I’m not sure if this is anywhere close to what you’re looking for, so here goes:
I spend time helping clients (mostly PDs and FDs) consider what would be required to set up (or upgrade) an owned UHF conventional voted repeater system. Step One: If it can’t talk out, system is useless. So we pick a site for the main transmitter, figure out input variables (such as antenna height AGL, ERP) and using a computer program to draw propigation curves on a map. Since we’re going for street level portable usability, we set –85 dBm as a standard. This will show us where there might be talk-out holes and, if they are big, the need to find a different site. Repeat this process until you find a good main site. If one exists.
Step Two: If subscriber can’t talk in, you’ll need receivers. We draw similar curves, now substituting values for main receiver AGL (usually we mount receive antennas higher than transmit antennas) and net sensitivity, to see where there are talk-in holes. This gives us a guide on how many receivers may be needed and where. These studies will have to be re-run based on whether an indicated potential receiver site can be serviced, which usually means whether there is a municipal building that can be used and what sort of haul-back might be available. (Full disclosure: I have a huge bias in favor of owned fiber. This can be quite feasible where the client has a municipal electric system, and quite expensive otherwise.)
After that, if you get a system that seems like it might work at the street level, you start looking at significant potential in-building issues. A properly done BDA can be quite useful, but expensive; a quick-and-dirty BDA can cause more problems than it solves. We tend to look at town-owned venues first (e.g., schools, Town Hall) because access is a given. It also helps if the client municipality has a zoning provision for mandated building-owned BDA.
At this point, one can start taking a look at costs.
The bottom line goals are (1) parity of talk-out and talk-in and (2) manageable budget.
Now, I cannot tell from the OP, whether you are limited to a single-site system (a/k/a “in cabinet repeater”), in which case all of the foregoing will be of no help.
