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The best receiver won't do anything if there isn't enough power in the transmission to activate it. It take all three, power, sensitivity and an effective radiator.

Get a used Part 90 Moto repeater and run it at no more than 75% of its rated power with an antenna mounted as high as possible.

Your problem is not the radio as much as the antenna (or lack of one). The only way you are going to get that range is by using an antenna mounted to the highest point on the vehicles.

Check out the information at www.repeaterbuilder.com. It will go a long way to answering any questions you may have, but the first question you need to answer is what do you intend for your repeater? Will it be a local resource for family and friends or will it be for general use? What, and how much area do you want to cover? Finally, are you ready to spend between $300 and $2000 for a repeater?

The difference (offset) for GMRS is 5 MHz. The repeater receives its input signal at 467 MHz and transmits at 462 MHz. Tones can be added to the repeater to limit access. You would add tones to the repeater's input frequencies and the same tones to your personal units output frequency, So, the repeater setup is opposite what you set up for your personal units. Your personal units will transmit (with tone) on the 467 frequency and listen on the 462 frequency.

Here's some other options: Amazon.com: Wishring Re-02 Mobile Antenna Ground Uhf-f 10-1300mhz for Car Radio Motorola Icom : Electronics Amazon.com: TRAM(R) 1192 Pre-Tuned 150-154 VHF / 450-470 MHz UHF Dual-Band Land Mobile Glass Mount Antenna, Black : Electronics

OffroaderX has detailed the differences between the radios so he choice is yours. Personally, I would not use the Midlands as GMRS sparked me going into ham radio and my GMRS radio gave me the ability to explore what was available locally on the ham VHF and UHF channels. If you think there is the possibility you would want to go farther, then the choice is pretty clear. The limitations of the Midland radios will also come forward if you plan on doing some traveling.

I'm going to use a Tram 1191 on the left rear window of my Discovery to work both VHF and UHF frequencies.

State personnel use state frequencies and feds use federal ones.

You're not too old! The Tech test is easy and opens the 2M 144 MHz and 70cm 440 bands for use. I passed the test easily with a little study at 76 years of age.

As stated, there are no base station radios for GMRS. It would be a useful product if someone built one with a decent front end that worked off AC. The repeater channels could be hard coded with an easy access menu to add tones as required. The remaining channels are simplex and the FRS channels could be receive only as FRS requires a permanently attached antenna. The FRS antenna could be built into the case much like a cell phone though.

It depends. The repeater antenna is probably on a high site so it covers the largest area. Your antenna must be in a spot where it would be in line-of-sight of the repeater antenna and not blocked by large buildings or trees. If the terrain between the repeater and Castle Rock is blocked by hills, mountains or whatever a 1000W radio probably wouldn't get through.

Laird. My Laird is less than 7" including the NMO base.

Having a repeater won't guarantee you will be able to talk. Both your radio and the handheld your wife uses have to be able to reach the repeater. The repeater itself has to be operational during whatever emergency that is causing your wife to use it rather than a cell phone or regular landline phone. Just as a figure-of-merit, you are looking at a cost of about $1500 to install the repeater, power and antenna. It can be done for less, but as you stated it is for emergencies, you'll want a repurposed commercial unit over a low end unit manufactured for casual use.

None of these would work. It's a 2019 HSE. I've looked at the Lidos and the only one that could be acceptable is the cup mount but not with two people in the car.

I had that Comet antenna bite the dust when I was in a Chevy. The mount just came off the car when I hit about 60 MPH. The magnet has a good 25 pound pull to detach it from the sheet of steel I have it currently o.

No such place to install a control head in my Discovery. I'll probably have to put it on top of the dash with the radio body in the cargo area.

I know of several jurisdictions under 90.20 that run their repeaters "backwards." One of which is a statewide agency.

Check the Motorola Solutions website for dealers near you. That's the best bet.

As a new ham I find the ARRL useful. The amount of information available on multiple topics makes the dues worthwhile.

With hand-helds a longer antenna will let you receive a signal a little better but do extremely little for improving your talk-out range.

The SWR curve is bell shaped. As you go up or down from the resonant frequency the SWR will increase so your question can't be answered until we know if the resonant frequency is higher or lower than your target frequency.

Other than radio or TV the only service that would want to be high on that tower would be a paging company.

One antenna I like is the Comet CA-2X4SR. It's more than the MFJ but the usable bandwidth covers both ham frequencies and FRS/GMRS. It is available with either an SO239 or NMO mount option.

The mount is a standard 3/8 24 or for an antenna with a 3/8 male end with the thread count of 24 turns per inch. This is pretty much a standard for CB antennas but quite common for dual band V/UHF as well. Where it is isn't the best choice, but will work fairly well.