gortex2

The OP asked one question, whether to use channel 17 or 17RP to talk to his repeater.  It was answered in a straightforward post (use 17 RP) almost immediately afterwards.
Why are you guys fighting over this? Go to your rooms.

Dude for have issues. I feel sorry for your family.

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Really. He said it was channel 17 or 17R. That's pretty obvious and no need to know which radio it is. He even posted the frequencies. Go back to your basement now. 

I made my own spark gap transmitter as a kid.....it knocked out television and radio and this made my father hunt me down and paddle my backside. There were sparks flying from my metal "gap" pieces all the way to the ceiling, scorching that ceiling a bit. From then on, I was restricted from using ignition coils for "experiments"....but then ended up with a crystal AM radio receiver kit i was encouraged to solder together. 
Now, I have an amateur ticket, GMRS license (hence being here), commercial licenses, and a soldering iron. I spent some of this weekend repairing a 1944 R-100/URR receiver, that needed recapped. 

It might be difficult to fit, but for that distance a 4 element Yagi would work.

Bought the DB-20G mobile with a GM-30 handheld combo.....that GM-30 is the one wish I had not spent money on. It is a decent radio, but already having considerably better radios, to include those also made in China (Anyton 878) as well as Motorola, Harris, and other radios made in the United States (some Motorola is still made in Chicago, as is Harris), that GM-30 is a little too basic for my likes. 
I gave it away to a neighbor that wanted to get into GMRS, and seems to like it a lot. So, all was not lost. My issue with it was that it was only UHF, just did not fit my larger hands well, and had very tinny audio. Neighbor uses it, but has also bought nicer and more expensive radios since. 

Well....so here is where I got with this. Size and Weight constraints left me with a 60 watt, 24 volt panel. The system has been running for 4 months so far. The months of July and August have been basically nothing but rain and overcast. Today we had a sunny morning and a rainy afternoon. I hiked up and took some reading on the solar controller. Even with all the clouds it was still making more power than the RT97 was using. 
 
I will try and get backup there just prior to the first snow and see how the readings are.
 

Speaking of how smart someone is...
 
A neutron walks into a bar and says "Bartender... I'll have a beer." The bartender says "Sure" and slides him a beer.  The neutron said "Thanks! What do I owe you?", and the bartender replied "For you? No charge!"

In this discussion the radio make isn't important as the OP has told us he has two choices, channel 17 or 17rp. The channel needing a code is 17rp, the repeater channel rather than the simplex channel, 17.

I usually let people be people, but did you go of your meds? Seriously, you are repeatedly getting on discussions, and acting in a manner that is consistently antisocial, and lacking the common courtesy.

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The choice for a repeater antenna depends on how deep your pocketbook is. The better antennas are all large and have gain measured in dBd. DBd gain is a multiplier over the power radiated from your unity gain J-pole. If a gain figure is published using dBi, subtract 2.1 from the figure to get the true gain of the antenna. So, a 2.1 gain dBi antenna actually has zero or no gain over a half wave dipole. Considered as the best all-round antenna is the CommScope DB 420-B radiating over 8 times more power than its input. 

The best antennas for bandwidth are the ones designed for single band, commercial use. Dual  and tri-band antennas are all compromises made to tweak the antenna to work acceptably.

Yeah, we have chatted about this a bit here. Just my personal opinion, the KG-1000 is a great mobile radio if you are a radio geek and really enjoy bell's and whistles AND you are a technically inclined person. The MXT500 is great if you want a full power, full bandwidth, repeater ready radio... no frills, works out of the box and not confusing to operate. 
 
There are many good radios available when you look at new market specific gear, as well as legacy LMR equipment... but those two just seem to be my top favorites.

Correct code 25 is 156.7. Be advised that will be both TX and RX in the radio.
 

They never came with N connectors but I know alot of guys who swapped them out to N but normally N(F) and not N(M) like yours shown. Look for voltage on the BNC, or Audio. May be a discriminator output for going to a meter. I have some BNC cables for my CDM to go to my service monitor while aligning simulcast. Could have been used for something like that. I guess the other thought is they broke RX and TX to separate lines. Not sure why but seen lots of modified stuff over the years. If it was used as a control station on a TX combiner and RX multicoupler I can see why.
 

I run the Larsen NMO 150/450/700/800 on my work trucks. Additionally the MSI Tri Band antenna sweeps pretty good on both 2M and 440 and GMRS. I'd use a commercial antenna before a HAM antenna most days. Just like the performance and quality better. JMHO

The repeater NOT generating tone during ID is usually a function of the radio and not the controller.  And it's going to depend on where the PL is generated.
If the controller is generating the PL and NOT the repeater, then the controller can be configured to NOT generate PL during ID. 
If the repeater is programmed to generate the PL and you key it via one line it's gonna generate the PL, if you are using mobiles as a repeater then this is also going to be the case.  Again you have to control where the PL is generated. 
The problem with generating the PL in the controller and not the radio is the level of the PL.  Wide band FM is 5Khz deviation at full send.  The PL is generated at .7 to .8Khz deviation.  So much lower than the intelligence.  But the radio will typically have filters on the input that drop all audio below 300 Hz which is where the PL is.  If your radio / repeater has a FLAT AUDIO input then you can send the PL up the audio line and it will be transmitted. 
But the level issue still exists. 
To set the levels, you about need a service monitor to get the levels right.  If the PL is hot, then it's gonna be heard in the transmitter intelligence and people will ask what it is and complain about it. 
 
So lets go back to the i20r.  What's wrong with it to begin with?  Those were not exactly complicated and the failures were typically easy enough to repair. 
Typically they worked well unless they got hooked up wrong and a control transistor got huffed.  Care to share the issues with it?
 

The i20r controller he had sent CW ID in CSQ mode. Only PL was on when the RX radio received the PL (tones). The Communications Specialist controller does the same thing. Its all how the controller is programed and radios are programmed. Built many of those repeaters when i was at the shop with the i20, zetron, comm spec and other controllers at the time. Most commercial controllers will accomplish what the user is looking for. A ham/hobby controller will not. 
@mikevman I'd search ebay for a CommSpec TP3200, CSI 32, Zetron CR-310 or any of the Trident controllers. They pop up on and off but finding one the size of the i20 may be challenging. Most are 19" rack mounted. 

It is only legal on gmrs. Unlocking it will make it an illegal radio.

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But Class A of the Citizens Radio Service did... GMRS is essentially a renaming of that "Class" system.  The renaming took place in 1987... FRS is a mishmash promulgated by RatShack  in 1994, originally using only the interstitial channels (and creating 467 interstitials).
I no longer have the paper, but my original GMRS license (not labeled Class A) had the two frequency authorization. I'd have to dig up the Maxon radio to find which two...

I have been saying this for 2 years. Every day its worse and worse. GMRS had a purpose and folks want to change it. I dont see folks screaming to add repeaters and P25 to MURS. Get over it and use GMRS for what it is. 

I have been saying this for 2 years. Every day its worse and worse. GMRS had a purpose and folks want to change it. I dont see folks screaming to add repeaters and P25 to MURS. Get over it and use GMRS for what it is. 

I have been saying this for 2 years. Every day its worse and worse. GMRS had a purpose and folks want to change it. I dont see folks screaming to add repeaters and P25 to MURS. Get over it and use GMRS for what it is. 

Couldn't you just leave the CW ID blank when configuring the controller?

Hypothetically if one didn’t use the amplifier there wouldn’t be the necessity of asking the question.