Firefighter looking for Dual-band VHF/UHF radio

[SgtVito7]

I have been searching high and low, and i need help finding a radio. I am looking for a portable radio that is capable of UHF and VHF in the public safety frequency ranges. I’m looking for a Motorola or Kenwood radio or comparable with those freq capabilities and with a programmable “man-down” button. I’d like to find a mobile radio as well.

i really need something better than a Baofeng or AnyTone entry-level radio.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[belvdr]

I would suggest talking to your leadership then. I would advise against buying your own radio and potentially causing issues, both legally and for the welfare of others (i.e. using a radio that's not maintained by the radio admins and causing interference or unable to talk when needed).

 

[pro961]

Contact your local Motorola or Harris Shop They both sell Dual and triband mobiles and portables. f you looking for a "used one" they are not much cheaper that the new ones. Make sure you have permission from your dept. Most good radio shops will not program TX freqs into a private radio without a letter from the dept head.

 

[tglendye]

I would suggest talking to your leadership then. I would advise against buying your own radio and potentially causing issues, both legally and for the welfare of others (i.e. using a radio that's not maintained by the radio admins and causing interference or unable to talk when needed).

As long as he is authorized, there should not be a problem. If his locality is ok with it... why wouldn't you be?

 

[KK4JUG]

As long as he is authorized, there should not be a problem. If his locality is ok with it... why wouldn't you be?

There was nothing to indicate the OP was authorized. That said, Motorola, Harris, etc., will probably be the place to look and it's gonna be pricey.

 

[zapman987]

programmable “man-down” button

This alone mandates the use of a professional radio. I dont know of any thing but that supports this. If you are needing something with this, I strongly urge you to seek the assistance of your organization to provide accordingly.

Need a little more on freqs, is this 150s, 400s and/or 800s? You can find a lot of ham radios that can work on 150s and 400s; as this is a normal dual band ham band set. Might take some slight modifications to get it to work in 150. 800 is normally a professional radio only (Motorola, Harris, etc. ). That said, if its not 800, any ham mobile that you can find to work on 150/400 will work. I dont think any have "man-down" functions for mobile, only handhelds.

As long as he is authorized, there should not be a problem. If his locality is ok with it... why wouldn't you be?

Legally, he still needs this in writing to be able to use (transmit). Many departments say its ok, but dont have it in writing (Im having this fight with my own department right now). Oftentimes its because they dont understand their own licensing and the legalities surrounding it (which is partly my problem).

My guess is Motorola/Harris/whomever had them sign a form for obtaining their license, but didnt explain all the details surrounding the use of it.

 

[W5lz]

"...My guess is Motorola/Harris/whomever had them sign a form for obtaining their license, but didnt explain all the details surrounding the use of it. ". That's a very common thing! They explain all the features of their new 'whiz-bang' radio system then ask if there's any questions. Most of the time there are thoughsands of questions but the buyer is already overwhelmed with the explanation just given. What do you ask first? So, the guy with the new issued radio get's a short-n-dirty instruction sheet he doesn't understand and has to 'wing-it'. Ever been there?
What's really needed is a day or two of instruction. With a department of any size you just got a months worth of teaching to do. An instructor ought to be included with any 'new system' sold. Oh well...

 

[chief21]

I’m looking for a Motorola or Kenwood radio or comparable with those freq capabilities and with a programmable “man-down” button.

Virtually all of the older public-safety quality radios are single-band models. I'm not that familiar with the newer Kenwoods, but certain of the newer Motorola APX models can be ordered as multi-band capable. I'm guessing that your single-radio price would probably be in the thousands... accessories and programming extra!

You didn't specify which type of radio you will need... analog? P25? DMR? NXDN? The correct answer will limit your choices substantially.

 

[ko6jw_2]

It appears that your area uses a statewide P25 phase 1 trunked system. I also don't see anyone using 150MHz. The City of Huntington may dispatch on a separate 450MHz system, but it is also part of the statewide system. Doesn't your department provide radios?

 

[zapman987]

"...My guess is Motorola/Harris/whomever had them sign a form for obtaining their license, but didnt explain all the details surrounding the use of it. ". That's a very common thing! They explain all the features of their new 'whiz-bang' radio system then ask if there's any questions. Most of the time there are thousands of questions but the buyer is already overwhelmed with the explanation just given. What do you ask first? So, the guy with the new issued radio get's a short-n-dirty instruction sheet he doesn't understand and has to 'wing-it'. Ever been there?
What's really needed is a day or two of instruction. With a department of any size you just got a months worth of teaching to do. An instructor ought to be included with any 'new system' sold. Oh well...

I would more say that most "users" really the department don't understand licensing. Motorola/etc may inform them they need a license, and do the paperwork, but dont explain the legalities behind it. So the user doesnt know to ask in the first place.

That or may be a county/state license, and the local user/department has no management over it. They get handed a set of radios, but either need more, want more, and/or the chief doesnt understand radios and is like " doesnt hurt us and probably helps if everyone can talk when needed"

 

[belvdr]

As long as he is authorized, there should not be a problem. If his locality is ok with it... why wouldn't you be?

Never said I had a problem with it. Only pointing out prior authorization should be obtained before proceeding. There's nothing to indicate one way or the other.

 

[Giddyuptd]

APX 8000XE, or a 7000XE.

for fire trust me the bigger knobs are best.

You can look at a higher end Kenwood with dual band or a harris.

 

[KK4JUG]

And the OP hasn't chimed in on whether the powers-that-be know what's going on.......

 

[norcalscan]

Also any decent "man-down" feature will be integrated with dispatch, identifying the radio either by voice or by data on a screen, might put alert-tones out, open a mic, and have the ability for dispatch to remotely disable the alert, etc. If a "rogue" radio has that feature programmed, and it's not implemented into an existing system, all it'll do is jam up the fire-ground or dispatch channel until the battery dies or alert gets cancelled locally on the radio.

Or maybe OP just wants a nice orange Home button.

 

[12dbsinad]

Your options are limited. They do make public safety multi band radios but be prepared to shell out some money, even used. You'll probably need to take out a second mortgage on your house if you went with a new APX8000. A Harris will be cheaper by quite a bit.

 

[buddrousa]

You also forgot to mention most all Statewide Systems charge a fee per radio per year.

 

[W5lz]

Very simply, the ones who operate/control the system (dispatchers?) should know how the system works and it's capabilities. The -users- of the system should know how to make -their- radio work (talk/listen/and what channel), they don't need to know the 'mechanics' of the system and probably don't want to know. As it gets closer to the 'dirty end' of the stick it should get simpler, not harder. Some times you just don't have the time to think about what you -could- do, you have enough doing what you have to do. That really takes some thought as to what communications system abilities are required for each 'step' in that chain of command.
For instance:
The guy on the end of that nozzle doesn't need to know what's happening across town at that other fire. He -could- benefit from knowing what's happening at his fire. That guy's Captain has a use for more information, monitoring two channels instead of one. But, the priorities are different. Sort of the difference between stratigy and tactics.
That's not what this thread is really about but it's good to consider.

 

[SgtVito7]

To reply to everyone, yes, the state has P25, but we are not on that system. I’m a radio comes tech, however, the radios we r issued, are either UHF or VHF. Only the expensive APX radios are mulitband. My old department, we had the Motorola HT1250s I believe, that had vhf/uhf capability. But I can’t seem to find a used version with both. That’s what I’m looking for. If that makes sense to everyone. We are authorized to purchase our own for use as long as we r a member of a department. This isn’t my first rodeo

 

[KK4JUG]

There's a variety of HT1250s on eBay at a variety of prices. Certainly not an endorsement but it might help.

 

[12dbsinad]

HT 1250’s are singe band only. The only other old commercial dual band I can think of was the vertex 2070. They were big square brick radios with a 4 character top display.