Simple Part 90 Dual Band HT

DanRollman · Feb 21, 2015

Anyone have any experience with the TERA TR-500 Dual Band Part 90 radio?

Moreover, is anyone familiar with any other simple (e.g. no keypad and no complicated 2+ row screen) dual-band handheld transceivers that are relatively inexpensive (e.g. less than $150) other than the TR-500?

Looking for something relatively inexpensive but decent quality, full power, V/U dual-band, Part 90, and simple enough a 5 year old couldn't be confused by it. Literally. The TR-500 seems to fit the bill. Curious of any similar models to consider.

Thanks,
Dan

rapidcharger · Feb 21, 2015

In a nutshell, that radio has a part 90 grant but it is not for 12.5kHz bandwidth voice.

DanRollman · Feb 21, 2015

rapidcharger said:
In a nutshell, that radio has a part 90 grant but it is not for 12.5kHz bandwidth voice.

Thanks. So to repeat the question, anyone familiar with others?

DanRollman · Feb 21, 2015

rapidcharger said:
In a nutshell, that radio has a part 90 grant but it is not for 12.5kHz bandwidth voice.

The TR-500 manual (http://www.powerwerx.com/download/TERA_TR-500_User_Manual.pdf) indicates all of its pre-programmed channels (not that I'd keep them) are 12.5 KHz NFM, and that the radio is FCC Narrowband compliant. Can you elaborate on your personal experience that confirms those statements in the manual are wrong.

Thanks in advance...

rapidcharger · Feb 21, 2015

Not to pry, but what were you planning on using it for? What industry?

rapidcharger · Feb 21, 2015

DanRollman said:
The TR-500 manual (http://www.powerwerx.com/download/TERA_TR-500_User_Manual.pdf) indicates all of its pre-programmed channels (not that I'd keep them) are 12.5 KHz NFM, and that the radio is FCC Narrowband compliant. Can you elaborate on your personal experience that confirms those statements in the manual are wrong.

Thanks in advance...

Grantee Code: 2ack8 Product Code: tr500

The emission designator is 10K0F3E

That technically doesn't mean you wouldn't be in compliance but if the radio isn't capable of whatever type of emission that is, then you can't use it how you want legally. A grant is only as good as what it's certified for.

DanRollman · Feb 21, 2015

rapidcharger said:
Grantee Code: 2ack8 Product Code: tr500

The emission designator is 10K0F3E
That technically doesn't mean you wouldn't be in compliance. It is more than likely erroneous but your bandwidth needs to be 12.5khz or less. Or less. If the radio isn't capable of whatever type of emission that is, then you can't use it how you want legally. A grant is only as good as what it's certified for.

Understood on the emission designator on the FCC grant.

What I mean is can you elaborate on your experience with the TR500 indicating that its bandwidth isn't actually 12.5 KHz or less, as the manual says it is. Just trying to confirm what you actually found. How do you like the radio otherwise?

Thanks,
Dan

MTS2000des · Feb 21, 2015

Well, the emission designator is certainly questionable if one really wants to be in compliance with FCC part 90 rules to the letter.

Having said that, the two Tera radios look an awful lot like a Baofeng UV-B5, I'd be willing to bet they are built by the same factory. It's not like there are going to be great differences in the Chinese radios, all of them are built on the RDA1845/RDA1846 walkie talkie on chip SLIC's. Some of them have some better front end preselector circuits, which make them a little better than others.

For the money they want for a Chicomm radio, that's a lot of coin, granted the Tera radios appear to be from a US distributor with a US warranty, but at the end of the day, all the walkie talkie on chip radios are the same.

rapidcharger · Feb 21, 2015

DanRollman said:
How do you like the radio otherwise?

To be clear, I do not have experience with this radio.
I was commenting on your requirement for a part 90 radio and I looked up the FCC id number with the FCC office of engineering and technology which displayed the certification grant and any conditions. The brochures and websites are quick to boast part 90 certification but the devil's in the details. They neglect to mention the power levels and modes that the certification is for.

I don't point this out because I'm anal retentive. I point this out because I when I started pointing this out, it got noticed and my aim is to see if these chinese chip radios can actually get a legit certification given that they sometimes have to get creative with other compliance issues. I am also a staunch advocate of truth in advertising. If something is going to claim something, be it part 90 certification, 50 miles range, or 48 MPG city, there had better not be any gotchas attached.

And I can offer additional suggestions based on its intended use, with radios that I do have experience with that are simple enough for a "5 year old, literally" however until I know what that intended use is, I am unable to provide any further input at this time.

baltimorecs · Feb 21, 2015

The Baofeng UV-6 fits your criteria but I do not know if is Part 90. Costs about $40-50 per radio, no keypad, and is dual band.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

DanRollman · Feb 22, 2015

baltimorecs said:
The Baofeng UV-6 fits your criteria but I do not know if is Part 90. Costs about $40-50 per radio, no keypad, and is dual band.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks. I'm not sure it is Part 90, either. But that is probably the cheapest simple (e.g. no keypad/screen) dual-band handheld I've seen. Very hard to find much in the way of reviews on this radio.

Dan

baltimorecs · Feb 22, 2015

I have three of them and they are pretty simple radios. They have banks of 16 channels but you have to know how to change banks (turn channel knob to bank number and press squelch while powering on) so the banks can't be inadvertently changed. A little while ago I submitted a request that they be supported with Chirp and the UV-6 is now supported in the daily builds.

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