What is the best way to lable your handhelds/ base equipment?

[Tandom]

Hello!
I'm currently assisting in managing a radio network for a first aid service, and were in a debate on the best way to mark the equipment. For our base, we've settled on standard print and peel lables, but for the Kenwood handhelds, the print and peel lables might not stick, tend to roll up and fall off over time, the edges curl, etc.

The option to have it professionally engraved are on the table, but a little out of the budget as of now. Its a plan for the future, but were looking for a labeling system for the Kenwoods, that will last until we get everything professionally engraved. How do you folks lable your equipment?

The rigs were running will be HT1000s, and many TK-380s. Were rocking about 60 radios.

 

[mmckenna]

The P-Touch type labels stick pretty well if they are somewhere protected. A big help for making them stick is to clean the area with an alcohol wipe and let it dry before putting the label on. This removes the dust and oil/grease that makes the adhesive fail.

You can also get high adhesion P-touch tape that works a bit better.

One option is to label under the battery.

A cheap electric engraver works pretty well. Just find someone on your staff that has steady hands and good penmanship.

There are also companies that will make electric "branding irons" that will allow you to press your info into the front plastic on the radio.

Newer radios allow you to do something in the display. I'm running a few hundred Kenwood NX-410's, NX-900's, NX-210's, NX-5700's and TK-5710's. All of them will allow you to put an "opening" message on the display when you first turn the radio on. We usually put the radio ID number in there, but on mine I put my name and phone number in case I lose it.
Not an option with what you have.

 

[Tandom]

Thanks for the fast reply!

Labeling under the battery with a handheld engraver is fine, but were looking for something that can be seen on the front of the unit, for when we issue them out.

I like the idea of the P-touch adhesive. Its semi perminant, but can be removed in the future. As for branding, I never considered that. I didn't even think that was a thing. Thanks for the advice! I was also thinking about printing or transferring a lable onto the unit, like the example below. I don't own this radio, its just an example.

 

[cmjonesinc]

P touch tape works great. I've stencilled and painted a bunch of radios but that'll probably be cumbersome for 60 radios. Like you said engraving is nice but pricey. You may be able to get a good price from someone who does signage and have your radio ID's printed. Good vinyl sticks good to pretty much any clean surface. I've used vinyl numbers for lots of my portables that I wanted to be able to identify easily.

 

[Tandom]

I do like the idea of vinyl.
Ill probably lean toward the P-Touch tapes. I tried googling Ptouch tapes, and I must have gotten 50 choices. Ill probably just go with the most durable one, sit down with a good movie and just label them one at a time.

What's your take on the professionalism of hand written labels? Things written on the front like "UHF 1, MURS 1, BASE 3, etc. in sharpie, paint markers or nail polish? It was an idea brought up, but I'm not sure on it. It sounds like a good solid method for labeling, but doesn't seem like it would look very good. I know for a fact, that Sharpie does not last long on radio plastic, but covered in clear nail polish, it might withstand the elements. It's another idea that's been brought to the table, but I'm on the fence about it.

 

[mmckenna]

Heat embossing:
Custom Multi-Purpose Brass Branding Head | Branding Irons UnlimitedBranding Irons Unlimited

Other option, while not permanent, is to make tags that say what you want. Put them on the antenna and then cover with clear heat shrink tubing.
This is a common way for marking cabling. You can print the label to say what you want and the clear heat shrink will protect it.
Heat Shrink Labels: DYMO, Brady, Panduit, K-Sun, Hellermann- - CableOrganizer.com

 

[N0ZQR]

labeled shrink tubing on the antenna is what we use.

Ron

 

[N9JIG]

I managed a fleet of 100 or so portable radios issued to individual officers. I maintained an inventory database of the radios so I knew what serial numbers were issued to whom. I used P-Touch labels on the top of the radio with the star number of the assigned officer so it could easily be seen on a rack charger (mounted on the wall) or a desk charger. This also matched the ANI transmitted on the air.

I also put a matching label under the battery in case the exterior label came off. This was also where we put our metal inventory labels to protect them from wear.

We found the P-touch labels worked fine and were much more durable than we anticipated.

On our older HT750 radios that didn't have a channel display I printed channel lists to fit the front of the radio and used super-clear packing tape to affix them. This worked great and protected the lists from the elements.

 

[chief21]

I'm not sure what your needs are. Are you looking only to identify the owner agency (ie - Anytown First Aid), identify the individual radio (ie - ATFA 1), or show a list of the available channels?

Please clarify.

John