Motorola DTR?

[SKYNET156]

I am wondering what the distance is on the motorola DTR Radios?
Are they good for 1/2 mile or less or more?
Are they durable? and will they work good for security patrol type applications?

 

[mam1081]

Depending on terrain, 1/2 mile is probably average max range. I've gotten about 2 miles in the mountains, and maybe a mile in flat-land areas. They work well in large buildings. I belive they are very durable (compared to FRS radios), on par with the PRO1550 and such radios from Motorola (maybe a little better actually, but not XTS quality). Audio is quite nice. I'd say they work for security. They are quite secure from scanner listeners. It's REALLY fun to talk on them and try to have someone "close call" you. :lol:

 

[b7spectra]

VHF - 2 miles. UHF - 1 mile. 800/900 - 1 mile

It's just an average. Claims of 8-10+ miles is ideal conditions - 1 unit on a mountain top and the other on the ground.

 

[chrismol1]

VHF - 2 miles. UHF - 1 mile. 800/900 - 1 mile

It's just an average. Claims of 8-10+ miles is ideal conditions - 1 unit on a mountain top and the other on the ground.

What kind of power output are you talking about with those figures?

 

[wd9cms]

Hi,

mam1081 and b7spectra are correct I get between 1/2 to 2 miles with my DTR650's and better with an external antenna. I like the Motorola DTR's and I also have a set of Trisquare 900Mz Frequency Hopping 1 watt radios that work well for the price (<$100 for a pair with charger and headsets). The Trisquare web site is TriSquare - 2-way Radio - Beyond FRS Beyond GMRS eXRS (TM) eXtreme Radio Service . I hope this helps....

Bill

 

[SKYNET156]

I would like to use these in about a 26 square block enviroment, I would like to stick with the motorola's because of durability, I am just more worried about the range while using these in the city enviroment, I would like to support 20-25 users, we dont have the money to lease or rent repeater space on such a tight budget.

 

[b7spectra]

4-5 watts.

 

[pickles37]

Does anyone know the difference between the DTR620 and the DTR650? I just got some DTR620s on eBay and am thinking they may be designed for the Latin America market (given by the amount of spanish hits). Are they essentially the same as the 650 (and more importantly are they compatible)? The Motorola english site lists both the 620 and 650. Thanks, David

 

[N7DKL]

I just purchased two new DTR410's and two DTR550's. As a range test today I placed one 550 in the window of my house and then drove away, keying another 550 about every block or so. I was completely amazed when I still had connectivity 3.5 miles away in a rural/urban area (in the city with a fair number of trees). They worked much better than I expected.

 

[PACNWDude]

I have been responsible for a slew of DTR410 radios at three different sites for several years now. The 410 has the shorter antenna and a range of about 1 mile. My sites are in heavily wooded areas with some slight hills and valleys. The requirement was for a radio that was hard to hear with a "cheap Radio Shack scanner", loud audio, and build quality like their older Motorola CP200 handhelds. The DTR series is rugged, has loud audio and is not easily heard on a scanner. You would need some very good gear to hear these as they frequency hop and use VSELP.

Sites are schools and they are used about the campus. DTR radios were sold as being able to penetrate buildings and multiple floors of buildings. They seem to do this well and have good range about the campuses.

I also had the eXRS radios and tested them in a rural environment. They lacked the durability and range of the DTR radios.They also had a problem of losing sync with each other when they lost connection. Also if you had some eXRS radios synced to each other and then later on tried to add another to the group, I had to power cycle them all about the same time to join the group.

The Motorola DTR radios just work, and work well. If you go with DTR radios, be sure to put your own network ID number in and do not use a default. I use one to ping around town and many construction sites can be heard since they use the default.