SteveShannon

This is a very good use for the Retevis RT-97, which is an all in one repeater and duplexer. Add an antenna and cable and you have a small low power repeater. 

2nd the RT-97.. Its portable, light, small, rugged, and it works great

Me thinks thisem' sarcasm in these posts. Not sure. 
 
Just in case, I'll use my power supply as an example.  When any of my 50w radios run full tilt on the bench, to create 50w out of the final PA, it uses about 95 watts of DC power.  However, for my power supply to be capable of creating that 95w DC, it burns about 165 watts of AC power.  At about 60%-65%, those are about average efficiencies for this type of good personal use power supplies.  And private use radio efficiencies just kinda suck, too.
 

I decided to go on the cheap end of things with my antenna only. I tried ordering a Comet antenna for GMRS and of course, the company must have jumped on the "Shortage" bandwagon. I checked high and low and could not find a Comet antenna anywhere. So I settled for a Harvest BC200-U which claims to be tuned for the GMRS band, absolutely no tuning needed. Well, after having the issues and reading more reviews, that is a lie. My antenna wasn't even close to being ok on the GMRS band, at least for the repeater input. The 462MHz portion was around a 1.6:1 SWR. 467MHz was around a 2.5:1 SWR or higher. 

So I took it apart and found a very poor design. The spots where the pieces connected together were pinched together with these little brass pieces. About 2/3 of the way up was a split in the radiator where 2 ceramic capacitors were soldered, bridging the gap to the upper part. They use pieces of foam to keep the radiator from smacking around inside and one of the pieces was loosely wrapped around the capacitors and glued in place causing it to rip the capacitors apart with even a slight touch wiggling the foam. The capacitor on the lower coil was not even glued in place. 

So, I did a bunch of experimenting to get the antenna to resonate on the GMRS band. I had another antenna that was specifically set on 466MHz and I decided to copy that design which was very similar to the harvest antenna design. The difference was that the other antenna didn't use capacitors and it didn't have a loading coil at the bottom. I removed all of the capacitors off of the harvest antennas and just put pieces of copper wire to connect straight through. I soldered all the joints on the radiator to make them more electrically secure. At the bottom of the antenna where the main radiator connects in it has a set screw evidently for tuning. I trimmed the whole radiator down until it came into an acceptable range (sorry, I cannot tell you how much I cut off because I was pretty flustered at this point after having to do so much soldering and unsoldering) and I put the antenna back together. I made a coax choke out of RG8U coax (wound 4 times in a 2.5" diameter) and placed that below the antenna and connected my coax into it. I now have an antenna with less than a 1.4:1 SWR across the band from 462.55-467.725MHz. The performance of this antenna didn't really change. The only thing that was noticed is that coverage is slightly better in spots where it was dead or static. 

So, UNLESS you happen to own an antenna analyzer or know someone who does, and you are smart with antennas, I would not purchase this antenna. It DOES work pretty decent once modified, but for the plug and play person who just wants to set up GMRS and talk, I would NOT recommend it. It is cheaply made compared to other commercial antennas. BUT if you are on a budget and have the knowledge and equipment, you can make it work. I have included a picture of my antenna analyzer for proof on the reading AFTER I made modifications. I get on average 2.5-5 miles on simplex (not using a repeater) at 45 watts. I have to include in here that I live in Maine in a low spot directly at the base of a hill that immediately goes up 100 more feet. I am at around 310 feet above sea level with hills spreading out from me going up as high as 1,000 feet but also including valleys in with that, so what happens is that my signal will travel down these valleys pretty far but once a tall hill is hit, my signal is not reaching over the other side at all. 

The repeater transmits on 462.625 and listens on 467.625. Your radio should transmit on 467.625 and listen on 462.625. Set your transmit to also send the 179.9 Hz tone. I'd leave the receive tone out until you verify the repeater is actually using the tone. You can check this by creating two settings in your radio, one without the receive tone and one with the tone. if you do hear the repeater using the receive tone, then use it to block out any other station that may be sharing the frequency.

You probably meant amperes or amps in the part of your quote I underlined and bolded.  For my 100 watt amateur radio transmitter I have a 30 amp 13.8vdc power supply.  At full power the current is around 23 amps I think.  For a 50 watt transmitter you probably need at least a 15-25 amp power supply just so you’re not running the power supply at full power output.  Watts out can never exceed watts in.
A car’s electrical system puts out 13.8 volts when the car is running in order to charge the battery.  When the car is turned off the voltage of the battery drops down to somewhere around 12.7 or 12.8 volts DC.  I routinely charge several sealed lead acid batteries and they are all very close to 12.7 or 12.8 volts when I need to use them (charged and sitting around for a few weeks on a shelf).
You may not get 100% of the power from your mobile radio when it’s strictly on battery, but you probably will never know the difference.  
As far as wattage, it depends on the capacity of the battery, but nearly any of them will put out many amps of current.  8 amps at 12 volts is nearly 100 watts, . You only need that while transmitting. Receiving takes much less power.

I appreciate the additional technical details.  The OPs question was answered with a single paragraph in the first reply, so it's not like he was left hanging or had to wade through pages of technical content.  I get the "some people" stuff, but this doesn't seem to be the case here.
Edited to add: I don't want to come off as argumentative with my first post on this board.  You're the reason I got into GMRS and I really appreciate your videos.  Keep it up!

You probably meant amperes or amps in the part of your quote I underlined and bolded.  For my 100 watt amateur radio transmitter I have a 30 amp 13.8vdc power supply.  At full power the current is around 23 amps I think.  For a 50 watt transmitter you probably need at least a 15-25 amp power supply just so you’re not running the power supply at full power output.  Watts out can never exceed watts in.
A car’s electrical system puts out 13.8 volts when the car is running in order to charge the battery.  When the car is turned off the voltage of the battery drops down to somewhere around 12.7 or 12.8 volts DC.  I routinely charge several sealed lead acid batteries and they are all very close to 12.7 or 12.8 volts when I need to use them (charged and sitting around for a few weeks on a shelf).
You may not get 100% of the power from your mobile radio when it’s strictly on battery, but you probably will never know the difference.  
As far as wattage, it depends on the capacity of the battery, but nearly any of them will put out many amps of current.  8 amps at 12 volts is nearly 100 watts, . You only need that while transmitting. Receiving takes much less power.

You probably meant amperes or amps in the part of your quote I underlined and bolded.  For my 100 watt amateur radio transmitter I have a 30 amp 13.8vdc power supply.  At full power the current is around 23 amps I think.  For a 50 watt transmitter you probably need at least a 15-25 amp power supply just so you’re not running the power supply at full power output.  Watts out can never exceed watts in.
A car’s electrical system puts out 13.8 volts when the car is running in order to charge the battery.  When the car is turned off the voltage of the battery drops down to somewhere around 12.7 or 12.8 volts DC.  I routinely charge several sealed lead acid batteries and they are all very close to 12.7 or 12.8 volts when I need to use them (charged and sitting around for a few weeks on a shelf).
You may not get 100% of the power from your mobile radio when it’s strictly on battery, but you probably will never know the difference.  
As far as wattage, it depends on the capacity of the battery, but nearly any of them will put out many amps of current.  8 amps at 12 volts is nearly 100 watts, . You only need that while transmitting. Receiving takes much less power.

Try removing all tones from both radios, then try again and make sure you're at least 10 feet apart, and report back.

You probably meant amperes or amps in the part of your quote I underlined and bolded.  For my 100 watt amateur radio transmitter I have a 30 amp 13.8vdc power supply.  At full power the current is around 23 amps I think.  For a 50 watt transmitter you probably need at least a 15-25 amp power supply just so you’re not running the power supply at full power output.  Watts out can never exceed watts in.
A car’s electrical system puts out 13.8 volts when the car is running in order to charge the battery.  When the car is turned off the voltage of the battery drops down to somewhere around 12.7 or 12.8 volts DC.  I routinely charge several sealed lead acid batteries and they are all very close to 12.7 or 12.8 volts when I need to use them (charged and sitting around for a few weeks on a shelf).
You may not get 100% of the power from your mobile radio when it’s strictly on battery, but you probably will never know the difference.  
As far as wattage, it depends on the capacity of the battery, but nearly any of them will put out many amps of current.  8 amps at 12 volts is nearly 100 watts, . You only need that while transmitting. Receiving takes much less power.

It sounds like you probably have your tones messed up. For simplex mode between your two units clear all tones and back off from each other and try again. 

No. MyGMRS uses IP networks (that’s the IP in VOIP), not POTS. This claim has been discussed and discarded numerous times.

Recommend you access the FCC rules: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-95/subpart-E (use the print/pdf button to get a local copy). Relevant sections (emphasis is mine)
Note that, while "immediate family members" may operate using your license, YOU are still responsible for HOW they behave when doing so.
Decades ago, there was a further restriction... It was "family members who resided in the same household as the licensee"; the current rules, taken literally, means I could allow my nieces in Kalamazoo and Allegan to operate under my license, even though I'm living 15 miles east of Grand Rapids and would have no way of monitoring them. Back then, the intent WAS for use within families (or businesses -- what are now referred to as grandfathered non-individual licenses) such as a large farm, with very rare licensee to licensee cross-over (base stations were not allowed to contact other base stations!).
95.1705 (b) (1) seems rather silly... Are there any radio services where the holder of a station license is NOT permitted to operate their station? (Granted, there are services which separate station and operator licenses -- I think primarily broadcast services; the person ensuring that the station transmitter is within spec, and making power/antenna changes [AM radio has stations that have to change power or antenna directivity at sunset/sunrise] is licensed separately).
 

Thank you, Michael, for all your support and encouragement. A long way, in a relative short time, from when we first met up to program the GM30.

Just a shout out of Congratulations to W6KCO on his successful completion of the Amateur Extra exam!

You can also talk to users whom are using FRS radios... usually referred to as Bubble Pack radios, commonly available at Wal-Mart, Target and hundreds of other stores that sell recreational outdoors type of stuff

For small tractors, Kubota or John Deere are very handy to have around.  I have a little John Deere 2305 with hydrostatic transmission which is very easy to operate and my son-in-law has a Kubota just a little bigger. Both have 4 wheel drive.
I’ve heard that Mahindra and Kioti tractors work pretty well and are cheaper, but I have no personal knowledge of them.  Here in the lower 48 it’s always possible to find a used tractor.  A friend of mine has a full sized White with a loader that I think would be pretty good for what you’re trying to do but getting it there would be prohibitive.  If you follow the boom/bust cycle of the oil industry you can find skid-steer tractors and backhoes for pretty good bargains every ten or fifteen years. ?

Even moisture in the air causes attenuation of UHF signals. 

Welcome and we are happy to teach you more about your family; but don't expect us to do it for free!! ?

Received my callsign back on 7/6 and am just starting to dig more into GMRS. Currently my only radio is a Baofeng 5R-2. Would like to hopefully add something in the 25 or 40 watt range as a base/field radio. Joining myGMRS I am hoping to learn as much as I can and move to a better radio. 

No. MyGMRS uses IP networks (that’s the IP in VOIP), not POTS. This claim has been discussed and discarded numerous times.

No. MyGMRS uses IP networks (that’s the IP in VOIP), not POTS. This claim has been discussed and discarded numerous times.

For small tractors, Kubota or John Deere are very handy to have around.  I have a little John Deere 2305 with hydrostatic transmission which is very easy to operate and my son-in-law has a Kubota just a little bigger. Both have 4 wheel drive.
I’ve heard that Mahindra and Kioti tractors work pretty well and are cheaper, but I have no personal knowledge of them.  Here in the lower 48 it’s always possible to find a used tractor.  A friend of mine has a full sized White with a loader that I think would be pretty good for what you’re trying to do but getting it there would be prohibitive.  If you follow the boom/bust cycle of the oil industry you can find skid-steer tractors and backhoes for pretty good bargains every ten or fifteen years. ?

Thank you, both! It's very much appreciated!.