Portable Radios

[StartexFirefighter]

Im just looking for some opinions on some good VHF two way radios. I am looking to purchase on for use with my volunteer fire department.

 

[kadetklapp]

140-170 mhz range I take it?

Mobile or portable?

 

[jparks29]

Mobile.

Used : Motorola Spectra or Ericsson Orion

New : any of the newer Icom mobiles


Portable

Used : Astro saber or Ericsson M-RK

New : any of the newer Icom portables

 

[pogbobo]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Kenwood-TK-2180...ryZ40067QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

very durable, not to hard to get programmed... our fired dept has some of the uhf version ... my 2cents

edit: or http://cgi.ebay.com/KENWOOD-TK-2140...hZ002QQcategoryZ40067QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem
its about $100 cheaper, and smaller, but still pretty nice

 

[K2KOH]

VHF, get a Motorola HT1000. Sixteen channels, covers 136-174 MHz, and can take one hell of a beating.

 

[Secret_Squirrel]

Don't overlook some of the Relm and Relm/BK products.

 

[rescuecomm]

1. If the narrowband move stays on schedule for 2012, all public safety radios need to be capable. So you may only get 5 years out of a HT1000 portable.

2. Question number two is how many channels do you need? You will need enough to include VTAC or UTAC frequencies for interop (4 or 5 extra)

3. My squad uses Motorola CP200 VHF 16 channel. Out of 16 purchased 4 years ago, only 1 has had to be fixed under warranty. They are okay for the rank and file, but any officers that need to operate on mutual aid channels might need a more complex (more channels, tone out, etc.) radio.

4. I am not a Motorola man. I use Icom for my personal equipment, but the Motorola radios have a stronger case than the others. Something to think about in the fire/rescue/ems service where they tend to get dropped a lot.

Bob

 

[scannersnstuff]

radio

my personal opinion. i'm partial to the kenwood tk-2170.for the price it's a big bang for the buck's.136-174 mhz,128 channel's,128 zone's,priority,pretty rugged,great audio,fantastic rx.,long battery life,decent belt clip,narrow band capable,man down button programable,ani radio iden.capable,8 character alpha tag's.also came with everything i needed right out of the box.probably about 1/2 the price of a motorola.also i forgot to add.it does up to 4 two tone sequential pager channel's.

 

[StartexFirefighter]

Im probably going to buy a Motorola CP200. Some members of my department recommended it to me. I only need 16 channels. The frequencies I will be using are between 152-159 Mhz.

 

[rescuecomm]

One important thing about the CP200 before you buy. It only has one scan profile or list. So if you like having the ability to scan different groups for different ops, it won't do it. We had two scan groups in the old GP300 radios. They guys were miffed, but they got over it. We couldn't afford HT750's for everyone, so they got CP200's. ActionCommunications has good prices on the CP200.

Bob