TDM827

Exactly, don't know until you try. You have the coax and the pipe, sounds like a good excuse to do some "testing."

You got some great advice to first test simplex range, radio to radio, for your 20 acre homestead operation. But you also are interested in a repeater for extended range capability and allowing others to use it. Before you put down a chunk of money on a repeater, see if the friends you want to talk to are also in simplex range. If the Gillette topography allows for it you might get some good extended range on simplex. However, if you are in a rural area, making contact with more distant friends, or if you want to keep in contact with family when they head to town, a repeater may be required. Looking at the GMRS repeater map I don't see any repeaters covering Gillette. But there may be some unlisted repeaters in the area you can discover when settled in. If you go the repeater route, you will find good information and advice here on brands, costs, build tips and reasonable range expectations. Of course You Tube has some good stuff. Repeater-builder.com has some valuable information as well. As far as coverage, Scadacore.com has a line of sight map which will give you some very general ideas on what you might expect for effective radio to radio communications. All based on each radios map location, the topography between the two, the ground elevation of each unit and each radio's antenna height above the ground. It's not perfect, but it's really easy to use and a pretty good resource. Lastly, not are repeaters are equal. Your anticipated use, needed duty cycle (how often it's gonna be in use) and desired range will play a big part in the cost. Best of Luck

Congrats on the homestead. As far as handhelds, I am sure you will get plenty of great recommendations here. BaoFeng, Wouxon, Retevis, all make plenty of good GMRS handhelds at prices which will fit into your budget. Starting around $30 up to about $150. Just keep in mind Midland GMRS handhelds you can buy today are not repeater capable, so that will limit their effectiveness in your plan. They serve us great for "around the neighborhood communications." But if I had to do it again I would go with repeater capable handhelds, which I ended up buying anyway. More costly options includes include commercial radios, Kenwood, Icom, Motorola. Its a steeper learning curve and plenty of folks here will remind you that most of the commercial radios aren't "legal" for GMRS according the the FCC. Just search up these forums for commercial radios, grab some popcorn, and read the heated debates about the legality of commercial radios. In the end no one seems to care, well maybe a few. Repeaters, depends on what you want to use it for. The one you are looking at is a portable repeater that gets good reviews for what its designed to do. If you want a repeater at a base station with more coverage you are probably talking more in the $900 to $1200 range, unless you want to hold out for a deal on a pre-owned one. Lastly, Don't take my word for it. Recommend you check out the "Not a Rubicon" channel on you tube for more info before you spend your cash.

My next radio will be 50 W for the reasons discussed here. I can use reduced power when it makes sense and I can use full power if needed. Unless it comes down to budget, 50 W makes a lot of sense.

Just for context. With a Midland MXT115 (15 Watt) attached to a Midland MXTA 26 (6db) mag mount on a metal sheet in the attic, about 25' off the ground, I easily have coverage to: Up to 20 mi to the large / tall repeaters Simplex to 5W handheld in the field with varied terrain. In some directions 2.5 miles, in other directions 8-10 miles. If I want to hike to the top of taller hills I would expect 10+miles in some areas. If you want range, follow the recommendations posted here on the purchase of an external antenna and mount it as high as possible. A line of sight map, just google the phrase, will give you some very basic estimates on ranges at the specified height you plug into your base. In other words, if you are using an antenna plug in the height in meters to your base.

Vince, Michael, Thanks for the help on this topic. You really cleared some things up for me. Given the project goals (strong emphasis on local simplex operation yet repeater capable) and the local terrain, I am leaning heavily toward a mid-gain (4-7db) antenna between 3' and 6' long. Planning on bumping it up a bit so it's center is about 50' off the ground. If I can keep the cable run under 50' from our second floor up to the antenna I will likely go with Times microwave LMR-400 connected with the best quality connectors I can afford. If its over 50' I may upgrade the cable. So far likely antenna candidates are the diamond X50a, Comet GP-3 and Laird CRX450. But I need to do a bit more research on each as it seems like each have certain advantages. Thanks again

So I am trying to get a handle on the balance between vertical antenna length and height. It's understood getting a UHF antenna higher into the air is better, line of sight is king. What's not so clear is, do the lengths of GMRS antennas matter if antennas of different lengths are placed at a height resulting in the top of both measuring an equal distance from the ground. This would be with both antennas used on a 25W radio. In other words, will I see advantage with a 10' vertical antenna with a mast and antenna length combination resulting in the top of the antenna being 45' off the ground over a..... 4' vertical antenna with a mast and antenna length combination also resulting in the top of the antenna being 45' off the ground. Lastly, while researching antennas it seems like gain increases with length, but I am not sure if that's a rule. If it's true that antenna gain increases with length, should I be more interested the best gain for my topography, rolling and occasional tall hills in a rural agricultural area, over the length of the antenna, again with both being an equal distance from the ground. I am all for using repeaters, but for this project my main interest is in local simplex coverage. Any guidance would be most appreciated before I put down money on a base antenna.

Thank you axorlov and Lscott. I remain very impressed with commercial Kenwood and Moto handhelds and was glad to hear they can be repurposed for private use. Got a TK-3173, software and programming cable on the way. Still researching a12v battery eliminator pack, SMA external antenna and rapid vehicle charging kit.

I am researching commercial radios vs. the standard CCR offerings. After going deep down the rabbit hole I am leaning toward the Kenwood TK-3173 handheld, seems like a good quality radio others here use. Searching through the forums I think I have a decent handle on what it takes to set up the TK-3173. So far it seems that in addition to the radio also needed is the programming softward ( Kenwood KPG-101D) and a good quality programing cable (from bluemax49er). If I am missing something I would appreciate if someone with this radio could let me know. I also could not find any information about CTCSS and DCS codes in the online manual. Again, if anyone with experience with the TK-3173 could confirm that somewhere in the programming software there is the ability to set CTCSS and DCS codes for repeater use it would be appreciated. Thanks

Don't take it personally. Being located a bit North of you, just across the Wisconsin border, I also requested access to the Janesville and Madison repeaters some time ago and received no response. Perhaps the owners are busy, changed emails or simply want to limit traffic on their repeater. I plan on respectfully asking again sometime, but it's their repeater so it's really their call. Its my understanding the Monroe repeater has been down for a long time. Looking at it's last information update, January 2014, it may no longer be active. When you look at the MyGmrs map of repeaters remain aware there are toggles at the top of the page allowing you to view "outdated listings."