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Tait radios

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matt131

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Hello,

I was just shown a radio made by the company Tait. has anyone heard of this company? Are these radios any good?
 

citylink_uk

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They make very good products. Radios are well made, easily customisable, easy to program and well priced. We've got 130 in daily service with very low failure rates.
 

KB8QDM

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Hadley/Metamora, MI
I own a Tait T-2020, and have been very pleased with it. My only drawbacks are that it only puts out 25 watts, and my programming kit came with no instructions (I can't figure out how to program it to scan, etc), but the actual programming software is very easy to use.
 

eclipse175

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New England
how long have they been around? what are their failure rates in comparison to morotola? we were shown a demo of tait but im not sure i feel comfortable straying from M
 

petnrdx

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Hudson, FL
We have had about 15 of the T800-II repeaters in service for 10 years.
One failure, likely caused by a lightning strike at the site.
A couple of other problems caused by our misteaks in operating them very early on.
One of the units is a NOAA broadcast transmitter that has been in continuous TX for several years.
This is a multichannel, simulcast system.
I thought the stuff was a little weird when we started putting it in.
But I have been impressed with it.
I even have two of my own in the Hambands. One 440 and one 927.
I might add that I am a died in the wool Motorola owner (I probably have a couple hundred Motorola radios)
but their newer stuff is pretty expensive.
Some of the competing stuff is also very good and economically can be good choices.
 

RodStrong

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I've have been fooling around with a 9100 series portable and mobile demo off an on for the past year or so. No known problems so far inside or outside the radios on the p25 trunking system I work with, or on the conventional side. The only thing that is not by any means a deal breaker for me, but might be a consideration, is Tait accessories are not as readily available or made by as many third party vendors as the mother ship.

Based on the exposure I've had of them so far, I wouldn't hesitate to buy one or more if they fit my needs. Good luck.

I wish the mods here would create a Tait discussion forum or add it to one of the others actually so we could all learn more about this brand.
 
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K4IHS

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Tait is half the cost of Motorola... twice the performance! Back in the 80's Tait was low bidder for our FD radio system... Motorola was high bid. Our city fathers took the low bit against my recommendation. A year later I was lovin' Tait and couldn't wait to get rid of the last of our Motorola crap! A lesson learned...
 

matt131

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I have researched the tait radios. I myself think they are good based on what I have read and the radio I looked at briefly. I myself was a motorola fan but then moved to Icom. I use Icom now for everything but have thought of getting the tait 8100 series portable. Do these radio do MDC1200? Does anyone know the approximate cost of these units?
 

w2csx

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Their radio in my opinion are much better then that of Motorola and has others have stated very low failure rate.
 

Thayne

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I have seen nothing bad about the radios, we had problems because hutton quit as a dealer and then nobody else sold it or Represented it in the area. This can cause problems with support.
I have some of them, have had a hassle getting batteries for the portables, and the aftermarket batteries suck.
 

citylink_uk

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I have researched the tait radios. I myself think they are good based on what I have read and the radio I looked at briefly. I myself was a motorola fan but then moved to Icom. I use Icom now for everything but have thought of getting the tait 8100 series portable. Do these radio do MDC1200? Does anyone know the approximate cost of these units?

It does say in the brochure that they support MDC1200 signalling.

http://www.taitworld.com/main/download/l16/tait_tp8100_specsheet_eng_161109.pdf

Can't be certain on price, but the last time I looked prices were from $400 to $650 depending on model. Lowest - no keypad or display VHF/UHF to Highest - full keypad & display 800Mhz. This is minus any accessories. Charger was $70 and standard 2000 Li-Ion battery $87.

Again, you would have to contact a dealer to get an exact price.
 
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SCPD

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Feb 24, 2001
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The ORCA line will run circles around any Motorola. And If your Pistol jams, Ya can bash em in the head while key'd up and never hear any interference. (well except the interference of skull bone) TAIT P25's are a Far superior radio to most American and common P25 radio's. I think Harris is still better than TAIT but not by much.

Price? Well not as cheap as a iCOM - But a WHOLE lot better so well worth the investment.
 
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brian209

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Nov 30, 2003
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South Windsor, CT
Tait

Went to a vendor demo on Tait equipment where they turned on the radio, dropped it in a bucket of water, let it sit there a few minutes and then took it out and keyed up.

Dropped it off the table, talked about the drop test they do in the factory, then took it and threw it down onto the ground pretty hard. Picked it up and keyed it up, no problems.

Had a P25 model set to do a non-trunked P25 digital, took it outside and keyed up next to a truck, keyed up and wispered into the mic and then started SHOUTING into the mic, audio coming out was very clear.

We were 99% M a few years ago, now we are 70% Kenwood 30% M. I was hoping to be 100% somebody in my lifetime, so I'm hesitant to switch to Tait, but they certainly seemed rugged.

Brian
 

RohnsRadio

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Duplin County, NC
I had one of the tait 2020cap radios at one time (made for Civil Air Patrol). It was ok. hard to learn to use it. but it was a much better radio than the Johnson i was given to replace it.
I know some had the orca protable and loved it.
The North Carolina Highway Patrol had some "Tait Repeaters" in the cars . I heard they did not hold up well.
Rohn
 

VE5JL

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Saskatchewan VE5 Land
I own a Tait T-2020, and have been very pleased with it. My only drawbacks are that it only puts out 25 watts, and my programming kit came with no instructions (I can't figure out how to program it to scan, etc), but the actual programming software is very easy to use.

Where did you get the programing kit from? I just picked up a Tait T2000II and I'll need that.
 

johnoconnor98

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Memphis
Nicely timed bump of an old thread. I just got two TP9400 portables for demo for a couple weeks. So far only have some conventional analog and P25 freqs programmed into them. Still trying to learn the software.

Very small, compact, and light.
 
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