• To anyone looking to acquire commercial radio programming software:

    Please do not make requests for copies of radio programming software which is sold (or was sold) by the manufacturer for any monetary value. All requests will be deleted and a forum infraction issued. Making a request such as this is attempting to engage in software piracy and this forum cannot be involved or associated with this activity. The same goes for any private transaction via Private Message. Even if you attempt to engage in this activity in PM's we will still enforce the forum rules. Your PM's are not private and the administration has the right to read them if there's a hint to criminal activity.

    If you are having trouble legally obtaining software please state so. We do not want any hurt feelings when your vague post is mistaken for a free request. It is YOUR responsibility to properly word your request.

    To obtain Motorola software see the Sticky in the Motorola forum.

    The various other vendors often permit their dealers to sell the software online (i.e., Kenwood). Please use Google or some other search engine to find a dealer that sells the software. Typically each series or individual radio requires its own software package. Often the Kenwood software is less than $100 so don't be a cheapskate; just purchase it.

    For M/A Com/Harris/GE, etc: there are two software packages that program all current and past radios. One package is for conventional programming and the other for trunked programming. The trunked package is in upwards of $2,500. The conventional package is more reasonable though is still several hundred dollars. The benefit is you do not need multiple versions for each radio (unlike Motorola).

    This is a large and very visible forum. We cannot jeopardize the ability to provide the RadioReference services by allowing this activity to occur. Please respect this.

looking to buy motorola radios

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ch-24

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Hay i am looking for a deal on 10 motorola radios. i would like ex500's but motorola is not producing then anymore so if anyone knows someone selling ex500 or similar radios please let me know. ht750 is also good just nothing to expensive.
 
mmckenna

mmckenna

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What exactly are you looking for? UHF or VHF? How many channels? What is your budget? What is the environment they'll be used in?

There are a lot of really good options out there right now. Unless you really need a specific brand/model I'd recommend keeping your options open.
 
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ch-24

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It can be UHF or VHF that does not make a difference. the budget will be based on what product we are offered, we would like 16 channels and it will be use in a school for the custodial staff.
 
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mmckenna

mmckenna

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ch-24 said:
It can be UHF or VHF that does not make a difference. the budget will be based on what product we are offered, we would like 16 channels and it will be use in a school for the custodial staff.
Click to expand...

Your FCC license will dictate what band/frequencies you use. It's not legal to just randomly choose a frequency and start using it. Kind of putting the cart in front of the horse.

Check and see if the school/school district/department of education has a frequency already licensed. Find out who is responsible for that license (it should list a contact/control point) and talk to them. If the holder of the license approves you would need to pick radios that are compatible with those frequencies. It won't necessarily be UHF or VHF, could be low band, could be 800MHz, 900MHz, etc.

If you don't have a license, contact a radio dealer and let them know what you want to do. They can assist you with the details.
 
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ch-24

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mmckenna said:
Your FCC license will dictate what band/frequencies you use. It's not legal to just randomly choose a frequency and start using it. Kind of putting the cart in front of the horse.

Check and see if the school/school district/department of education has a frequency already licensed. Find out who is responsible for that license (it should list a contact/control point) and talk to them. If the holder of the license approves you would need to pick radios that are compatible with those frequencies. It won't necessarily be UHF or VHF, could be low band, could be 800MHz, 900MHz, etc.

If you don't have a license, contact a radio dealer and let them know what you want to do. They can assist you with the details.
Click to expand...

the school that will be using it is not in the USA and therefore is not governed by the FCC so it does not make a difference what band/frequency i use
 
mmckenna

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OK, your "brooklyn ny" location threw me off.

While the FCC does not have jurisdiction outside the USA, almost every country has some government agency that fills that role. You'd really need to figure out what agency that is and find out how you would do this and stay on the right side of the rules.
 
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ch-24

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mmckenna said:
OK, your "brooklyn ny" location threw me off.

While the FCC does not have jurisdiction outside the USA, almost every country has some government agency that fills that role. You'd really need to figure out what agency that is and find out how you would do this and stay on the right side of the rules.
Click to expand...

Sorry about the location thing I am not buying the radios for myself. but i will definitely look into whether there is an agency that governs this stuff where the radios will be used
 
mmckenna

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Sounds good.
The amount of area you need to cover, as well as building construction/local topography will dictate a lot. Simple radio to radio communications won't give you a lot of coverage. If you need to cover several large buildings or a large geographic area you'll need to consider a repeater.
 
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ch-24

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i have looked into all of that. All i need are 10 5 watt radios that are durable and will not easily give me software problems. And at the same time not to expensive
 
mmckenna

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Motorola, Vertex, Kenwood and Icom all make quality radios. Based off the EX500/HT-750 you listed above, you are probably looking at low to mid range commercial quality radios. There really are a lot of options available.

If you are pricing out radios, make sure you look at the total cost of ownership. The radio on it's own is only part of the cost. Batteries, accessories, antennas are all considered 'expendables' and will need fairly frequent replacement. It can really add up over time, so make sure you consider those costs.

I've got a maintenance group at work using Icom F-4011 radios. We've been buying them for somewhere in the $150/each range. 16 channel UHF. They get beat up pretty hard and are doing well.
 
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