Want to buy a Fire/EMS Pager

[dispatcher812]

Well the more I thought about it and the more I looked into the newer Miniotrs the more they sounded like a scanner. If capable and set properly, they are no different.

My only concern was from a security standpoint. In every class I take they talk a lot about scene security, not just scene safety. Someone not in a fire/ems service who wanted a pager for such, just seemed odd to me, and still does.

KC2OBW: He could do harm with one. I mentioned it before. Not to say he is or will, but he could. The OP stated he is familiar with scanners, ok, then he can already hear everything he wants and more. Now he is looking at a pager. I am surprised that I am the only one who finds that odd.

I will give in that a pager is smaller and easier to carry, but would prefer a small scanner any day.

One more question if I may to those who have responded here; are any of you in fire/ems?

[Kingmobileaudio]

I'll add one more thing. If he had a newer Uniden scanner is can be used as a pager too.

I was with a Fire/EMS Department till last year, now I am moving to a different area.


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[KE4ZNR]

Originally Posted by dispatcher812

KC2OBW: He could do harm with one. I mentioned it before. Not to say he is or will, but he could.

I work for a municipal radio shop. We would rather someone buy a receive only Minitor pager and listen to the VHF FD Dispatch than buy an XTS2500/5K and try to program it to receive our system. I see no harm and no foul
here from the original poster. Give the guy a break and be happy he is
not trying to program a radio capable of transmitting on a system he
is not authorized to be on.
Marshall KE4ZNR

[KC2OBW]

Originally Posted by dispatcher812

Well the more I thought about it and the more I looked into the newer Miniotrs the more they sounded like a scanner. If capable and set properly, they are no different.

My only concern was from a security standpoint. In every class I take they talk a lot about scene security, not just scene safety. Someone not in a fire/ems service who wanted a pager for such, just seemed odd to me, and still does.

KC2OBW: He could do harm with one. I mentioned it before. Not to say he is or will, but he could. The OP stated he is familiar with scanners, ok, then he can already hear everything he wants and more. Now he is looking at a pager. I am surprised that I am the only one who finds that odd.

I will give in that a pager is smaller and easier to carry, but would prefer a small scanner any day.

One more question if I may to those who have responded here; are any of you in fire/ems?

I just re-read that post. I see your concern but someone could still even do that with a scanner or any other portable receiver that is capable of receiving fire or ems dispatch frequencies.

And yes I was affiliated with fire/ems 3 years ago and then I took on a new job that made it impossible to make time to do anything.

Him wanting his own pager does seen a little wackerish, but for all we know maybe he is with some dept, or maybe he just wants a VHF one set to alert for NWS, or maybe he's just curious and wants to understand how they work.

At least he's not asking how to set off tones with a HT1250.


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[dispatcher812]

Originally Posted by KC2OBW

I just re-read that post. I see your concern but someone could still even do that with a scanner or any other portable receiver that is capable of receiving fire or ems dispatch frequencies.


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Yeah the more I researched the more I realized that. The problem is that stuff like this is easily purchased and abused. Just like blue lights that volunteer firefighters in my area use. Anyone can buy them and pretend to be something they are not. Someone with a fire pager on their hip walking around could attract unintended attention if help is needed.

[Chauffeur6]

Originally Posted by dispatcher812

One more question if I may to those who have responded here; are any of you in fire/ems?

Yes, for over two decades.

Your concerns are unfounded, and you're making way too much of this. It's a pager, not a badge or ID. If you can't control your scene and are worried about some whacker flashing a pager and gaining access, you've got bigger issues in your dept.

As another poster already stated, a pager is smaller than a scanner, it's more rugged, it's much easier to wear on your belt and forget about it, it has markedly better receive performance than a consumer grade scanner, it's much easier to operate than a Uniden DMA scanner with FTO, the batteries last a lot longer, etc etc etc.

You've made your opinion very clear with the multiple posts you've made. You're entitled to your opinion, but you are not the only FD/EMS guy on this site, so please respect the opinions of others (including non-MOS). There is absolutely nothing illegal or immoral about Joe Public owning a receive-only pager, that's the bottom line. Now please, unless you are here to help the OP with his questions (which it appears you are not), I would suggest you walk away from this thread and live to fight another day.

[rdale]

Originally Posted by dispatcher812

Someone with a fire pager on their hip walking around could attract unintended attention if help is needed.

Absolutely not... I'd surmise that 95% of the American public does not have a clue what a fire pager looks like. That could be a medical pager, a portable radio, a sports score pager, you name it. There is nobody in the public world who is going to run around looking for someone with a small black box on their hip when their house starts to catch fire.

[com501]

The most important point to owning a pager, is that in the middle of the night, when my XTS is supposed to be off and charging, the MinV in the amplified charger will go off and WAKE ME UP. If I want to listen to the rest of the incident, I can turn my radio on, or go in the other room and listen to the scanner.

If not, I push RESET and go back to sleep.

SOME people live in areas, where knowing about that BRUSH FIRE that started a 1/2 mile away at 4am (we had one here 2 days ago) and being able to decide what to do instead of waiting for the SO to pound on your door, is well worth the price of a pager.

[KD2DLL]

Originally Posted by com501

The most important point to owning a pager, is that in the middle of the night, when my XTS is supposed to be off and charging, the MinV in the amplified charger will go off and WAKE ME UP. If I want to listen to the rest of the incident, I can turn my radio on, or go in the other room and listen to the scanner.

If not, I push RESET and go back to sleep.

SOME people live in areas, where knowing about that BRUSH FIRE that started a 1/2 mile away at 4am (we had one here 2 days ago) and being able to decide what to do instead of waiting for the SO to pound on your door, is well worth the price of a pager.

Or you could even program it to automattically reset after like 30 seconds or a set time that you wish. Thats what I do with mine.

[pjtnascar]

Thread was worth it for the entertainment value. New drinking or gambling game: Look at thread topic, either take one shot for each "why does he want it, you're not licensed, etc. post" or bet on how many of the aforementioned posts you'll find under the topic.

[com501]

You must have drunk yourself into a stupor on this one.

[pjtnascar]

Just about. At least I wasn't disappointed.

[twintip720]

USB Programming Programmer Cradle for Motorola Minitor V 5 | eBay

has anyone had luck using this programmer rather then spending double for the official.

[KD2DLL]

Originally Posted by twintip720

USB Programming Programmer Cradle for Motorola Minitor V 5 | eBay

has anyone had luck using this programmer rather then spending double for the official.

Thinking about buying a Minitor V Pager, need some advice... Take a look at this thread. I answered your post on there. Yes I use it. It works good. I go into a bit more detail on that thread.

[chrismol1]

Originally Posted by twintip720

USB Programming Programmer Cradle for Motorola Minitor V 5 | eBay

has anyone had luck using this programmer rather then spending double for the official.

I dont see why it wouldnt work, its even possible to build a programming cradle from out of a charger

[KD2DLL]

Originally Posted by chrismol1

I dont see why it wouldnt work, its even possible to build a programming cradle from out of a charger

Like I had said, I have it and it works great.

[gr8rcall]

Originally Posted by alexkaczor

You may want to take a look at some of the posts I put on this thread. Thinking about buying a Minitor V Pager, need some advice...

I explain some information about minitor V and give a link to a programmer that I use for mine that is relatively cheap.

Yes, Alex was VERY helpful over there!
I'm like him in the way, that the reason I'm going to buy a pager is for the convenience thing.

1. Pagers are much smaller (Keep in mind that the scanner I have is a good 10 inches tall with the antenna)
2. I know a lot of people in Fire/EMS, and I will program their tones, so I know when they go out!
3. I'm not always with my scanner. I would like to have my pager when I am outside mowing the lawn, ect.....
(Do you really think that carrying around an 10 inch high scanner is convenient? Really?)
4. I like the fact that the pager will remain SILENT until it receives one of my specified tones!
If I am somewhere like Walmart or something, and I want to be alerted ONLY when my Rescue Squad goes out, I can do that!

I think those are probably some of the reasons this OP wants one!