gortex2

Your never going to talk to a repeater 80 miles away on an HT....

I would find a better antenna personally. While I prefer professional LMR antennas for hobby use many have ok luck with TRAM- https://smile.amazon.com/Tram-1486-Land-Mobile-Antenna/dp/B0043310UE/ref=sr_1_15?crid=2LPYYEER358ZK&keywords=UHF+base+station+antenna+450-470&qid=1643383873&sprefix=uhf+base+station+antenna+450-470%2Caps%2C40&sr=8-15 You can get a 90' SMA to N(F) jumper cable -12" long - https://smile.amazon.com/DHT-Electronics-coaxial-assembly-bulkhead/dp/B00COXZ2RM/ref=sr_1_8?crid=3OQOSYUSLFXJB&keywords=SMA+right+angle+to+N+(F)+jumper+cable&qid=1643383690&sprefix=sma+right+angle+to+n+f+jumper+cable%2Caps%2C44&sr=8-8

Asstated GMRS is in the middle of the business band. Most any UHF 450-470 antenna will perform fine.

Its basically a ham thing that folks forced on GMRS. This is why I disconnected all of my repeaters from the internet. Really no need for it.

They make drill bits. NMO mount in the roof is the best mount you can have.

There are many ground studs in vehicles. Just because there is nothing on it from factory doesn't make it a bad ground. Remember all vehicles use the same body with various options. As said before I have the 275 in both the JT and JK. Have no issues with interference. I run a standard NMO on the JT on a back rack and a fender style NMO on the JK. I had tried the cooltech and rugged radio NMO mount on the JK and neither showed continuity to ground after installed so I would guess that could be part of your issues. I also use the inside B+ from the JT for my radios.

If I remember right you also have to select OST on the actual channel. I know MSI gear requires that.

To be honest that's been in the works for about 3 years. Our SAR team was working to get on a FS tower and thats when this all started. In the end its business. The Forest Service hired a company to mange sites. They want revenue so going after everyone.

Depends on car wash, but I take both my JK and JT thru many car washes with the antennas on the NMO mount. If its one with the spinning brushes I'll unscrew the NMO and put it inside.

If your house is 40' from the "radio shack" you can just ground the antenna at the radio shack. There is no need to run to the house. With that said remember that your "ground" wire from the repeater will be going back to the house via some sort of 110v power source unless your having a drop from the power company. If thats the case you definitely want surge protection on the 110 volt leads also going into the radio shack. The issue with cable is not all the transmit power. The more critical issue in any repeater is RX sensitivity. If your loosing 5 db in the receive line your almost killing portable use to the repeater. This is what many dont think about.

If this for a repeater you will never get your expectations with LMR 400 at that distance. As said a mount on your house would work better on the repeater. Setting up a repeater with inferior equipment will not help expectations. If you just use 3db thats half your power. If your already at 25 watts after the duplexer your even worse than what I had given you before. I think you need to rethink what your trying to do. At this point youd be better off buying the RT97, mounting it on top of the pole with the antenna and run power up the 150'.

Alot of cheap LED;s will cause issues with RF. First set of headlights i got for the JK were horrible and took the entire 2 meter band out. Switched to a quality set and it all went away.

Not sure its worth the work if your using LMR400. 150' of LMR is going to be close to 5 db of loss with connectors (maybe more depending on who assembles) and lighting arrestors. You'd have better luck with it on the roof of the house and 20' of cable. With a 50 watt radio you almost going to maybe have 15 watts at the antenna. RX will be just as bad. With the amount of work your putting into this I would highly recommend a better cable. I run 7/8" at a minimum anytime its over 100' on a tower.

Midland has also been making radios for 30+ years. My first GMRS radio was a 4 channel crystal radio from Midland. You ordered it with the channel you got licensed on. The other advantage is Midland makes a GMRS radio only. Its not a modified ham radio or other CCR based chip radio. While its not top of the line its built for GMRS and GMRS only. I think that goes along way in the simplicity and use of the radio. For many users that's what hey want. They don't want programming and other complicated items. They want to install it turn it on and use it. Midland has sold many GMRS radios since they started selling them and will continue to sell regardless what you or I want added.

The ghost antenna is nothing more than a rubber duck in a little plastic case. they are very specific in frequency range. They are used in LMR world for TLMR systems normally. They are not that good for GMRS unless your talking to folks nearby. Is that the antenna you specified as 2.4 db ? I thought the MTX500 shipped with the 1/4 wave which is not a gain antenna.

The laird is not what I call a repeater antenna. I wouldn't install it on a tower. Those are used primarily in the LMR world for control stations and similar uses. I guess if thats all you have thats what I would use over the HAM antenna.

I have yet to find a reason to upgrade my MTX275. I have never not been able to communicate with other Jeeps on the trail nor not able to hit a repeater that I should be able to. As said your not going to gain a ton by going up in power. Antenna is most critical point of any radio. I guess in the end what is the reason you think you need to upgrade ?

Thats not certified for GMRS use. Buy a GMRS radio.

Personally I'd use neither. If you want a repeater I'd order a commercial LMR UHF antenna. the DB404 is a solid performer on GMRS.

Many LMR radios offer MPL (Multiple PL). I use that on all my APX gear toselect different PL/DPL codes on the fly.

Hope you spend funds on a good chunk of hard line and a real antenna.

I carry the Garmin. Its $15.00 a month for messaging. https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/837461

I would not rely on GMRS for an emergency. Even in all my years of SAR FRS/GMRS has never helped us. For my work I carry a Garmin Inreach + Its $15 a month for piece of mind.

Our SAR team has been asked quite alot recently to help the county with EMA requests vs the ham guys. We have a much better radio system and all our members have needed training. I have pulled ham gear out of shelters all over the east coast due to horrible installs. Ive been a ham for years. Tried to work with our local RACES/ARES group and couldn't get them to do anything but the annual drill. I agree none of them would show up when the poop hits the fan. And the ARRL. Well they are no different. Useless.

Well thats always a challenge. Couple of ways I do it is first drill with a 6' mason bit. Also you can rent a Hammer Drill an adapter at many home improvement stores. I own mine but they make an adapter for a ground bar. Last choice is a BFH. If using option 3 I find putting a chunk of pipe with a cap (Iron pipe) helps protect the bar.