gortex2

The heat shrink I got is the stuff with sealer used for underground well lines. The glue is pretty tough. I have used it in the past and it works really well. Made by T&B. Hopefully mine is only up until spring and i start my tower install.

The heat shrink I got is the stuff with sealer used for underground well lines. The glue is pretty tough. I have used it in the past and it works really well. Made by T&B. Hopefully mine is only up until spring and i start my tower install.

This, a-men.
 

De ja vu... This is an excellent point. I first got bit by the radio bug when I was a kid in the 90's. No cell phones radio was the cool thing. 2007 I started getting FCC licenses starting with my GROL. Fell out of the hobby and started up again 10 years later. When I started up I had a friend start up with some cheap Chinese mobiles from Amazon. I bought a couple Baofeng handhelds that I didn't have much issue with. He ended up dropping out due to not getting what he wanted out of the underperforming radio just like you said. We have an excellent HAM community here but I'm not much into talking to complete strangers, I wanted to communicate with friends and family. So I dropped out of radio again until this year when I decided to give GMRS a shot because one station license could be shared by my household.

I'll just point out that if anyone wants to do UHF DMR, the FCC already allows for that. It's called Part 90 Private Carrier (FB6 designation). Go get a 10-year license - get a Coordinated Frequency pair, and have at it. You no longer need to be concerned about getting Part 95 certified equipment, you don't need to worry about who qualifies as a "Family" member, and you can go ahead and "rent" airtime to anyone you want to, at any price you choose to. There's no requirement to charge a set amount or fee to anyone as a Private Carrier - you get to set your own rates (Zero if you wish), and you get to decide who uses your system.
 
In 10 years' time, DMR will probably be the defacto standard for UHF/VHF conventional systems, but the FCC is slow to recognize trends when it comes to their standards of "interoperability". I think you'll spend a bunch of time herding cats & trying to get everyone to agree on the same type of Digital modulation scheme if you try to get the FCC to make a formal rule change for Part 95 GMRS.

Not to drag this topic further into further CCR bashing there is one important item to consider. The desire to get into radio is something many dont do any more nor have any interest. So the good thing is some people still want to. The issue with the Baofeng or any CCR is the performance as many he mentioned. The performance can impact the users "taste" of the hobby and many times they loose interest cause it doesn't do what it should. I have had this happen in the SAR world and also Amateur world on top of my GMRS repeaters. 90% of the folks that buy those complain they can't hit the repeater or are so broken up and unreadable more folks tell them its junk. This causes them to loose interest and leave the radio world. 
 
For me I started grabbing cheap good radios when i have extra cash and leave them sitting. When i get a person who wants to use a baofeng I hand them one of these and let them use it side by side. Normally 2 days later I get "hey can i buy this from you". There is alot of good radios out there dirt cheap that works well for GMRS. I recently picked up 6 HT1000 portables for $50.00. Threw some $20.00 batteries on them and programmed up for GMRS. I have one left in the box. 
 
If your truly interested in radio get a reputable radio or your expectations will not be met.
 
JMHO

Not to drag this topic further into further CCR bashing there is one important item to consider. The desire to get into radio is something many dont do any more nor have any interest. So the good thing is some people still want to. The issue with the Baofeng or any CCR is the performance as many he mentioned. The performance can impact the users "taste" of the hobby and many times they loose interest cause it doesn't do what it should. I have had this happen in the SAR world and also Amateur world on top of my GMRS repeaters. 90% of the folks that buy those complain they can't hit the repeater or are so broken up and unreadable more folks tell them its junk. This causes them to loose interest and leave the radio world. 
 
For me I started grabbing cheap good radios when i have extra cash and leave them sitting. When i get a person who wants to use a baofeng I hand them one of these and let them use it side by side. Normally 2 days later I get "hey can i buy this from you". There is alot of good radios out there dirt cheap that works well for GMRS. I recently picked up 6 HT1000 portables for $50.00. Threw some $20.00 batteries on them and programmed up for GMRS. I have one left in the box. 
 
If your truly interested in radio get a reputable radio or your expectations will not be met.
 
JMHO

This is a store-forward unit.

I'd look at why your repeater doesn't receive as well as it should.  If it can transmit out with full quieting to 15 miles at just 7 watts, then a 4 watt portable should talk back in from that distance. A good used band pass filter & a receive pre-amp would set you back less than $250. What's your effective receive sensitivity measured at the site? (how strong of a signal does your receiver system require before it opens the repeat audio path?) What's the noise floor? Do you have any desense when the repeater begins to transmit?
 
Your idea of satellite receivers is worthwhile, but you're already seeing that it's limited due to the lack of frequency spacing and spectrum if you stick to GMRS.

NMO27 on the roof is your best bet for your application. Its easy to remove and cap when not needed or in garages. Flexible and works really well. Heck 90% of the time on the interstate i run a VHF 1/4 wave on my CB for RX only. Works fine for 1-2 miles around me. If i need more range i throw the NMO27 on the mount. (run the vhf for car wash)

By "coring", if you mean removal of part of the inner foam dielectric to get the connector on, It's a pain, but it can be done by hand with a carpet knife or other razor knife if you are very careful.  I've installed LDF4-50 type N connectors before with nothing but a hacksaw, box-cutter, needle nosed pliers, soldering gun, and a pair of wrenches.  ..and you need a very skinny, or thin wrench to get on the body of the connector.  A high quality Craftsman or Snap-On wrench won't fit.

I might add that GMRS has tolerances as far as frequency that are far lower then most HAM gear. With GMRS being smack in the middle of the part 90 portion of the band it is important to maintain some type of standard as to not cause interference to the adjacent service. Requiring a type accepted and certified transmitter is the best way to do this. Posted this again just to be clear, I am a HAM but use part 90 gear for UHF and VHF. If the chart below posts you will see that typical HAM banded gear can allow error rates as high as 10ppm, With GMRS being a wide band service in the middle of the narrow banded part part 90 service its important to use certified transmitters. I have had plenty of HAM gear on my Aeroflex 2975, very little would pass 2.5ppm tolerance. 
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/error.jpg

What are you doing that your 6" antenna doesn't clear something? I have an MXT11a on my Jeep, along with a 2m/440 Ham antenna and a 114" CB whip. I do some of the most aggressive trails in the mid-Atlantic and I have never bent, broken or lost an antenna.

What 1/4 wave are you using. I have always run the Motorola whip and have had ambulances come in with the whip bent completely flat but still in the chrome nut. I know of a few folks that run VHF on a side by side and run the same 1/4 in VHF. I just can't imagine ripping a 1/4 wave off without other damage to the quad. 

Also what are you using for the ground plane ? the plastic top doesn't help at all and a mount in steel plate would work much better.

The FR4000 does have some receiver issues. Mine has been to ICOM at least 4 times so far. Seems to have more issues in warm weather, but happened once in the winter. I'd do a full PM on the base and make sure its on frequency and doesn't have desense. 

I just have to ask, why would you set up a repeater if you have no idea how to program it or how it works? I highly recommend reading my post here. https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/1402-you-just-got-your-gmrs-license-now-you-want-your-own-repeater/

I do the same thing at one of my GMRS sites. I had a commercial LMR system (452.xxx) and combined our .650 repeater via a duplexer and isolators. In all reality if you look at a real transmit combiner all it is is a filter of some kind, alot of times the same exact filter that a duplexer is made of. 
 
My RX combiner is the same as I filter 457.xx and 467.xx only.

I do the same thing at one of my GMRS sites. I had a commercial LMR system (452.xxx) and combined our .650 repeater via a duplexer and isolators. In all reality if you look at a real transmit combiner all it is is a filter of some kind, alot of times the same exact filter that a duplexer is made of. 
 
My RX combiner is the same as I filter 457.xx and 467.xx only.

As long as the duplexer covers that frequency range you can tune it any way you like. I have tuned a duplexer to work like a combiner for 2 transmitters. Works great as long as you include isolators in your design.

I think Corey hit the nail on the head. You get what you pay for. I see this in my field for work daily. Customers put in a radio system on cheap then complain. It doesn't matter if it a garage GMRS repeater of a full blown countywide TLMR system. If you cheap out on features, option, subscribers, shelters, etc stuff will not meet your expectations. I have some cheap GMRS mobile radios and use them for what they are, being a cheap radio I can throw out. My go to radios cost over $5000 each but I use them for public safety along with my hobby stuff. There are alot of reasonable priced part 90 radios on the market and with some education can be very nice GMRS rigs. 

I think Corey hit the nail on the head. You get what you pay for. I see this in my field for work daily. Customers put in a radio system on cheap then complain. It doesn't matter if it a garage GMRS repeater of a full blown countywide TLMR system. If you cheap out on features, option, subscribers, shelters, etc stuff will not meet your expectations. I have some cheap GMRS mobile radios and use them for what they are, being a cheap radio I can throw out. My go to radios cost over $5000 each but I use them for public safety along with my hobby stuff. There are alot of reasonable priced part 90 radios on the market and with some education can be very nice GMRS rigs. 

I think Corey hit the nail on the head. You get what you pay for. I see this in my field for work daily. Customers put in a radio system on cheap then complain. It doesn't matter if it a garage GMRS repeater of a full blown countywide TLMR system. If you cheap out on features, option, subscribers, shelters, etc stuff will not meet your expectations. I have some cheap GMRS mobile radios and use them for what they are, being a cheap radio I can throw out. My go to radios cost over $5000 each but I use them for public safety along with my hobby stuff. There are alot of reasonable priced part 90 radios on the market and with some education can be very nice GMRS rigs. 

I think Corey hit the nail on the head. You get what you pay for. I see this in my field for work daily. Customers put in a radio system on cheap then complain. It doesn't matter if it a garage GMRS repeater of a full blown countywide TLMR system. If you cheap out on features, option, subscribers, shelters, etc stuff will not meet your expectations. I have some cheap GMRS mobile radios and use them for what they are, being a cheap radio I can throw out. My go to radios cost over $5000 each but I use them for public safety along with my hobby stuff. There are alot of reasonable priced part 90 radios on the market and with some education can be very nice GMRS rigs. 

As a side thought, if GMRS is something you enjoy and plan to keep using save you penneys and purchase a new part 90 radio with real features and the ability to program 1000 channels any way you like. Yes these radios can be priced from 300 to 800 but well worth it. I have several HAM rigs in the 800 to 3000 range, an Aeroflex service monitor that costs me many thousands, its my hobby and I invested it. I would love to see anybody find 1 case of the FCC tracking down somebody and issuing a fine for using part 90 gear because its not going to happen. Calls to the FCC will get you a response like, so long as we are not investigating you for other violations your part 90 radio is just fine. I have run into FCC field officers at commercial tower sites and have addressed the question in person showing them my GMRS setup (Motorola XPR5550 with handheld control) and the response was, that's a nice radio. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR plain and simple, cheap is cheap for a reason.....