A major step in tracking down wonky system behavior.  I gave a little thought about relative signal levels and it dawned on me that my widdle 1/2 watt test transmitter was getting into the %&*^%#@$# Baofeng HT.   I took  the antenna connector off and with no antenna I was getting armchair copy.  

I know that I can't expect much shielding from my cheap Baofeng's plastic case.  So off to Home Despot for a Faraday cage for the HT.  I found a galvanized steel 4-gang outlet box and blank cover plates.  So I take my antenna-less HT, place it into the metal box and cover it up.  Armchair copy!   It dawns on me that 1/2 W might be too much for close quarters.  So I move the test transmitter over to my HackRF with it's measly 10 mW transmitter.  Voila - things are are starting to make sense.  Next up checking the VSWR on the atennas and tuning them.