DMR mobile or portable?

[ASAD]

Good morning. I am considering buying a DMR radio for amateur use. I was wondering if a portable would give me a good coverage in New York City or should I go with mobile (used as base) to get the most out of DMR network?

The problem is that my toddler son just started walking. He's trying to reach everywhere and grabs things and knocks them down. I'm afraid he will do that to an expensive mobile radio sitting on my desk. I am considering HT because it could be put away from his sight. Any thoughts on DMR coverage in Queens, Manhattan and Brooklyn?

 

[N4KVE]

It depends on the coverage of the repeaters where you live. Where I am in South Florida, I started with a portable. {Moto XPR6550} I soon followed up with a mobile, but portable coverage was so excellent in the West Palm/Ft. Lauderdale/Miami area it was over a year until the mobile got installed. It's just too hot to do an install in the summer here, & portable coverage was so good. OTOH, a portable can work anywhere, while a mobile can only work in the house, or car, so you need to figure out how good the HT coverage is on the repeaters you want to use.

 

[NavyBOFH]

I am starting to look for a decent mobile for my car... I like the Tytera MD-380 for portable use but not too fond of the Connect Systems mobile... and the BFDX has only 160 channels. What other options could there be? I like the Kydera CDM-550 but no one seems to be selling them. I like the large screen since it will be mounted low in my Wrangler.

 

[SCPD]

Neighborhood

Like Moonboots said, I think the answer depends on if you can get into the repeaters you wanna work with the handheld.
If the answer is yes, I wouldn't part with the handheld. Maybe down the road, get a mobile also.
But it's nice to be able to sit anywhere in the house and work DMR.

 

[jaspence]

HT or mobile

I live about 20 miles from the nearest DMR repeaters. Using a CS 700 or Hytera 782, I can easily reach repeaters about 20 miles from my location using a good dual band base or mobile antenna. On rare occasions, even the rubber ducky will connect from outside my house.

 

[NavyBOFH]

I live about 20 miles from the nearest DMR repeaters. Using a CS 700 or Hytera 782, I can easily reach repeaters about 20 miles from my location using a good dual band base or mobile antenna. On rare occasions, even the rubber ducky will connect from outside my house.

I seem to have no issues with the DMR and GMRS repeaters that are 15 or so miles away... indoors... with the short antenna on the MD-380. However, I think a mobile will be great for some areas I travel through and lose reception... some areas that even a good antenna on a handheld probably wouldn't make it. But... I might give that a try first... $40 antenna is cheaper to experiment with than a $400 radio.

 

[Inglewood]

I've tried the MD-380 and CS-700. Jerry's radio has the edge in my mind for a solid knock about, your ankle biter is more likely to go for the color screen on the MD-380 and I'm not certain it's as well built. For mobile it's hard to go past the XPR7550, the XPR2500 with IPSC EID is not that much cheaper. If you go with Moto do yourself a favor and use the audio CP mod available on the 'other site'.

 

[n5ims]

Good morning. I am considering buying a DMR radio for amateur use. I was wondering if a portable would give me a good coverage in New York City or should I go with mobile (used as base) to get the most out of DMR network?

The problem is that my toddler son just started walking. He's trying to reach everywhere and grabs things and knocks them down. I'm afraid he will do that to an expensive mobile radio sitting on my desk. I am considering HT because it could be put away from his sight. Any thoughts on DMR coverage in Queens, Manhattan and Brooklyn?

A mobile (used with a power supply as a base) should give you better range and if you mount it properly (using the mounting brackets most come with when new) should keep it out of the way of those little wondering hands and make it easily available for your use. Something like mounting it under a shelf (high enough to be safely out of reach) will give you the safety as well as a location for the power supply and accessories you might want. Just make sure that the mic is kept in a safe location as well. That might be hanging from the included mount (if that would keep the cord away from curious fingers) or perhaps keeping it on the shelf, out of reach.

Once your son has grown tall enough to reach it may be an issue, but of you start now training him that it's not good to reach up to touch your radio, by the time he can reach it he should understand that no means no and not to touch it. Especially if you let him look at it and watch you use the radio so it isn't something that he's really curious about (if you keep it special and out of sight he'll wonder what it is and want to explore, but if it's something he sees all the time and has the chance to explore with close supervision it should be something that's not special to him - kinda like been-there-done-that type of item).