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Motorola DTR550 For Cruise

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JASII

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I will be taking my family on a cruise in a couple of months. Are the Motorola DTR550s still considered to be the best performing radios for something like this?
 

PACNWDude

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They work very well on cruise ships. They do not require a license and have great loud audio. The "Privacy Channels" they come pre-programmed with should work fine. I have a dozen DTR410's that get used in various settings, including large ships.
You may lose some signal if someone is at the bow and another person is in the engine room on a tour though. (Assuming a 1000 plus foot cruise ship.) These will work a lot better than cheaper FRS radios would.
 

ecps92

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No License needed in the good ole US of A, your mileage may vary in other Lands.

Just remember to not take it off Ship :)

They work very well on cruise ships. They do not require a license and have great loud audio. The "Privacy Channels" they come pre-programmed with should work fine. I have a dozen DTR410's that get used in various settings, including large ships.
You may lose some signal if someone is at the bow and another person is in the engine room on a tour though. (Assuming a 1000 plus foot cruise ship.) These will work a lot better than cheaper FRS radios would.
 
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the DTR 650 radios have a better antenna and I would recommend them more than the 550s !! with a little bit of testing I've done with the 650 we were able to get 10 miles plus line-of-sight range........ I definitely would recommend the DTR 650 radios for your application 900MHZ should cover that ship just fine! and by the way there about the securrest radios you will ever find
 

PACNWDude

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I will second the secure comment.

Unlike the cheaper and older Tri-Square analog FHSS radios that only hopped 2.5 times a second, Motorola DTR radios hop about 11 times a second.

Where my company has trouble on ships has to do with the outside noise and signal degradation of having other 900 MHz gear in use as well. (And it is rarely a problem when it is, you can still make out the signal, because digital is either there or not. In which case they tell you no other unit is in range.)

Get the DTR radios for your trip.
 

balibago

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get a gmrs

No one really cares what you are talking about on a cruise shop so use a gmrs. Don't put money in Motorola's pockets as they are too unfriendly to our hobby.
 
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I do agree that Motorola is unfriendly and hard to work with....... but some products they build no one else has figured out how to build ... why use GMRS vs FRS just so you don't have to buy a license for GMRS????
 

PACNWDude

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I recommend DTR radios if you can afford the cost as many places there is way too much FRS/GMRS traffic. Some crowded amusement parks, cruise ships, and other public places have too many other people using the same channels.
This is where DTR shines, nobody will hear your conversations and you will not hear their's either. You hear what you want to hear on your own private channel.
The cost is the real hit though, as your basic DTR410 is about $250. But for the fact that you do not hear every little kid keying up saying "Hello"? Or the 30-40 something hitting the call button every few seconds, this is worth the price.
 
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