need help selecting heavy duty radios for work

[darkostoj]

I am sick of using the cheapie motorola 2 way radios and would like to get into something that would be more clear, have a longer distance, and be durable.

I saw the motorola rdu2020 at costco and figured if they use them there they must be good...I looked them up on amazon and was surprised that they were $200 each! I was about to buy 2 of them to get started and figured it might be a good idea to do some research.

I guess my questions are is there anything that anyone can recommend without spending a fortune? Also what subforum would be best for me to post this question.

thanks!

[W8RMH]

Originally Posted by darkostoj

I am sick of using the cheapie motorola 2 way radios and would like to get into something that would be more clear, have a longer distance, and be durable.

I saw the motorola rdu2020 at costco and figured if they use them there they must be good...I looked them up on amazon and was surprised that they were $200 each! I was about to buy 2 of them to get started and figured it might be a good idea to do some research.

I guess my questions are is there anything that anyone can recommend without spending a fortune? Also what subforum would be best for me to post this question.

thanks!

I don't quite understand. You say "I am sick of using the cheapie motorola 2 way radios" then you inquire about a $200 Motorola radio.

If you want something that would be more clear, have a longer distance, and be durable you are not going to find it in a $200 radio.

Like the old saying goes, "You Get What You Pay For".

A $600 radio even though more expensive will be more clear, have a longer distance, and be durable. You are better off to pay a little more in the beginning for something that will perform and last.

This is the forum you probably wanted to use:

Commercial and Professional Radio - The RadioReference.com Forums

[darkostoj]

Originally Posted by W8RMH

I don't quite understand. You say "I am sick of using the cheapie motorola 2 way radios" then you inquire about a $200 Motorola radio.

If you want something that would be more clear, have a longer distance, and be durable you are not going to find it in a $200 radio.

Like the old saying goes, "You Get What You Pay For".

A $600 radio even though more expensive will be more clear, have a longer distance, and be durable. You are better off to pay a little more in the beginning for something that will perform and last.

This is the forum you probably wanted to use:

Commercial and Professional Radio - The RadioReference.com Forums

well I was using the $50 for a set of 2 walkie talkies you get at any local retailer. I was surprised that the motorola 2020 models were $200 each..I guess that wasnt very much at all!

I have a 150,000 square foot warehouse with 8 acres and needed something that would cover that distance well. I was hoping for something clear, because the ones we have now are hard to understand because the clarity is very low.

[N8IAA]

Originally Posted by darkostoj

well I was using the $50 for a set of 2 walkie talkies you get at any local retailer. I was surprised that the motorola 2020 models were $200 each..I guess that wasnt very much at all!

I have a 150,000 square foot warehouse with 8 acres and needed something that would cover that distance well. I was hoping for something clear, because the ones we have now are hard to understand because the clarity is very low.

Bubble pack FRS/GMRS radios generally won't work for that situation. Get some radios that can be programmed in the VHF MURS frequency range. HT1000's are good for those frequencies. Just not easy to program.
HTH,
Larry

[darkostoj]

Originally Posted by N8IAA

Bubble pack FRS/GMRS radios generally won't work for that situation. Get some radios that can be programmed in the VHF MURS frequency range. HT1000's are good for those frequencies. Just not easy to program.
HTH,
Larry

So what is the difference between a bubblepack FRS/GMRS and a VHF MURS frequency?

[Cuzzolini]

Originally Posted by N8IAA

Bubble pack FRS/GMRS radios generally won't work for that situation. Get some radios that can be programmed in the VHF MURS frequency range. HT1000's are good for those frequencies. Just not easy to program.
HTH,
Larry

HT1000s in my opinion are excellent radios, the paid guys in my local fire department use them when talking around town and when transporting pieces of apparatus. Those radios are extremely durable, easy to use, and you find parts almost everywhere.

[W2NJS]

In the past Motorola has made some police portable radios that were effective, when necessary, in subduing a perp when the perp chose to resist. In other words, the radio and its attached battery could be used as a club. Such radios, in their time, had a price in basic form, of $2,785.00 each. As was noted above, you get what you pay for. Modern Motorola radios are not quite that tough, but you can at least drop them and usually they'll still work. If your inquiry is about cheap, bubble-pack, radios that are sold in retail stores and such then your complaint is justified because a cheap radio will definitely not take a pounding in daily industrial work. However, there are radios that will stand up to such challenges, but they will cost you. If your facility has a high value density then it would pay to investigate a reliable radio system that would be up to doing the job. There are Motorola radios that are toys, and then there are those that are industrial quality. A reputable radio shop would be a good starting point for your investigation but, at the very least, it's not going to be a bunch of $200 radios that do the job for you.

[ST-Bob]

FRS and GMRS radios are built cheaply and have limited power. MURS radios (or better-quality business radios programmed for MURS frequencies) will work better because they're VHF not UHF. Also, MURS is like CB - no license required. If you use GMRS channels on a GMRS/FRS radio for business without a license you are breaking the law and will (eventually) get caught and fined.

If Wal-Mart, Costco, Home-Depot etc. can use MURS than you can too and get good performance. Beware though that MURS is like the wild west. There's both analog and digital going on and all sorts of different PLL and DCS privacy modes being used with only 5 channels available. Still, these systems work better than bubble-pack radios when using a decent VHF business type radio.

You might look at some of the Chinese imports. Wouxun has some decent radios for short money (under $100 each) that will do the trick. Make sure you're either licensed for the frequency you're using or use the license-free MURS channels.

Bob in MA - KB1VUA

[Avery93]

MURS will probably be your easiest and cheapest solution, but perhaps not the best. MURS consists of five license-free VHF channels, with a 2 watt power limit. Most VHF radios will work on it, but in order to be legal they have to have Part 95 certification. As far as I know, only Kenwood and some smaller manufacturers such as Ritron get Part 95 certification on their radios. Motorola does make some MURS only radios called the RDM series, one of which is almost identical to the RDV2020.

In a warehouse type environment, UHF (like FRS/GMRS) may actually be a better choice due to its better building penetration characteristics. Unfortunately, as a business your only good option for UHF is getting a business band license, which of course costs money. I'm not very familiar with the business side of licensing, but I believe you can get a license for some of the itinerant frequencies fairly cheaply (a little over $100?). This will allow you to use any quality radio of your choosing (such as Motorola, Kenwood, Vertex and Icom), at a full 5 watts output power. You will have to deal with co-channel users on these frequencies as well, but it probably won't be as bad as MURS and certainly not as bad as FRS/GMRS.

As far as radios that will work on MURS or UHF business band, the Icom F3011/4011 are decent radios that go for a little over $150. The Vertex VX-231 is slightly more expensive but seems to be more durable, and all Vertex radios come with a 3 year warranty. The Motorola CP200 and the Kenwood ProTalk business series radios are also good radios, but probably out of your price range.