Steve, I have RSP Spectrum Analyzer made for the RSP line of inexpensive SDR receivers and while it works well and is cute, its just a toy. Alignment of repeaters which I take as tuning the receiver for best sensitivity, placing it exactly on frequency, measuring the repeater transmitter frequency, measuring transmit deviation, transmit power then possibly sweeping and aligning the duplexer and associated filters and isolator is beyond what a toy SDR could ever do. Amateurs don't have to abide by most FCC specs when placing an amateur repeater on the air but it still takes some accurate and reliable equipment to align all its parts for proper operation. That can be done with a separate frequency measuring device, signal generator, deviation meter and duplexers/filters can certainly be aligned with a CW signal generator and power/millivolt meter or even a diode detector and oscilloscope.?
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When I started in Land Mobile alignment and repair we had mostly separate instruments to perform everything and when I finally got my hands on a Singer FM10C in the 70s I though I had died and gone to heaven. I can't imagine any SDR receiver performing the type of simple tests an old FM10C can do without a host of other expensive equipment to calibrate it or verify if its even within spec. Heck, just the frequency standard in the old FM10C probably cost way more than the BladeRF SDR mentioned. I would recommend getting the best actual radio service monitor that the OP can afford and trade up in the future to a better model. Many good suggestions have been made here but there are also older more affordable models that will work great to get someone started.
