We've had real good luck with using Icom ICF121S (VHF) and Icom ICF221S (UHF) transceivers for this type of application.
For us, the trade off was "folks capable of repairing, maintaining, and modifying older gear" vs. "folks who could help us get money for newer gear". We bought a bunch of radios all at once from a local Icom reseller, along with 2 programming cables, and one copy of the software. We didn't buy the required OPC-617 cables that easily allow you access to COR PTT AUDIO, etc. but rather went to http://presonmoore.com/repeater.html for a good replacement at half the cost. The ICOM radios are quite flexible, and we also liked that they could do DCS. Our UHF links are all DCS encoded, which tends to reduce the amount of hassle we have with interference. We deployed 7 remote receivers, using an LDG voter at the transmitter site, with 7 Icom UHF receivers there. The remote sites all have one Icom VHF receiver, and one Icom UHF transmitter, along with a power supply, and an NHRC2 controller. It may have cost us a bit more money than buying used radios, but we just didn't have the resources and talent to troubleshoot and repair older rigs. Jim WB8AZP
