Dual band Professional Radio?

[kd2ael]

Im with the local search and rescue team and ambulance company and i often have to carry a uhf and vhf radio. I am on the hunt for a dualbander i need vhf uhf 450-520 any suggestions ?

 

[kayn1n32008]

Im with the local search and rescue team and ambulance company and i often have to carry a uhf and vhf radio. I am on the hunt for a dualbander i need vhf uhf 450-520 any suggestions ?

Options are limited, prices are high.

Motorola APX7000
Harris Unity
Thales Liberty

I urge you to shop the seller not the radios if looking to buy on the used market.





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[jim202]

Im with the local search and rescue team and ambulance company and i often have to carry a uhf and vhf radio. I am on the hunt for a dualbander i need vhf uhf 450-520 any suggestions ?

Be aware that the dual bander radios available today really are only one radio. You can not receive but only one signal at a time. Same with the transmitter. Only transmit on one frequency at a time.

Yes you can scan both bands, but the first signal in stops the scan and until the signal goes away, you won't hear anything else. This dual band radio push is not all that the radios are hyped up to be. Plus the vendors are demanding top price for these toys. Personally I would stay with 2 radios for now.

 

[12dbsinad]

Be aware that the dual bander radios available today really are only one radio. You can not receive but only one signal at a time. Same with the transmitter. Only transmit on one frequency at a time.

Yes you can scan both bands, but the first signal in stops the scan and until the signal goes away, you won't hear anything else. This dual band radio push is not all that the radios are hyped up to be. Plus the vendors are demanding top price for these toys. Personally I would stay with 2 radios for now.

A fire company near me replaced all there mobile rigs with dual band (2 RF decks, 1 control head) Kenwoods as the neighbor dept is on VHF, said dept is on UHF. Well, what was found out very quickly was that they could either be on one or the other, and had to turn on portable radios to monitor there primary frequency or vice versa. Needless to say, a second radio was added so they are independent of one another.

 

[SCPD]

I'll pm what I would do if I was you.

 

[rapidcharger]

And considering the size and weight of one of the so called "dual band" radios, you might as well be carrying 2 or 3 lighter, but still very capable monoband radios.

 

[Kirk]

There are some inexpensive dual-band handhelds from various Chinese manufacturers (Wouxun, Puxing) that are FCC Part 90 accepted for public safety bands. Assuming you have the proper licenses and authorization, you could use them for the services you describe.

That said, the quality/durability is significantly less than the radios from Motorola, Kenwood, etc, so it depends on what you want to use them for. An off duty radio that can tx in a pinch? Probably ok. Something you'd bet your life on? Perhaps not.

 

[hitechRadio]

Be aware that the dual bander radios available today really are only one radio. You can not receive but only one signal at a time. Same with the transmitter. Only transmit on one frequency at a time.

Yes you can scan both bands, but the first signal in stops the scan and until the signal goes away, you won't hear anything else. This dual band radio push is not all that the radios are hyped up to be. Plus the vendors are demanding top price for these toys. Personally I would stay with 2 radios for now.

LOL, he is not wanting a ham radio! Could not legally use one anyway for his use.

People in Public Safety like the OP have an entirely different use for the radio than rag chewing for hours.

I am willing to bet that most amateurs with the dual band V/V U/U V/U dualbanders use the mute feature of the unselected band anyway. It is very annoying and be tough to listen to 2 conversations at one on a portable.

As far as the comment "they only transmit one frequency at a time". no comment LOL

The point is that Dualband radio's for Public Safety serve a valuable purpose. And is not a bunch of hype. A great tool for interop.

I would recommend the APX7000, they are expensive, but he can save a lot if he does not need P25 trunking and other features in the radio.

Some others have mentioned some other radio's that may be viable options. But you do get what you pay for.

With the APX and the others scan works just like a mono band radio. Scan with Priorities across both bands in conventional mode.

I hope the OP finds what he needs in the price range he can afford.
Let us know what you decide.