Generally speaking, repeaters use circular or elliptical polarized antennas. Signals with different polarizations experience a maximum loss of up to 20 dB.
(Reduce the link budget polarization by 3 dB, reverse the direction, and then reduce it by at least 10 dB)
In addition to its strong VHF signal transmission capabilities, it also exhibits a high degree of sensitivity to multipath effects and reflections.
Actually, if I could try launching a few times from the ground (manual control), it would be helpful.