Radio Transceiver Question

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RadioStart

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I want to start by saying that I know next to nothing about technical aspect of radios

At work we use professional Motorola radios but the problem is that we had some issues with our dealer and so therefore, we haven't gotten any new ones in FOREVER and they are all starting to break. It would be nice if I could just buy my own and bring it to work. I don't even know the models we have at work and I know next to nothing about 2-way radios. The ones we have look like the GP or MTX series. I can't even find a place online that sells these. All I can find is people selling the batteries for these radios.

Would I even be able to get ahold of that type of radio without dishing out an obnoxious amount of cash?

With that said, even if I was able to buy one, what would I have to do to get it programmed to listen/transmit my work's signal? Just know the frequencies and program them in? Thanks a lot and I apologize if this post is in the wrong area.
 

jim202

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Sounds like you need to find another radio shop. Motorola shops are getting to be real
expensive just to have them look at a radio on the bench. Prices in the big cities are
going between $185 to over $225 an hour plus travel. At these rates, you can
probably throw out a broken radio and go buy a new one as long as it isn't for a
trunking system.

You didn't even give a hint as to they type of radio service you have. It can be as
simple as a base station and a number of portables. Maybe you have a repeater.
If they got sold a bill of goods by a slick sales person, you might have ended up
with a trunking system. These trunking radios run about $3000 to $6000 each.
Sort of depends on the features and who the radios are made by.

There are a number of different radio brands on the market today. Motorola is
not the only banker in town. however you need to find out some more about
your radios before anyone can help you. the frequency band is a start. like
is it a low band radio (30 to 50 Mhz), a VHF radio (150 to 172 MHz), or a UHF
(450 to 472MHz). If it is a trunking radio, it will be up in the 806 to 870 MHz
range.

If it is a non trunking radio system, you should be able to get a portable for
around $350 depending on the features you need. There is (in no order),
Icom, Kenwood, Yeasu, Vertex, EF Johnson, Motorola, Bendix King and a couple
of others that seem to have got lost in my gray matter.

Jim



I want to start by saying that I know next to nothing about technical aspect of radios

At work we use professional Motorola radios but the problem is that we had some issues with our dealer and so therefore, we haven't gotten any new ones in FOREVER and they are all starting to break. It would be nice if I could just buy my own and bring it to work. I don't even know the models we have at work and I know next to nothing about 2-way radios. The ones we have look like the GP or MTX series. I can't even find a place online that sells these. All I can find is people selling the batteries for these radios.

Would I even be able to get ahold of that type of radio without dishing out an obnoxious amount of cash?

With that said, even if I was able to buy one, what would I have to do to get it programmed to listen/transmit my work's signal? Just know the frequencies and program them in? Thanks a lot and I apologize if this post is in the wrong area.
 

RadioStart

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Thanks for the response! It may help you to know that the organization I work for is very large and we have something called a Motorola CommandPlus. I believe it is a repeater and I believe the frequency is in the 900s. Whatever it is transmits far enough to reach the limits of the city itself.
 

brent30

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I just did the smae thing and bought a new radio for work. We operate in the uhf range in the 460's so I bought a motorola HT750, and the person I bought it from programmed it for my freqs i need. Do you have like an IT dept, or tech support that would know the freqs you operate on? Thats how I figured it out. Is it on the database here on RR my work is, which i didnt see til after I found the freqs. You dont have to buy the same model that your work has. my work uses cp200, and i bought a motorola ht750 it just needs t be able to work on the freq range.
 

RadioStart

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Well in the case, which is the most basic radio that works with the low to mid 900 range? (920-950mhz) We do have an IT department and I could ask them but I'm pretty sure that I saw it already on a computer and it was like somewhere between there.
 

zz0468

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Well in the case, which is the most basic radio that works with the low to mid 900 range? (920-950mhz) We do have an IT department and I could ask them but I'm pretty sure that I saw it already on a computer and it was like somewhere between there.

The Motorola Command Plus is a desk top console, not a radio. It controls the associated radios by remote control over phone lines. If you're on 900 MHz, chances are, it's trunked. There are plenty of 900 MHz trunked radios on eBay for cheap, but you're unlikely to be able to get it programmed.

I'll leave the legal issues of just getting a radio and putting it on your employer's system to someone else. Suffice it to say, you'd be getting in WAY over your head and it's probably not going to be worth the time or money.
 

RadioStart

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Well of course it would be legal, my supervisor would authorize it and I work for security. But it sounds like too much of a project anyway.
 
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Don_Burke

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Well of course it would be legal, my supervisor would authorize it. But it sounds like too much of a project anyway.
Perhaps not, supervisors sometimes are not aware of the number of units the license covers. It would certainly not be the first time.

In any case, it would be prudent to pursue this at least to the point of looking up the license on the FCC website.
 

RadioStart

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Ahh. I see now. Well as zz0468 said, I don't think it would be worth the time/money investment. Thanks for your help in determining this.
 
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