gortex2

I think it is different depending on who owns the repeater. I have alot of funds into my systems. I did it so myself and others could use the service. I don't want unlicensed CCR junk on my repeaters for multiple reasons that I wont discuss here. I specifically have my repeaters programmed to help eliminate that. It still happens from time to time. I have never not given permission to a licensed GMRS user to use my gear. Have a valid license don't be an idiot and use it. 

I guess i have been in the LMR world way too long but i dont think i have ever seen a UHF repeater that did not use 5mhz. That is the standard in LMR and most licenses will show that. I agree its not spelled out in GMRS rules but I can't imagine anyone who would use different output and input frequencies as you described. Even in the Ham world most all UHF repeaters are 5mhz apart. I dont see a need for commercial providers to make a radio to be able to use anything other than 5mhz. JMHO

Correct. I know this and most true GMRS folks do. 99% of the time I use the Midland its on simplex to others on the same radio. I would much rather use my APX than a midland but as said before you need what others have. 

Start with a good quality 1/4 wave antenna on an NMO mount. If you find there are stations that you hear, but weakly, then try a 3db gain of some type. Lots of recommendations on the forum. But, most likely, you will be fine with the 1/4 wave.

The Puck antenna is ok for repeaters and LMR systems. It is about useless for any simplex operations. If you have and use a good repeater system they can e ok but thats about it. A good quality 1/4 wave will be fine in car washes and other places.

Not necessarily. The only repeater capable blister pack radios I’m aware of are the Motorola MR-355R (of which I own several), MR-356R, MS-350R, and MS-355R, as well as the Liberty 500. Radios such as the MR-350R, MR-360R, etc. are not repeater capable in spite of the R at the end of their nomenclature.
Personally, they’re mostly useless to me. ~1.3W PEP, narrow band, can’t do non-standard DCS octals or split tones (both of which are used on Front Range GMRS repeaters). Now I said mostly useless, not wholly. When in scan mode, if a signal is picked up, it’ll immediately identify which CTCSS or DCS tone is in use (if it’s one which is on the standardized list).
If it’s a small and pretty standardized list of frequencies they’d be using, maybe a 8 or 16 channel radio such as a TK-360, HT750… maybe even a BF-888S… might be a better way to go if split tones and/or non-standard octals are something you’d encounter.

It's worse than that, he said he will be using Rg58u. 

I finished up my install of my XPR5550e GMRS radio and Uniden 980.  The mic hang up clip is grounded so it stops scanning when i take it off the clip. This things great. I have CPS v16 so I can do my own programming. me and my dad have a XPR7750e too. so I have the radios set up so it will display who is transmitting. i can even send a signal to my dad so his radio rings until he answers and he can do the same.  My brother has my XTS3000 so when ever they transmit it comes up with there name. I have a Laird BB4505CR 5db and a Laird CB27S antennas. there both black.  

I’m new to radio with a ham technician ticket and the GMRS license too. No desire to set up a repeater but that’s because Corey and the other repeater owners on MIDWEST GMRS have setup such a wonderful system. Thanks Corey, Buddy, Scott ...etal...for making these repeaters available to us. You guys are very generous and we all appreciate your contribution to GMRS radio.

Corey is dead on. I spent many thousands of dollars on each repeater system i have online and have money sitting in new repeaters waiting for towers. It is not uncommon to spend upwards of $10,000 if buying all new gear. My last repeater that went online was a MTR3000 ($6500.00), Duplexer ($1800.00), 7/8" Hardline (175' @ 2.50'), DB408 - ($800.00), plus connectors, hangers, cable pulls, ground kits, ground wire. Yes we can all do this stuff for a lot less but it really depends on what you want out of the repeater.
 
If you start your post with "Currently running on two Baofeng 5R with limited range" then its not a repeater that we should be putting in a database nor one that will benefit you or others. The goal is to have a repeater that is beneficial to the end user. 
 
Since I moved south I have 2 repeaters, antenna's and hard line. Neither are up yet as i want it to be worthwhile. One is waiting on a tower for my house and the other will be on a 400' tower if i can ever work out an agreement with the owners. 

I have one and have had it up and running for several weeks. It is posted up on a mountain near me putting it around 1800 feet up. It is powered by a 14 amp hour SLA battery that is solar recharged. I have a simple N9TAX roll up SlimJim for an antenna. It's all just strapped to a tree right now; exposed to the weather.
 
The solar controller draws .01 amps. The RT97 draws .08 amps during standby. The RT97 draws 2.05 amps during 10 watt transmission. It reaches out 20-25 miles easy but again, it is at 1800 feet so my line of sight is great. 
 
I have been super impressed with it. It is a great option for off-grid repeater operations. I would include a few images but I don't know where to host the images anymore.

NOTE: RG-400u is NOT the same type of cable as LMR-400 or DX-400.  RG-400u is a smaller diameter, double-shielded cable, the size of RG-58u, for use as jumpers in a repeater system, or internal radio connections where signal leakage would be a problem.
 
LMR400 from TImes Microwave and its clone, the DX400 cable from DX Engineering is a larger cable, the size of RG-8u, that is supposedly rated for use up into the 400 MHz range with low-loss. It has its uses, and can be great for a GMRS base station, but not a repeater where it has to transmit and receive at the same time - that is where the trouble starts.
 
RG-400u, and its larger cousin RG-214u are Mil-Spec double-shielded, silver plated cables, specifically designed so that the signals between two closely-ran cables will not cross-talk into one another.  That's what you need is a repeater system.

Because GMRS is a service that exists for one simple purpose, providing voice communications in the local area, with a very low barrier to entry.
 
Note, there are people who try to turn GMRS into a sort of mini amateur radio, and there are amateurs, who try to build a pseudo-GMRS service for friends and family. But, in the end each service has its own intended applications and it’s own reason for existence and that’s why I am licensed in both

GMRS repeaters do not have to ID. The users of the repeater must ID when they use it. 
 
When I first became licensed, about 25 years ago, you had to designate on the application IF you were going to have a repeater, how many mobiles, how many portables.... also you had to designate which pair you were using for the repeater, your LAT/LON and calculate your ERP. You don't have to do any of that now. If the FCC needed repeaters to be "registered" they would still require that. 
 
Tower wise, mine is beside a barn on a hill, it's about 35 feet with a 18 foot ASP fiberglass stick on top. There was never a requirement for a site registration because we are under 200' tower height, and not in a flight path. There are TV antenna towers at 60 feet around here...so no issue there. 

If the reason that most people get the Midland is because they want an "out of the box, Part 95 legal radio" - then opening up the radio to a 25 kHz bandwidth (which the Midland isn't type accepted for) kind of kills the whole rational they started with. Might as well have gotten something like a part 90 radio that actually did 25 kHz right from the start, and saved the time & trouble. It would be just as legal (maybe more), half the price, and work twice as well.

I have mine setup the same way at a couple of sites, for the reason of the illegal users that were continually using the repeater both unknowingly and knowingly. After 6 months of trying to keep the bubble pack and other folks off the repeater I changed to a DPL and PL mixed configuration. All my commercial gear allowed this and it stopped interference. I spent alot of money on a repeater, tower, hard line, antenna, electric and other associated costs to be at a tower. Its for me to decide who get to use my repeater. 
 
On similar subject I have another repeater that was at a county park. I got tons of complaints on how it worked. every time I did a PM it was rock solid. One of the complainers was a ski patrol guy from a mountain nearby who liked to use that cause there radios didn't work. after 3 trips to the repeater and doing all sorts of testing I asked to meet him and look at his radio. He had the midland mobile (dont remember model) and a handful of bubble pack radios. I explained to him this was indeed the issue and as i explained that also realized other than him no one else was licenced. I attempted to educate him on the issues with the "junk" he bought however could not convince him.I volunteered to leave him one of my older HT's to use that weekend. Everything was fine. The following week when i picked up the radio he said he planned to get one..until he found what it costs. He was bewildered he had to pay $100 for a radio to use the repeater when he could buy a 2 pack on amazon of some other radio for $35.00.....At this point I gave up. Repeater has since been removed due to said group of non compliment users,. Sad part was this was installed at the county park for users of the park.
 
At my new house I have 2 repeaters. I specifically have one in NB mode as my parents have a Midland radio. Its still not ideal but it works for them.I run my channel in WB and still use my commercial gear. In the end its what works for the users of the system, and who maintains the system.

Just order a UHF NMO 1/4 wave UHF on a magnetic mount. The ghost or phantom antennas only work well with repeaters and good repeaters. I use them on my county TLMR system but we have 15 sites  in one county. For GMRS I run a 1/4 wave.

Correct. Unless your using pretty old programmable gear most stuff on the market supports both NM and WB. My radios are all programmed with both for this reason. Just know what is in your area and what you want to talk to. Knowing the gear you are buying is a plus. Most of the decent used gear that programs with windows does NB. There is still alot of old gear (GE MVS<MLS< Motorola GM/Maxtrac) stuff thats out there but normally a PITA to program so folks dont grab it like they used to. 

Keeping in mind, older part 90 radios are all wide band, while newer ones are narrow band. Though, some newer radios have the option to turn on narrow banding with appropriate software and/or permissions.

While the information above is useful - there is no correct answer to whether the FCC considers GMRS to be wideband or narrowband. The FCC simply does not care which bandwidth you use, either one is acceptable to them.
 
Most high profile repeater systems do use wideband - for the increased performance noted above.
 
There are valid reasons why people might want to use narrowband, mainly due to available equipment or interference.

I have a midland mxt275 in my truck, I know it isn't the greatest radio, but it works for me and the price was right. Bought it on sale direct from midland for around $130

He is in the south west corner of the state, near the NC/VA line, west of Martinsville.
 
 
 
I don't recognize the URL and the page won't load o my PC or phone. So, I can't really say for sure.

Your problem might be Midland is narrowband and the Btech can be either. Connect it to CHIRP and you can flip them all over to FMN, you might then get better decoding of the DCS tone then. Narrowband can sound "soft" on a wideband receive and might not be loud enough to decode.

This has already been tried and rejected. See: http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-turns-away-petition-to-allow-hams-to-operate-non-certificated-transmitters-on-gmrs 
BTW, it has been previously suggested in this thread that price/cost is a factor in certified vs. ham equipment. I am not really sure that is true. It is hard to make a comparison since there are not many HAM single band UHF radios. But, for a rough comparison...
 
GMRS -
Midland MXT400 $250
Midland MXT115 & MXT275 $150
Btech 50X1 $200
 
HAM -
ALINCO DR-435TMKIII $230
YAESU FTM-3207DR $169
 
So, I'd say while the GMRS radios are a bit more expensive, the price difference is not very significant and could well be accounted for by multiple factors like, lower demand, and certification costs. Also, you have to be careful to distinguish between radios manufactured for the ham radio market by vendors like Kenwood, ICOM, Yaesu, etc. and the low end radios labeled as "ham radios" because they are simply uncertified in any service. These include most of the CCRs

If you are transmitting from a mobile in your Jeep, operating at, oh I dunno, say 10 watts or more, chances are the handheld radio is being desensed. (Desensitization - The reduction of receiver sensitivity due to overload from a nearby transmitter.) The only cure to operate this way is to move the handheld radio away from the Jeep while transmitting, which probably defeats the purpose of what I think you're trying to accomplish. The further away you get, the better it will sound. The other alternative is to change the mobile radio to a radio that can be programmed for an odd repeater split.