Harris Unity for analog mode mostly.
I have to admit, In my case I use a Harris Unity radio to be interoperable for VHF,UHF and 800 MHz bands. However, these are often used in analog only mode.
My biggest complaint is that this radio does not do AM. Often times, I need to contact aircraft in AM mode and then a command post on UHF, or ground crew on VHF, with Coast Guard on 800MHz.
Then there is the durability factor. I do not baby my radios, and my Harris Unity does not seem as durable as my APX. If the Harris did not have a metal belt clip, I would probably carry the APX instead.
It is nice to have three bands in the radio, and I have used the GPS as well. This is where it does better than the APX7000 for me. When my company was debating new radios, they were replacing Motorola equipment. So the logic was to buy new Motorola equipment. We have ended up going MotoTrbo, with a few people like myself, buying Harris radios for our personal use.
We use a lot of Telex, Gai-Tronics and other interface gear to patch between bands, so multi-band was not important.
Personnel in the field just want a dual band VHF/UHF handheld so they are not carrying two radios, or needing a patch between the two. But at $4-6 to get that from Motorola, the patch gear is actually cheaper.
I know of several companies in the oil and gas industry that would gladly buy thousands of VHF/UHF Motorola radios, if they were IS FM rated, and priced in the $2-3 range. That price point can be justified a lot easier than $4-6.
I have to admit, In my case I use a Harris Unity radio to be interoperable for VHF,UHF and 800 MHz bands. However, these are often used in analog only mode.
My biggest complaint is that this radio does not do AM. Often times, I need to contact aircraft in AM mode and then a command post on UHF, or ground crew on VHF, with Coast Guard on 800MHz.
Then there is the durability factor. I do not baby my radios, and my Harris Unity does not seem as durable as my APX. If the Harris did not have a metal belt clip, I would probably carry the APX instead.
It is nice to have three bands in the radio, and I have used the GPS as well. This is where it does better than the APX7000 for me. When my company was debating new radios, they were replacing Motorola equipment. So the logic was to buy new Motorola equipment. We have ended up going MotoTrbo, with a few people like myself, buying Harris radios for our personal use.
We use a lot of Telex, Gai-Tronics and other interface gear to patch between bands, so multi-band was not important.
Personnel in the field just want a dual band VHF/UHF handheld so they are not carrying two radios, or needing a patch between the two. But at $4-6 to get that from Motorola, the patch gear is actually cheaper.
I know of several companies in the oil and gas industry that would gladly buy thousands of VHF/UHF Motorola radios, if they were IS FM rated, and priced in the $2-3 range. That price point can be justified a lot easier than $4-6.
