# Radios/Pagers - Looking for suggestions



## Jon (May 11, 2012)

One of my services is transitioning from a VHF to a UHF dispatch/ops channel this summer.

We will be dispatched and operate on the same channel (repeated). Dispatch is a standard Motorola QuickCall 2 tone pair. That system will be transitioning to the new frequency.

We currently have Motorola products - pagers are Minitors (III's, IV's, and V's), and radios are HT1000's and HT750's.

Does anyone have any recommendations or comments for UHF radios/pagers OTHER than Motorola products? Bad experiences?

Anyone using a radio that alerts to QuickCall tones instead of a pager? Thoughts/comments? While our current HT1000's do that, they are big and bulky. Anyone have a smaller radio/pager setup?


Thanks!

Jon


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## MMiz (May 11, 2012)

I know of a service that used Kenwood TK-2170 instead of pagers and it seemed to work well.  I would think that you'd want to make sure whatever device you use is able to store the page/transmission.

When it comes down to it I think it's hard to beat Motorola quality.  Unfortunately it's cost prohibitive for many volunteer agencies.


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## socalmedic (May 11, 2012)

we just transitioned to vertex standard from motorola, they are cheaper but seam to work just fine.


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## Handsome Robb (May 11, 2012)

We just swapped to the Motorola XTS 1500. They work just fine but they are a touch on the big side and the shoulder mics they came with became mandatory for us to wear so that's taken some getting used to.


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## Devilz311 (May 12, 2012)

When it comes to portables for QCII calls, the HT1250 & 750 are my favorite radio hands down . When cranked up the alert tone will wake the dead, and even me from a sound sleep.

I have an XTS2500, HT1000, MT2000, and an XPR6550, but for normal conventional channels that use QCII, the HT1250 is my favorite.


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## Gordoemt (May 14, 2012)

The motorola xpr 6550 has texting for dispatching and radio frquency avalible. Check it out their pretty good. Both in one radio not bad.


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## WestMetroMedic (May 20, 2012)

While I really like the Motorola APX radios we switched to 18 months ago, if you are looking for other brands besides the big M,  my little brothers police department uses EF Johnson radios on both their own private and our statewide 800 mhz 9600 baud system and they really don't care for them from a size standpoint and compared to other mission critical equipment, has a appreciable amount of failures, much more than we have with our APX portables and also with the XTS5000s that we had for 10 years prior.

I have used vertex portables in the past, and owned a couple, and haven't had many complaints about them.    

Although the choke hold mother Motorola has on mission critical equipment is unfortunate, they do consistently make a product that, much like the yellow pages, can be used, used, used, abused.


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## Bullets (May 24, 2012)

Lets see my department started with Motorola HT 600! then we went to some Kenwood, now we are back with Motorola HT series. Ultimatley the kenwoods broke, had few authorized repair shops, were difficult to program, so we went back to M.

With narrowband coming in 2013 buying new radios needs more thought. And the HT1000 may be large but it is still the most durable unit on the block, and still in front line service for over a decade for a reason. Our officers with take home radios use 1250sand they like the increased channela


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## BoogieDownMedic (Aug 24, 2012)

My volunteer department had been testing Icom IC-60V radios.

These are small form-factor radios that are waterproof and are QuickCall compatible. The QuickCall tones can trigger an audible alert and/or cause the radio to vibrate. Using these radios allowed us to issue just one piece of equipment to each member; we no longer needed to issue a Minitor V and an HT1250. So far they have been great.

One thing to keep in mind however, these radios are not public safety grade (though HT1250s aren't either). They serve their purpose as a pager with the added benefit of being able to transmit and are sufficient as a radio 99% of the time. They cannot, however, replace a true public safety grade radio (like the Motorola XTS or APX series). For this reason we give each officer an XTS 2500 and keep two XTS 2500s in each bus at all times for the crew.


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## rwik123 (Aug 24, 2012)

BoogieDownMedic said:


> My volunteer department had been testing Icom IC-60V radios.
> 
> These are small form-factor radios that are waterproof and are QuickCall compatible. The QuickCall tones can trigger an audible alert and/or cause the radio to vibrate. Using these radios allowed us to issue just one piece of equipment to each member; we no longer needed to issue a Minitor V and an HT1250. So far they have been great.
> 
> One thing to keep in mind however, these radios are not public safety grade (though HT1250s aren't either). They serve their purpose as a pager with the added benefit of being able to transmit and are sufficient as a radio 99% of the time. They cannot, however, replace a true public safety grade radio (like the Motorola XTS or APX series). For this reason we give each officer an XTS 2500 and keep two XTS 2500s in each bus at all times for the crew.



My service uses HT1250s. Can you speak more to the fact that there not public safety grade? What do you mean?


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## MMiz (Aug 24, 2012)

rwik123 said:


> My service uses HT1250s. Can you speak more to the fact that there not public safety grade? What do you mean?


Motorola builds and markets the HT1250 as a product for business, not for public safety.  

Their XTS (XTS 2500, XTS 5000, etc.) and new APX line are their public safety products.

At the end of the day many public safety departments issue the HT 1250 and it's widely used in EMS, fire, and law enforcement.


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## NomadicMedic (Aug 24, 2012)

The OP asked for something other than Motorola products. The TK 2170 from Kenwood is a midtier radio that works well for EMS and ambulance use. Relatively inexpensive, easy to program, narrowband compliant, accepts Motorola quick call paging tones and works like a champ.

If I were outfitting a service with radios that can be used as pagers, this is the one I would choose.


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