gortex2

According to this rule, you can operate Part 90 type-accepted radios such as Motorola and Kenwood radios, on GMRS channels legally.  Part 90 type-accepted radios are Land Mobile Radios (LMR).
See below:
95.335 Operation of non-certified transmitters prohibited.
Except as provided in paragraph (a) of this section, no person shall operate a transmitter in any Personal Radio Service unless it is a certified transmitter; that is, a transmitter of a type which has obtained a grant of equipment certification for that service, pursuant to part 2, subpart J of this chapter. Use of a transmitter that is not FCC-certified voids the user's authority to operate that station. See sections 302(a), (b), and (e) of the Communications Act (47 U.S.C. 302(a), (b), and (e)).
(a) Exceptions. Under certain exceptions, non-certified Personal Radio Service transmitters, or transmitters certified for use in the land mobile radio services may be operated. Any such exceptions applicable to stations in a Personal Radio Service are set forth in the subpart governing that specific service. See e.g., §§ 95.735 and 95.1735.
 

And I bet there's a good percentage of the HAM repeater are still not used very much these days.

I test every radio I get in my house. I dont video them or normally document a ton of stuff becasue if I did I'd have piles of documentation that I just dont have room for. I utilize both a R2670 General Dynamics and my Anritzu LMR Master (later mostly now). Personally @marcspaz spent way more time I would arguing with someone over did he or did he not test something. Some of on this forum work in the LMR field and do indeed have knowledge and equipment to do this. Sorry if many of you dont understand this but its a reality. I didn't get where I am working for a lead LMR manufacturer by not knowing what I was doing. @marcspaz is in the same boat. There are others on here. Learn from those folks. WE have lost a few good techs from this site over threads like this. 

I test every radio I get in my house. I dont video them or normally document a ton of stuff becasue if I did I'd have piles of documentation that I just dont have room for. I utilize both a R2670 General Dynamics and my Anritzu LMR Master (later mostly now). Personally @marcspaz spent way more time I would arguing with someone over did he or did he not test something. Some of on this forum work in the LMR field and do indeed have knowledge and equipment to do this. Sorry if many of you dont understand this but its a reality. I didn't get where I am working for a lead LMR manufacturer by not knowing what I was doing. @marcspaz is in the same boat. There are others on here. Learn from those folks. WE have lost a few good techs from this site over threads like this. 

I test every radio I get in my house. I dont video them or normally document a ton of stuff becasue if I did I'd have piles of documentation that I just dont have room for. I utilize both a R2670 General Dynamics and my Anritzu LMR Master (later mostly now). Personally @marcspaz spent way more time I would arguing with someone over did he or did he not test something. Some of on this forum work in the LMR field and do indeed have knowledge and equipment to do this. Sorry if many of you dont understand this but its a reality. I didn't get where I am working for a lead LMR manufacturer by not knowing what I was doing. @marcspaz is in the same boat. There are others on here. Learn from those folks. WE have lost a few good techs from this site over threads like this. 

I test every radio I get in my house. I dont video them or normally document a ton of stuff becasue if I did I'd have piles of documentation that I just dont have room for. I utilize both a R2670 General Dynamics and my Anritzu LMR Master (later mostly now). Personally @marcspaz spent way more time I would arguing with someone over did he or did he not test something. Some of on this forum work in the LMR field and do indeed have knowledge and equipment to do this. Sorry if many of you dont understand this but its a reality. I didn't get where I am working for a lead LMR manufacturer by not knowing what I was doing. @marcspaz is in the same boat. There are others on here. Learn from those folks. WE have lost a few good techs from this site over threads like this. 

You definitely want to recheck the VSWRs if it wasn't tuned/check with the spring.

One of them needs to change frequencies. Are the other seven repeater pairs occupied?

ITs been like this for a week now. I have multiple changes to process. Guessing the squirrels took a nap. 
 

The first GMRS radio I used was a MT2000. I programmed a couple local repeaters in my company radio and this was back in the mid 90s. My company car had a GE S825 so I programmed a couple GMRS channels in that radio.
I ended up buying a MT2000 for my first GMRS radio. I carried my portable when I wasn't in my company car but I did have most of the company channels programmed in my personal radio.
I ended up retiring in 2006 and I had to give up all my radio toys and the company car. My first mobile GMRS radio was a Motorola MCS2000. I needed a radio that would accommodate other UHF freqs than just GMRS. I also have a Business Radio Service Part 90 license.
I don't recall what was on the market for cheap GMRS radios around 2006 or even if Midland was into GMRS or not at that time.
I did end up buying a Midland MXT400 several years ago and then a Midland MXT500 a few years ago. I sold the MXT400 and I still have the MXT500 radio. The MXT500 radio is the radio I loan out to my radio-less friends on Driving Tours and Trail runs
They are good radios as a simple easy to use radio. I just wanted more radio features so I started buying Motorola XTL5000 both Dash and Remote Mounts and some XTL2500 radios. Currently, I have two high powered XTL5000 remotes, two Mid Power XTL5000 remotes, and two XTL5000 Dash mounts, and three XTL2500 remotes, and I still have the MCS2000 radio.
Last year, I won a refurbished Kenwood TK880 as a raffle prize and I use that radio in one of my cars that won't accommodate the installation of a mobile radio.
As for portables, I have well over 40 portables of various Motorola types of VISAR, HT1000, MT2000, MTS2000, Astro Sabers, XTS1500, XTS2500, XTS3000, XTS5000, and DTR700.
I do not own any CCRs, except for a Wouxun KG1000G +. I had to see what was all the excitement about this radio. I wasn't impressed at all.
Maintaining the batteries is a real chore every couple of months. I should be conditioning batteries every 30 days however, I just have too many batteries to keep up with them.

They only put out 5 watts on TX. I run the VHF version for some of my SAR sites and they all run thru a TPL 100 watt amplifier. Thats how they would ship when purchased new. They are a solid little unit so If your looking for a commercially made unit that will last this is one to use. 

They only put out 5 watts on TX. I run the VHF version for some of my SAR sites and they all run thru a TPL 100 watt amplifier. Thats how they would ship when purchased new. They are a solid little unit so If your looking for a commercially made unit that will last this is one to use. 

I believe that’s patented Motorola technology. In that case you’re limited to Motorola radios. I guess if it’s just for your family it’s likely no big deal. You can program the radios for them.

I have a $18 WiFi electric switch connected to my repeater so I can shut it down from my phone from anywhere (with internet connection).

Can't go wrong with the brands used by Public Safety agencies if you want reliability, longevity, performance, and cost-effectiveness over a long period of time.
If you buy cheap, you get cheap. You don't see Public Safety agencies using some of the cheap antennae previously mentioned.

I have the inReach service with my Garmin Tread 10 Overlander Off-Road Nav System in my Jeep. Also, my system has the SOS feature in addition to the email and texting features.

As an RF engineer who has designed receivers for over 10 years, I can say that SINAD is not a receiver metric. SINAD (Signal In Noise and Distortion) is a measurement parameter to which receiver performance is measured. dBm (dB-milliwatt) is far and away the most common receiver sensitivity metric in the RF design world. Sure FM broadcast receivers are measured in dBf, (dB FemtoWatt) but that is not typical elsewhere. Actually, in the receiver world, Noise Figure (F) is the best metric as that speaks to the RF front end without impacts from the audio circuitry, see below. 
To the person who posted dBm sensitivity measurements: Surely you used some proper RF service monitor to perform this measurement. May I ask what "weighting" you used on the audio? A or C weighted? it does make a subtle difference...
Hope this helps.
 

@WSAK691 I have been sitting back reading and I've noticed that I don't have to share any pictures of anything because you have already shown us your ass.  You are gravely mistaken in believing anyone here, especially me, has anything to prove to you.
 
I don't care about your opinion. I'm fairly sure no one else here cares about your opinion.  With the exception of providing some mild and waning entertainment as you continue to show us your ass, your incessant posting is doing nothing beyond solidifying your place in purgatory of the internet. 

Two days ago you didn’t know how to waterproof your coax connectors and today you’re lecturing Marc Spaz on receiver sensitivity measurements.
You posted a picture of a radio installation that looks like what Randy discarded last week. 

(Edited to remove mean-spirited attempt at humor.) 

In any case you’re just one more wannabe on the ignore list. 

So when you said "-120dbm vs -124dbm" that sounds like you're on someone's receive and measuring that anecdotally. Am I right? Because that's not typical receive sensitivity metrics.
 

LMR Antenna. Mostly DB404 and Laird FG4603 for home stuff. 

I use Comscope/Andrews Hardline (LDF4-50A) for mine but many can't afford it. If you want ebay and other places short chunks go on sale randomly. Some have had OK luck with LMR400. Keep it short and make sure you seal all connections from water and it would be a good start. I run the DB404 at minimum on all my repeaters. The Laird FG series is a nice starter antenna if funds are short. I do carry one in my camp stuff for my camp repeater. 

The Bridgcom is one choice and if purchased from Mygmrs would most likely come programmed to what you want and ready to go out the door. You would then need decent cable and a good antenna. 
While you can build a repeater out of boxes normally its easier to buy a complete bult unit. I had linked some others in another post here.
 
Remember antenna cable and antenna is am important part of the system. You want the best shortest cable you can use and a good antenna. 

As @Sshannon said in mygmrs store there are examples of repeaters for sale. 
https://shop.mygmrs.com/collections/repeaters-and-accessories
You can also look at the Midland Package that just came out. Its very similar to the RT97 but in a KISS method. 
There is no licensing of a GMRS repeater with the FCC. Its covered under your license. Many folks list it on mygmrs.com but its up to you. Regardless of the repeater you need to manage expectations. Locations and antenna height are far more important than power. a RT97/Midland on a 5000' summit with a good antenna will talk miles further than a 50 watt mobile with an Ed Fong antenna on your garage. Repeaters are good tools when implemented properly but can be costly to do if your expectations are a 50 mile radius. My GMRS repeater at home gets about 10 miles on a mobile with a GR1225 (25 watts - 15 to antenna)/ DB404 and 10' of LDF4-50 Hardline. If I could get it up in the air I could get more but it covers my area I need to cover fine. 

Starting with a base would be smart. If a base can't talk then a repeater wont fix that. Go with good cable and a decent antenna and you'll get a good idea on coverage.