coryb27

That's not a mobile repeater in that pic, its a HAM operating HF. As far as a mobile repeater it really is a waste of time. I have done this already and it was a total disappointment.. Unless your car is at a substantial height advantage you will not have any better coverage then simplex. Again you can and will try to explain or reason away my logic without listening to what I and others have been trying to tell you. I have tried the mobile repeater, the setup was a 50W Motorola SLR 5700 with a 4 cavity BP/BR duplexer connected to a 5.5dB gain antenna on the top of my truck. After testing for about month I realized it had no practical use and only offered slightly more range than simplex, best part I ended up needing a jump after a day at the fair. Mind you this was a $2400 repeater, $800 duplexer with an antenna that was tuned using an Anritsu S331D. I promise I nor anybody on this site will try to steer you wrong, I hold a Commercial, Amateur and GMRS license, own and operate several large repeaters and have all the gear for building, testing and maintaining these kinds of systems.

Motorola gear is a pain to get programming software for but not impossible. I can take a week or longer to navigate Motorola's process but in the end you will have legal software and you can get the entitlement for wideband operation for free after some quick online training. I use Motorola for the options alone, in the truck I run handheld control heads and a long range Bluetooth speaker mic so I can use the trucks radio well in restaurants our friends houses. The same mic is also on my base paired with a desktop mic, its nice being able to go anywhere in the house and just carry a small mic that allows the use of the base. This gear is a little pricey but can be found used on ebay reasonable, its all comes down to personal preference.
 
Bluetooth Mic that can be attached to most of the newer Motorola XPR radios including portables.
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/handmic.jpg
 
This is the handheld control head, it is also the speaker and mic, 4 years old an not a single issue.
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/truck1.jpg
 
Radio Head unit is installed under the back seat.
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/truck2.jpg
 
The control head cable comes thru the map pocket allowing it to tuck away nicely out of sight.
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/truck4.jpg
 
Simple 1/4 wave gives great performance, i am able to hit repeaters 30 miles away and simplex 10 miles easy in the freeway.
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/truck3.jpg

Don't get discourage by the lack of users in your area rather embrace the lack of and if no repeater is available in your area install one. I have learned if you build it they will come. Start a club or group, put up a web page, start a Facebook group for your area etc.. You will be surprised how quickly like minded people  will get licensed to talk with others that share the same interests.

Don't get discourage by the lack of users in your area rather embrace the lack of and if no repeater is available in your area install one. I have learned if you build it they will come. Start a club or group, put up a web page, start a Facebook group for your area etc.. You will be surprised how quickly like minded people  will get licensed to talk with others that share the same interests.

Thats nice but pricey lol. Also I don't have a MOL account (I cant even figure out how to get one) making it difficult to get software, but it is nice to hear Motorola finally moved forward with their software accessibility lol. I still remember the DOS window and the big black box that needed its own power supply.

Motorola gear is a pain to get programming software for but not impossible. I can take a week or longer to navigate Motorola's process but in the end you will have legal software and you can get the entitlement for wideband operation for free after some quick online training. I use Motorola for the options alone, in the truck I run handheld control heads and a long range Bluetooth speaker mic so I can use the trucks radio well in restaurants our friends houses. The same mic is also on my base paired with a desktop mic, its nice being able to go anywhere in the house and just carry a small mic that allows the use of the base. This gear is a little pricey but can be found used on ebay reasonable, its all comes down to personal preference.
 
Bluetooth Mic that can be attached to most of the newer Motorola XPR radios including portables.
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/handmic.jpg
 
This is the handheld control head, it is also the speaker and mic, 4 years old an not a single issue.
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/truck1.jpg
 
Radio Head unit is installed under the back seat.
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/truck2.jpg
 
The control head cable comes thru the map pocket allowing it to tuck away nicely out of sight.
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/truck4.jpg
 
Simple 1/4 wave gives great performance, i am able to hit repeaters 30 miles away and simplex 10 miles easy in the freeway.
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/truck3.jpg

I got all my guys.(all of two of them) there GRMS license. 

If you program a Baofeng UV-5R to GMRS you need a GMRS licence. I see you understand that the radio is indeed a HAM radio and by the part 95 rules that your GMRS licence is authorized forbids the use of such equipment on GMRS. I won't get into all the details but here is the simple and best way I know how to explain this. Since no test or radio knowledge is required to get a GMRS licence its operating rules require certified transmitters to maintain the integrity of the service. GMRS is located within a tiny sliver of the part 90 commercial radio service used by business, ambulance services, fire depts, and well you get the picture. By using non certified low quality transmitters you risk causing harmful interference to other licensed services, if caught you will be held accountable. I am not here to tell you what you can and can't do but I hope you take something away from my ramblings because in the end the choice is yours. 

Motorola gear is a pain to get programming software for but not impossible. I can take a week or longer to navigate Motorola's process but in the end you will have legal software and you can get the entitlement for wideband operation for free after some quick online training. I use Motorola for the options alone, in the truck I run handheld control heads and a long range Bluetooth speaker mic so I can use the trucks radio well in restaurants our friends houses. The same mic is also on my base paired with a desktop mic, its nice being able to go anywhere in the house and just carry a small mic that allows the use of the base. This gear is a little pricey but can be found used on ebay reasonable, its all comes down to personal preference.
 
Bluetooth Mic that can be attached to most of the newer Motorola XPR radios including portables.
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/handmic.jpg
 
This is the handheld control head, it is also the speaker and mic, 4 years old an not a single issue.
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/truck1.jpg
 
Radio Head unit is installed under the back seat.
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/truck2.jpg
 
The control head cable comes thru the map pocket allowing it to tuck away nicely out of sight.
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/truck4.jpg
 
Simple 1/4 wave gives great performance, i am able to hit repeaters 30 miles away and simplex 10 miles easy in the freeway.
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/truck3.jpg

Not true, GMRS can be used for business purposes as long as each individual person is licensed. No licenses will be issued to a business entity, only individuals. So if you have 5 people that need to communicate for the business, you better have 5 licenses (assuming none of them are related, otherwise the relatives can share the one license).

GMRS can not be used for business, not even as a backup to AT&T. The FCC will be happy to licences you for your business under the part 90 industrial pool, GMRS is for personal and family use.

I will leave this right here
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/chart.jpg

That's a heck of a lot easier to read than what I wrote!  LOL

I will leave this right here
 
http://mwgmrs.com/mygmrs/chart.jpg

Perhaps I was being too subtle. Let me be a little more direct. It seems to me you spend a lot of time asking others for support in your quest for solutions for problems that do not exist. As to the specific suggestion about a Dual-Mode repeater, exactly what problem are you trying to address?  
 
If you are just dreaming of what could be, then as I have tried to tell you at least twice previously, there is already an excellent service for that, amateur radio. Instead of floating ideas you want other's opinions on, take the time to get a study book and take the ham radio technician test. Honestly, it is easy. If you can't grasp the (fairly basic) technological side at first, just study the questions and memorize the answers - believe me, you would not be the first person do do that.  The test consists of 35 questions drawn from a pool of 426 questions... and all 426 of them are available online or in print.  With a ham ticket (and a little money)  in hand, you would be free to start experimenting with some of your ideas.

Thanks for all the input. I know it is not legal and there is a Approx. $20,000.00 per day fine and prison time if caught. I was only going to use it to test my MTX400 for range, and maybe for emergency use when stuff hits the fan.I try to stay legal.

agreed.too many yrs in PS and commercial radio to put up w/that.
I also have no tolerance for all that noise. I have asked people to knock down the premble on their MDC b/c some guy thinks its cool, not.
the only reason there is a "roger" beep on my machines is for my wife to know when the machine drops. hang time is 1.2 sec + 250 Ms beep.

As far as location its being done but as far as I know does not work on repeaters. https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/533999
 
If you keyed up on my system with some rapid morse code every transmission I would give you the boot, I have no tolerance for Rodger beeps, fleet sync, etc. Lots of people use MDC to send unit numbers, around here we send the last 3 numbers of our gmrs call. Some groups send assigned unit numbers etc.. If you set your radio to decode MDC its silent and just displays it on the radio.
 
PL is stripped so the users don't have to hear it. Commercial repeaters ID every 15 min. Can you imagine having to hear that for 8 hours a day. 

As far as location its being done but as far as I know does not work on repeaters. https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/533999
 
If you keyed up on my system with some rapid morse code every transmission I would give you the boot, I have no tolerance for Rodger beeps, fleet sync, etc. Lots of people use MDC to send unit numbers, around here we send the last 3 numbers of our gmrs call. Some groups send assigned unit numbers etc.. If you set your radio to decode MDC its silent and just displays it on the radio.
 
PL is stripped so the users don't have to hear it. Commercial repeaters ID every 15 min. Can you imagine having to hear that for 8 hours a day. 

If you program a Baofeng UV-5R to GMRS you need a GMRS licence. I see you understand that the radio is indeed a HAM radio and by the part 95 rules that your GMRS licence is authorized forbids the use of such equipment on GMRS. I won't get into all the details but here is the simple and best way I know how to explain this. Since no test or radio knowledge is required to get a GMRS licence its operating rules require certified transmitters to maintain the integrity of the service. GMRS is located within a tiny sliver of the part 90 commercial radio service used by business, ambulance services, fire depts, and well you get the picture. By using non certified low quality transmitters you risk causing harmful interference to other licensed services, if caught you will be held accountable. I am not here to tell you what you can and can't do but I hope you take something away from my ramblings because in the end the choice is yours. 

Why does every new license holder want to setup a repeater? I would like to shed a little light on some of the important things to consider if you recently got your GMRS license and now want your own repeater.
 
First thing to consider, are there any open well placed repeaters in your area that you are able to use? I can assure you most repeater owners want people to use there repeater. Owning several repeaters I can assure you all are welcome and encouraged to use my machines.
 
Do you have access to a location to host your repeater? If your answer is your garage roof you should reconsider. Your garage roof will give you about the same coverage as simplex. Unless you’re on top of a mountain and all your users are at the bottom you will never be happy with this setup.
 
GMRS is not as popular as one would like to think, unless your repeater covers 20 miles or more you may find you only have 1 or 2 users in the area. Unless you already have a group of friends together you may want to consider this before spending money on a decent well positioned site to install your repeater.
 
So you found a nice high site and the price is right, all you need to do is get the repeater installed, sounds simple right? Some thigs to consider first and foremost are the costs because they can add up quickly. Are you on a commercial tower that requires a license and bonded climber? If so this could be by far your largest expense depending on your area. I have spent $600 to $1200 on a climber; I have had quotes as high as $2500 depending on the amount of work and heights involved.  Keep in mind commercial sites require certified mounts, hard line cable, cable clamps, engineered grounding solutions and commercial grade antennas. No tower owner is going to let you install a comet antenna and 200’ of braided shield coax.
 
This brings me to my next point, the antenna. Because of the costs involved with climbers you will want to expend your budget on the antenna. Remember a $2000 repeater on a $200 antenna is going to work about as good as a $200 repeater.  Whereas a $200 repeater on a $2000 antenna is going to work like a $2000 repeater. On my first repeater I was gifted use of a 150’ tower, I installed a DB-420 on the top and 160’ of 7/8 hardline. Total cost of equipment for the antenna install was $2500, with the climbers labor coming in at an additional $800. This left me with enough to purchase an old Motorola R100 repeater running at 25W. To my surprise it had 30 miles of coverage, all due to the cash spent on the antenna and waiting for a decent spot.
 
Things happen, more so if you have an antenna 200’ in the air with a conductive cable connected to sensitive electronics. Antenna issues, feedline issues, repeater issues all cost money and I promise at some point you will have issues that need repair and require your money!
 
It is my opinion that the GMRS community does not need another 2 to 5 miles repeater as it just becomes background noise. What use is a public listed repeater if somebody in a mobile can’t use it 5 miles away while moving or the portable coverage is only a mile? If after reading this you are still going to build a repeater for your garage more power to you, just don’t expect 20 people to show up if it only reaches a mile.
 
As the owner of several GMRS and Commercial repeaters I can attest to the amount of money and effort go into my repeaters. I have only touched on the basics, if you add in any kind of testing services, duplexer tuning, addition of a combiner channel to an existing tower system, RF engineering, rent and insurance your costs can sky rocket. The best advice I can give any new licensee is to try and use the available systems in the area. Take the time to learn a little about what you’re doing and to assess the usability of the service before investing in a repeater for the sole reason of saying you own one.

If you program a Baofeng UV-5R to GMRS you need a GMRS licence. I see you understand that the radio is indeed a HAM radio and by the part 95 rules that your GMRS licence is authorized forbids the use of such equipment on GMRS. I won't get into all the details but here is the simple and best way I know how to explain this. Since no test or radio knowledge is required to get a GMRS licence its operating rules require certified transmitters to maintain the integrity of the service. GMRS is located within a tiny sliver of the part 90 commercial radio service used by business, ambulance services, fire depts, and well you get the picture. By using non certified low quality transmitters you risk causing harmful interference to other licensed services, if caught you will be held accountable. I am not here to tell you what you can and can't do but I hope you take something away from my ramblings because in the end the choice is yours. 

I don't know about anybody else here but I listen open almost all the time.
my machines ID what they are named, no call.

Ok so here is two more issues to think about. First most people dont know Morse code, and second most repeaters strip the PL / DPL during ID so unless you are operating open squelch you will never hear it anyway. 

Staff Memo - The subject of this thread is important enough, for newly licensed user reference, to pin it to the top of this posting area.