Is there a standard replacement for a Minitor ?

[rrnewuser]

Let's say all of our Minitor V pagers are dead or dying.

Let's also say that we can't transition to Minitor VI for various administrative/departmental reasons.

Let's finally say that we can't find brand new Minitor V pagers anywhere in the sales channel anymore - and even if we could, $5xx per is a steep price ...

What could we buy that is inexpensive, simple and reliable that would:

a) be programmable with Chirp

b) handle two-tone paging the way a fire department expects a minitor to

That is to say - has everyone already solved this problem, and is there a standard answer, and if so, what is it ?

Thank you.

 

[mmckenna]

Why is it you want to use Chirp?

There are a lot of portable radios that will do two-tone decode and way less than $500. As long as the users know they are not duty radios, then they'd be fine.
There are also other pager manufacturers out there. Unication, Apollo, Swissphone.

Hopefully you are not considering using cheap Chinese radios to replace pagers.

 

[ScanWI]

Unication G1 Pager, less than $500 and yes has it's own free software, but I am not sure why chirp programmable is a requirement. The programming Cradle can be had for about $50. I have seen some places give it to you for free with a order of 10+ pagers.

G1 Voice Pager | Unication USA

Unication's G1 Voice Pager provides BEST in Class Reception & Clarity. The G1 is designed as tough as the heroes it serves...

www.unicationusa.com

 

[Firebuff880]

a) be programmable with Chirp

Always find specs like this and it reminds of the saying " 100 years of Tradition, unimpeded by progress".

As indicted many subscriber devices can do this today, including MOTOTRBO with some custom code. We just finished enabling 200+ SL-7550 subscribers with 2-tone for a customer, paperwork included the statement that this was a monitoring device not a duty radio. An yes the Minitor ring tone was a part of the spec.

 

[rrnewuser]

Why is it you want to use Chirp?

Well ... I guess it's been a while but the last time I programmed motorola pagers it was a Windows-only, device-specific, poorly designed software ...

If I use chirp I can run it on mac or linux and I can use the same interface/software I am already using for various other radios, etc.

Just trying to save some time and aggravation ... obviously it's a soft requirement if no suitable devices are programmable by chirp ...

 

[N0ZQR]

For fire service use only two choices, Motorola or Unication.. Take it from me my department has tried "the others"

Ron

 

[rrnewuser]

For fire service use only two choices, Motorola or Unication.. Take it from me my department has tried "the others"

Our own experiences with Minitor V are not unique - you can see hundreds of forum postings in google where people talk of the same problems and failure rates. I can't imagine how bad "the others" must have been if this is the gold standard ...

I was hoping that since our requirements are so very, very simple (RX only device with two-tone) that there would be some simple device we could rapidly deploy and get people up and running.

 

[INDY72]

East Coast Pagers.... Unications, and other brands. Unication, Swissphone, Apollo Pager Dealer - East Coast Pagers

 

[nd5y]

Chirp doesn't support pagers.
Chirp might not be around in the future. It requires Python 2, which is EOL, and I don't now if they are redoing it in Python 3.

 

[w2lie]

East Coast Pagers.... Unications, and other brands. Unication, Swissphone, Apollo Pager Dealer - East Coast Pagers

Thanks @milf for the recommendation. That is my site.
@rrnewuser Contact me directly. I can certainly work on a quote for you with some additional bonuses.

 

[krokus]

Our own experiences with Minitor V are not unique - you can see hundreds of forum postings in google where people talk of the same problems and failure rates. I can't imagine how bad "the others" must have been if this is the gold standard ...

I was hoping that since our requirements are so very, very simple (RX only device with two-tone) that there would be some simple device we could rapidly deploy and get people up and running.

I am not a huge fan of the big M, but I have not seen many issues their pagers, that were not user induced. (Except the CPS being a bit odd, in terminology.)

Swissphone & Unication are good options. Both offer cradles to trigger house bells, with Unication being plug compatible with the M bases. Be aware that both of these have more involved controls than the Minitor series.

As another option, there are used Minitor V units, in good condition.

 

[12dbsinad]

Look into the Icom F52/62D series radios. About the size of a pager with a stubby antenna. They receive much better than a minitor and it's packed with 2-tone features. Good luck