WSJJ679

I have only handheld radios, ranging from 5-10watt and I connect them to a 35" NMO antenna in my car or the truck - they REALLY reach out and have zero issues talking for many fars. Using Chirp to program the radio to scan through the simplex channels 1-22 (separate from the repeater versions of 15-22) and set to "skip" over the repeater channels (otherwise it would be scanning dozens of versions of the same frequency) you will have the abillity to hear channels and then arrow up/down on your radio to that frequency's repeater channel that you assigned on your radio. Sorry, if you've already arrived at your solution and this was unsolicited, but thought I'd share my experience w/ HTs and NMO antennas in vehicles.

I can usually hit this repeater from Hillsboro with ease and certain spots in Newberg. Nice clear signal on it.

I use a 5RM (unlocked) with a Diamond K412SNMO mount on my hood, connected to this antenna: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHM7WC2W?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title I use an SMA Female to UHF SO239 Female RG58 Coaxial Jumper Cable between the coax & radio. I can only imagine how good this setup would be if I used a 20-25W mobile radio, because even with the inevitable signal loss due to the adapters, it outperforms my expectations and blows me away at how well it does. It reaches any repeater I want and TX/RX are crystal clear. Hood mount was $70, antenna was $44, radio was $23. It's loud & clear and I can grab it for the trail or use it as a mobile radio.

I've experimented a little with it on my HT and I can hit the repeater from my living room with the counterpoise ON, cannot with it off. The voice clarity is in my opinion, about 50% cleaner with it ON. I haven't tried it on Ham, but GMRS it's a game-changer for my HT

Exactly!!

YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!! Yes. First day here and I'm here for this.