• 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.

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    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).

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Portable Radio Recommendation

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AYoung2600

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Joined
Jul 24, 2009
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86
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Ohio
I'm looking to purchase a new portable radio and am looking for the best option. This radio will mainly be used for fire department use but will also be used as a scanner. I would like a radio that the programming software is easily obtained so that I can program it whenever I would like. By the way I am looking for a VHF radio. Thanks in advance!
 

RodStrong

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+1. Can't go wrong with Icom or Vertex, and RDR is by far one of the best dealers I have dealt with in my career. Probably bought 30-40 radios from RDR over the years. Lots of options depending on your needs, and Tom will help you find the right radio. Good luck.
 

mmckenna

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Roaming the Intermountain West
Vote for Kenwood. Inexpensive programming software and cable. Easy programmability. Durable if you get the right model. Our fire department at work uses all Kenwood radios. Many other departments do too.
 

Nasby

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Apr 4, 2004
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2,634
Location
Ohio
How funny is it that no one mentions Motorola, the one time king of all radios, as an option.
 

mmckenna

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How funny is it that no one mentions Motorola, the one time king of all radios, as an option.

Motorola makes great professional and high end business gear, but I'm not impressed with their lower end stuff. They've priced themselves out of so many markets and are relying on brand name rather than product quality now. I believe the gradual slipping below the surface of Motorola has begun, and it's their own fault.
 

AYoung2600

Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2009
Messages
86
Location
Ohio
Motorola makes great professional and high end business gear, but I'm not impressed with their lower end stuff. They've priced themselves out of so many markets and are relying on brand name rather than product quality now. I believe the gradual slipping below the surface of Motorola has begun, and it's their own fault.

I used to be a big motorola fan but now I'm moving further and further away from them. The first radio I ever owned was a cp200 and I loved that radio. After that I purchased a cp200xls and was pretty disappointed with it. Now I'm finally fed up with all the problems I have had with them and I'm also tired of having to send them out and paying to have them programmed. It'll be much simpler to be able to program them myself.

Right now I am looking at the VX-454. It looks like a pretty good radio for what I'm going to be using it for and it is fairly inexpensive. Does anyone have any opinions about this radio?
 

RodStrong

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Nov 11, 2007
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1,173
Location
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Right now I am looking at the VX-454. It looks like a pretty good radio for what I'm going to be using it for and it is fairly inexpensive. Does anyone have any opinions about this radio?

I got acquainted with the VX-454 this past winter. I had 16 of them (VHF) come across my desk, and spent a few days poking around with the software and exploring options. They seem like great little radios. Just like any brand, they all have different features and different approaches to programming, but there wasn't anything about them that really sucked or I thought was a deal killer. I haven't heard any complaints from the users yet. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one. Low $300 range and a 3 year warranty for what I saw seems to be well worth it.

If you have specific questions about them feel free to PM me.
 

davidbever

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Joined
Dec 30, 2005
Messages
3
Location
Temecula, CA
Try a bendix king

Consider a bendix king. There radios are keypad programmable along with easy to acquire software and other accessories. Wide variety of radio types available, both analog and digital. Many used narrowband models available very cheap. Try one of the following (all 210 channels or more, alpha numeric displays)

Eph 5102x - older narrowband radio, many available $100-200
GPH 5102 - newer model $250-500
GPH command - harder to find $500-800
DPH 5102x - digital / analog radio $500-1500
 
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