programming it fairly easy. I built mine into a small go-box with a 15 AH lifep04 battery. My primary V/UHF is the ICOM ID-5100. The display is much better.

That's a boat load of questions and right on point. As far as antennas, height is king. The higher the antenna, the further it is to the radio's horizon and coverage area. The type of antenna is dependent on what you are attempting to accomplish, the height above the average ground level in your desired coverage area and what the area contains as ground cover. Ground cover includes buildings so include them in your calculations. As for building out a repeater, go to repeaterbuilder.com for examples of needed materials and issues with the planning and construction of a repeater. For your power supply needs, add the required amperage needed for the transmitter running at its highest power and the amps needed for the receiver (and yes - you do need both) then add 20% for overhead. The questions you haven't asked will be about gain and losses in your transmission line and antenna. Antenna gain is reported using 2 scales, dBi and dBm. The one that counts is dBm as this is measured using real power rather than theoretical Dbm is dBi minus 2.l or a difference of about 40%. A 3 dB difference is either 50% less or twice the input power measured at the antenna input depending on if it is loss or gain measured in watts. For the best estimate of how your system operates, either as a base station or repeater requires a VNA or Vector Network Analyzer as it's the best device to measure transmission loss in your feedline and to tune your antenna to resonance. Yes, all antennas require tuning for optimal performance. Good luck on your dream.

You are using channels 23 through 30 to reach the repeaters aren't you?

If the cable is less than 25 feet a higher-grade cable won't buy you much.

It's difficult to say how much help a GMRS repeater would be in the situations that you state. The most common radios in any neighborhood will be FRS and they cannot access a repeater as they lack the input frequencies. GMRS requires an FCC license (well, you are supposed to have one) but those radios aren't in the bubble packs you see at the retailers. GMRS licenses can only be shared among family members and each team or group would have to have their own license or licenses. If you are going to put up a repeater, then one of the little 5W units connected to a Tram 1486 or Diamond X50 would cover the area your 40-foot tower has to its radio horizon. Using that small repeater also means the cost of providing battery backup is a lot lower as a $60 15AH battery could keep it running for a couple of days with moderate use.

Is the height difference the mast or antenna length? Unless the mast height changes you won't see much if any difference in the coverage.

If the simplex channel is trying to check into the net, why not go back to that person on simplex and give them the correct channel they should be using? They think they are on duplex and using the power allowed for a repeater channel.

Moto and Kenwood I believe are made in Malasia.

CHIRP is usually easier as you can see everything for that channel, make the needed changes and then save it once.

They inspected and probably seized all his equipment when they gained access to his operating site.

Have you checked with either of your local ham clubs? Like yourself, many are licensed in both services and can provide the contacts necessary to either find a local GMRS group or help start one.

What programming cable? There are lots using a counterfeit chip. It's best to use the Anytone cable.

Our firm coordinated many public agencies to allow cross-band repeaters. The fire service is one of the major users of these for fire ground communications. But again, these were all operating in the same service under Part 90.20.

Most 20 - 25W transmitters require a minimum of 8 amps power.

The FCC rules generally prohibit transmissions from one service to another. This means you can't cross-band from part 97 to any other service such as Part 95 or from one service under the same part. This prohibits CB being crossbanded to GMRS, FRS, or MURS and any combination of the services.

Try snipping a little bit off the end of your antenna and see if that helps. Really though, have you tested to see if your HH isn't being desensed by the repeater?

Welcome aboard the train!

D'Oh

Its been suggested several times

We had a recent presentation at one of the ham clubs I belong to on using a VNA. The presenter stated just for grins he measured some of the coax he had around the shack. He specifically stated he checked two different cables marketed as LMR-400 equivalent. One failed to meet the published specification for LMR-400 and the other was slightly better than published. The cable that passed had the cable manufacturer's name on it while the poorer cable didn't say who manufactured it. The one he had that passed was from The Wireman.

For your installation, you will be better served using quality coax like LMR-400. RG-8 and most variants are best at frequencies below 60 MHz. For a power supply, the Mean Well (also Meanwell) is an excellent unit. A 30A supply in the LMR series will provide all the power and filtering you'll need. For an antenna, the key point is higher is better - and that is elevation, not gain. J-poles are adequate and cheap. The better J-poles are copper tubing, not twin lead like the Ed Fong antennas. There isn't anything wrong with an Ed Fong, it's just there are better ones out there.