So, I am on a volunteer fire department and most FD's are being issued MARCS radios. We have some MARCS radios coming for the trucks and the on-duty guys carry one around on every run just in case. Normally, we operate on high band. However, I am wondering if there are any other volunteer FD's that have gone full MARCS and what that has done for the volunteers who are issued radios. I know the MARCS radios are not cheap and you can not buy nor program one for personal use. Do they mark on a separate channel? Does the FD issue them MARCS radios?
MARCS and Volunteer Firefighters?
- Thread starter CVPI4Ever
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I volunteer with a fire department resource in Central Ohio. We have some radios which are issued to us by the county. We also have some organizationally owned radios, but those have significant limitations on the talkgroups programmed into them. Some departments and organizations do allow personally owned radios, but that is up to the Chief and command staff of each department. There are radios available on ebay, but before buying, you'll need to know what will work today and next week, as well as know that your department will allow it...
There are also some products out there that are similar to the old Minitor pagers, but include some voice messaging capabilities. I have heard they are being evaluated by some VFDs in South Central Ohio. See Unication USA for basic product information and see https://forums.radioreference.com/o...um/343546-unication-g4-receiver-marcs-ip.html for some discussion in this forum.Cost is slightly more than a digital scanner, but they should be much more durable.
There are also some products out there that are similar to the old Minitor pagers, but include some voice messaging capabilities. I have heard they are being evaluated by some VFDs in South Central Ohio. See Unication USA for basic product information and see https://forums.radioreference.com/o...um/343546-unication-g4-receiver-marcs-ip.html for some discussion in this forum.Cost is slightly more than a digital scanner, but they should be much more durable.
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- Sep 27, 2010
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keep your eyes open to other radio vendors ef Johnson- kenwood, bk relm harris all make marcs ip compatible radios that are approved and I know kenwood nx-5400 around 1500.00. also you could consider truck repeaters so you can still use your old vhf on scene
davidzimmerman
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Unication G4\G5 Pagers
Buy the G4 or G5 pagers works GREAT cheaper than buying a Radio if you just want to monitor the channels on Marc's. Radios cost BIG money then have the state program them if your department give's the ok to own your own radio.then i think the cost is $20 a month for that radio to be on the system.
Buy the G4 or G5 pagers works GREAT cheaper than buying a Radio if you just want to monitor the channels on Marc's. Radios cost BIG money then have the state program them if your department give's the ok to own your own radio.then i think the cost is $20 a month for that radio to be on the system.
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