Apx 900

[BrooksFire001]

Hey Guys, Ive tried every Variation of wording in the search bar. However i cant find the question im looking for. My Department(Which will not be named on a chat program) has stated they will be moving to Digital when the budget allows.
However my entire County has moved to Digital already(Which we mutual aid too). Which makes it hard to know what myself as a public safety personal is walking into. I have maintained proper permission to (if able to be found). To purchase a radio of my own and send it to the Programmer(network admin) to have them program it for my personal use.
Question i have is this. I am looking for a APX 900(Solely as that's what the county is currently using and i'm guaranteed it will work). But i cant find any Open Purchase areas to buy them from. Does anyone know of how much i should be expecting to pay?. Or where i could buy one.

 

[MTS2000des]

My advice is to coordinate with your agency and get the specific flash code/feature set of the radios they purchase, that way their radio shop will be able to drop a codeplug into it without hassle. Your shop/admin should be able to provide you with this information for the purpose you are stating of purchasing your own unit.
As far as pricing, it widely depends on feature sets required (trunking, TDMA, encryption, OTAR/OTAP). I have around 100 of these on my system and the customer paid around $2300 for them flashed for P25 trunking, TDMA and multi-key AES encryption from a local MSI dealer.

 

[K2NEC]

This is a little unrelated but why the APX900? Why not something like the APX2000/4000? Design? Personal preference?

 

[12dbsinad]

I see you live in Canada, so my prices may not be accurate, but a basic flashed 900 in my area sells for around 1500-1600 dollars. Sometimes more or even less depending on the dealer, quantity, or contract pricing. I won't touch on the rest as mts2000des covered that. Not knowing what feature set you need I'll reiterate what he said, coordinate with your agency.

 

[APX7500X2]

This is a little unrelated but why the APX900? Why not something like the APX2000/4000? Design? Personal preference?

900/2000/4000 are all the same radio inside, just a different case and glass on the 900 and they wont "let" you have some features on the 900 but nothing electronically different. The 900 is a super radio for the price, But so is the Kenwood 5000 series, our local state system is buying the Kenwood 5000 series over the APX line now...Much less, turns out just as rugged and works great on P25 Phase1 or 2 systems

 

[BrooksFire001]

This is a little unrelated but why the APX900? Why not something like the APX2000/4000? Design? Personal preference?

“I am looking for a apx 900(solely because that’s what the county is currently using so I’m guaranteed it will work”

 

[BrooksFire001]

900/2000/4000 are all the same radio inside, just a different case and glass on the 900 and they wont "let" you have some features on the 900 but nothing electronically different. The 900 is a super radio for the price, But so is the Kenwood 5000 series, our local state system is buying the Kenwood 5000 series over the APX line now...Much less, turns out just as rugged and works great on P25 Phase1 or 2 systems

Honestly I’m a newbie when it comes to p25 radios. I know the county has selected the apx900 and currently use them.

I am currently in contact with the radio admin group. Who has stated a APX900 is selling for 4K Canadian. Seems a bit off given the prices you guys are stating above. I understand the programming is going to cost extra overhead. But something seems fishy here.
The entirety of Alberta has just recently switched to AFRCCS(p25 system). I’m sure the prices will remain inflated for a while. This is the main reason why I’m reaching out so I have an understanding of what I should be paying.

 

[kayn1n32008]

Honestly I’m a newbie when it comes to p25 radios. I know the county has selected the apx900 and currently use them.

I am currently in contact with the radio admin group. Who has stated a APX900 is selling for 4K Canadian. Seems a bit off given the prices you guys are stating above. I understand the programming is going to cost extra overhead. But something seems fishy here.
The entirety of Alberta has just recently switched to AFRCCS(p25 system). I’m sure the prices will remain inflated for a while. This is the main reason why I’m reaching out so I have an understanding of what I should be paying.

Hi Richard,

Once you have 4 posts, send me a PM with an email I can contact you off board with. I am also in Alberta and may be able to help you.

 

[BrooksFire001]

Hi Richard,

Once you have 4 posts, send me a PM with an email I can contact you off board with. I am also in Alberta and may be able to help you.

Thank you. I will try to remember this for sure.

 

[willwilliams]

most places in Alberta are around 4000-4500 with a mic And depending on what other options you want. We have put a lot of 900”s on Afrrcs and they work well as long as they are ordered correctly. If that helps.

 

[BrooksFire001]

most places in Alberta are around 4000-4500 with a mic And depending on what other options you want. We have put a lot of 900”s on Afrrcs and they work well as long as they are ordered correctly. If that helps.

Even still this seems outrageous. Given the fact that the states is selling them between $3000-$3500 Canadian full programming. Shipping shouldn’t increase it by 1000$- 2000$.

 

[redtalon]

“I am looking for a apx 900(solely because that’s what the county is currently using so I’m guaranteed it will work”

You may want to check out the permitted radio list on the AFRRCS website as there are several radio options from Kenwood, Harris, Motorola etc.

 

[BrooksFire001]

You may want to check out the permitted radio list on the AFRRCS website as there are several radio options from Kenwood, Harris, Motorola etc.

Honestly im pretty new to Radio Communication. I was a Telecom Tech for 6 years where i learned some back side stuff in the Radio Tower. But that's the extent. So i appreciate the knowledge passed down to me and the patience you guys have to continue following this thread.

I have checked the Permitted Radio list, Considering my experience with Radios alot of people can see a sucker coming; With that being said people can tell i'm pretty weak in knowledge. And have tried to sell me knowledge wise on the 900 stating their not always compatible. And that likewise radios boast more inter-ops ability's.

I guess what im saying is if the county uses Motorola's and i choose a cheaper equal quality radio can i communicate back and reap in all rewards that come with mutual aid's?.

This has turned into more of a learning opportunity. Truly helps me respect the ability to Chatter during extensive calls.

 

[redtalon]

Honestly im pretty new to Radio Communication. I was a Telecom Tech for 6 years where i learned some back side stuff in the Radio Tower. But that's the extent. So i appreciate the knowledge passed down to me and the patience you guys have to continue following this thread.

I have checked the Permitted Radio list, Considering my experience with Radios alot of people can see a sucker coming; With that being said people can tell i'm pretty weak in knowledge. And have tried to sell me knowledge wise on the 900 stating their not always compatible. And that likewise radios boast more inter-ops ability's.

I guess what im saying is if the county uses Motorola's and i choose a cheaper equal quality radio can i communicate back and reap in all rewards that come with mutual aid's?.

This has turned into more of a learning opportunity. Truly helps me respect the ability to Chatter during extensive calls.

Any of the radios on the list that will operate on the system will work for interoperability. The only thing that would prevent that is agencies that use encryption on their talkgroups such as police and EMS. The RCMP are using Motorola radios and Harris dispatch consoles. I think the Motorola radios were chosen more for backwards compatibility with their old system than anything. Some fire departments want the durability of the APX XE line but they come at a cost. If interoperability is the only issue and your agency doesn’t use any encryption, any of the radios on the permitted list will work just fine.