Is a repeater right for my application? How to test for coverage before spending money.

We are oftentimes asked what is the radio range of a repeater and will it work for my application.  This is almost impossible for us to answer as we have no idea about the setting or area the repeater is trying to cover.  

You certainly don't want to go spending a lot of money if the system won't do the job. 

Here is the best thing you can do to test and see if a repeater might work for your application.  Have someone physically travel to where you think the repeater should be located.  Rule-of-thumb on these kinds of scenarios is line-of-site.  So, getting elevation is desired.  This could be on the roof, mountain top, or hill.  The person needs to take with them a radio with a good antenna and have as much transmit power as you can get to the proposed site.  Another person will have to travel around to all the areas of interest and range check to see if calls to and from the proposed repeater site can take place.  Are you able to place calls in all these areas?  Keep in mind, a repeater will most likely improve all tested scenarios.  So, if things look good, then they'll most likely get better with a repeater.  If not, you may to consider another location for the repeater.

Testing this way will give you a good idea a repeater will improve and work for your application.