As others have said, use 2 radios with the best receiver for the downlink. Using a D74 on for receiving is a great idea, since it has a built-in recorder to an internal SD card. This keeps the number of cables to a minimum!
You will likely need a filter of some type, the best that I know of is the Mini-Circuits BLP-200+. This has been field tested by many people to well above any TX power that an HT can produce.
Use good coax, a lot of portable operators use LMR-240uf; I use LMR-240uf for all of my satellite work.
Hope to get a QSO in with you!