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[Jimmy Wright]

Looking to get radios for the production and installation crews.  I'll probably need about 8 of them.  We will need a single in ear for listening, and an over the shoulder push to talk mic.  What brands and products are you guys using?

[Charlie Zureki]

Looking to get radios for the production and installation crews.  I'll probably need about 8 of them.  We will need a single in ear for listening, and an over the shoulder push to talk mic.  What brands and products are you guys using?

  Motorola... and...can't remember the model #

 Hammer

[Mac Kerr]

Looking to get radios for the production and installation crews.  I'll probably need about 8 of them.  We will need a single in ear for listening, and an over the shoulder push to talk mic.  What brands and products are you guys using?

In the rental market it is mostly Motorola GP300 radios, but they have been discontinued in the US, and people seem to be buying the Vertex 350 series as an alternative. I rather like the Vertex, they are lighter and smaller, and seem just as rugged. The 6 gang charger is compact as well.

Mac

[David Haulman]

In the rental market it is mostly Motorola GP300 radios, but they have been discontinued in the US, and people seem to be buying the Vertex 350 series as an alternative. I rather like the Vertex, they are lighter and smaller, and seem just as rugged. The 6 gang charger is compact as well.

Mac

 Any idea on cost of these units??

[Mac Kerr]

Any idea on cost of these units??

Google is your friend: VX-351, VX-354.

Mac

[Charlie Zureki]

Hello,

   Mac answered for me...I DO have the 300 series radios...

   I wanted to say 300 series... but, for some reason it didn't sound right...

   Cheers...and thanks Mac!

   Hammer
  ps. send me a PM if you'd like to purchase some used 300 series.

[Tim McCulloch]

Looking to get radios for the production and installation crews.  I'll probably need about 8 of them.  We will need a single in ear for listening, and an over the shoulder push to talk mic.  What brands and products are you guys using?

Motorola CP-200, UHF.  We have 8 of them and are very happy.

[Henry Cohen]

Looking to get radios for the production and installation crews.  I'll probably need about 8 of them.  We will need a single in ear for listening, and an over the shoulder push to talk mic.  What brands and products are you guys using?

Most two-way radio rental houses today have Motorola CP200s and HT750/1250s, so if you think you'll be sub-renting additional radios or accessories on a regular basis, it'll be easier to mix and match by getting the same product as your chosen vendor.

If you don't believe you'll be sub-renting much, or if the sub-rental equipment can be operated separately but for matching frequencies, the Vertex VX-230 and VX-350 are every bit as good as the CP200s at about $80.00 to $100.00 less per radio and about three quarters the height. Accessories also tend to be a bit less expensive. (Motorola is the majority stockholder in Vertex Standard.)

Remember to get coordinated if using non-itinerent frequecies and get licensed in either case.

[Craig Leerman]

I have a bunch of different UHF radios in stock that I use for my own production, as well as rent to clients. I also use VHF radios in my volunteer gig as a boating patrol officer and search and rescue for the national park service. Here is what I use:

Icom F4S 2 chan (discontinued):  These were my first "good" radios, and are still going strong more than 15 years later. They are only two channel, so I don't rent them to clients, but they still get used by our production staff a lot. We bought both Icom and Radio Shack remote mics for these.  I like Icom a lot.

Icom F4001 16 channel:  These are my current main client rental radios. They run about $150 ea and come with a drop in charger.  They get programmed with my main licensed business frequency, as well as general "dot" business frequencies with privacy codes. The clients can talk to production on our freq, or talk to each other. Well built and compact, and the batteries seem to last a long time.  we have remote mics as well as a few headsets with these.  Great radios!

Icom 4011 16 channel:  I have a few of these. Basically a bigger version of the 4001.  My clients like the smaller compact 4001 better so I never bought any more of these. Still a great radio, but they run a few dollars more than the 4001. They use the same mics as the 4001.

Motorola HT600 2 channel (discontinued): We call these radios "tanks" because it will take an enemy force with heavy weapons to destroy one. I used to carry one of these in my fire department days. Great radios, but old and heavy. I still have a few of them in the inventory, and we use them as a production office radio base station, security base station, etc.

Motorola HT1000 16 channel (discontinued):  I just bought a few more used ones in VHF for use on the boats, and to keep in my vehicles. These are also built like tanks and are still in service with many public safety agencies. I have a few in UHF that I use in production, but they are a bit heavy to give to clients. If you are on a budget, you might look into buying some of these used. I always see packages of HT1000 on ebay with drop in gang chargers, and remote mics. I get them programmed from a local Motorola dealer for $15 each. You can still buy remote mics, headsets, batteries, and other accessories for them.  I trust my life to this radio! You can't go wrong with Motorola HT series.

Motorola HT750 16 channel: Nice heavy duty radio, currently used by a lot of public safety agencies. I have one in UHF that I bought used from a guy and programmed to go into my inventory. I usually end up carrying it around as my main radio. A little pricey, but if you can find them used, they might be a good deal.

Motorola HT1250 128 chan:  Current public service radio. I have one of these in Lo Band for Search and Rescue. Its a great radio, and a lot of the patrol guys have them in VHF. Another one of those radios that if you find a package of them used with drop in gang chargers, you might score a good deal, but overall, a bit overkill for a production radio.

Vertex 354 16 channel: I bought one in VHF to use as a handheld on the boats. It lasted about 3 months, and I just replaced it with a used HT1000. On mine, the remote mic died after a few patrol shifts, and even without the remote mic, dispatch tells me my audio is scratchy. They are small and compact, and its nice having the display window too see what channel you are on (but since I wear the radio on my belt and use a remote mic, I never see the screen anyway). The battery lasts a very long time, and would be really good radios to use in production, although a little pricey.

Maxon SP series:  I have some older cheap Maxon radios in the inventory that I barely use. I bought them years ago in Maryland when I ran out of radios one weekend and needed four more radios really fast. They work OK, but are not a rugged as I would like for a client radio. These end up being used as production radios.

Black Box:  I bought a Black Box radio to check it out a while back. They are fine, but I decided to go with the Icoms. They have a lot of accessories available and might be worth a look.

Radio Boss: I ran into these guys at a trade show here in Las Vegas last year. They make a bunch of very small two way UHF and VHF radios, and offer tons of accessories like remote mics, headsets, gang chargers, and even a double muff high noise environment headset with boom mic (perfect for using near the stage)  Never bought anything from them, but you might want to take a look, especially at their headsets. www.radioboss.com

EarTec: Eartec offers up a few basic radios that can be used with their headsets, including single and double muff styles. I have a TD900 interface system from them that gives me a wireless comm headset for my Clear Com rigs. Its built OK and works fine for what I need it to do.  Their simplex radios might be worth a look.  www.eartec.com

[Ron Hebbard]

For those in the Toronto, Ontario area, surplus Motorola's purchased for the G20 conference are still available with a wide range of accessories.

Ron Hebbard

[Mac Kerr]

Vertex 354 16 channel: I bought one in VHF to use as a handheld on the boats. It lasted about 3 months, and I just replaced it with a used HT1000. On mine, the remote mic died after a few patrol shifts, and even without the remote mic, dispatch tells me my audio is scratchy. They are small and compact, and its nice having the display window too see what channel you are on (but since I wear the radio on my belt and use a remote mic, I never see the screen anyway). The battery lasts a very long time, and would be really good radios to use in production, although a little pricey.

Craig, what happened that it needed replacing? I have been using the VX-354s on a regular gig for a few years now and we have had no issues with them at all (except for the hostile radio environment around the World Trade Center construction site). I have also been using GP300s for many years, but they just feel big after carrying around the Vertex.

Mac

[Andre Vare]

For those in the Toronto, Ontario area, surplus Motorola's purchased for the G20 conference are still available with a wide range of accessories.

Who is selling them?  I might know some people interested.

Andre

[Ron Hebbard]

Hello Andre;

Brocomm, not far from you in Rockton.
I'll fetch a phone number for you tomorrow.

Ron Hebbard

[Craig Leerman]

Vertex 354 16 channel: I bought one in VHF to use as a handheld on the boats. It lasted about 3 months, and I just replaced it with a used HT1000. On mine, the remote mic died after a few patrol shifts, and even without the remote mic, dispatch tells me my audio is scratchy. They are small and compact, and its nice having the display window too see what channel you are on (but since I wear the radio on my belt and use a remote mic, I never see the screen anyway). The battery lasts a very long time, and would be really good radios to use in production, although a little pricey.

Craig, what happened that it needed replacing? I have been using the VX-354s on a regular gig for a few years now and we have had no issues with them at all (except for the hostile radio environment around the World Trade Center construction site). I have also been using GP300s for many years, but they just feel big after carrying around the Vertex.

Mac

On mine, I went through a Vertex MH-450s remote mic in less than a month. While the mic cable and head feel solid, the cable developed a short after only a few uses and now the remote mic doesn't work at all.  And of course, Vertex doesn't use the same mic connector as Icom or Motorola so I couldn't use one of the remote mics I already owned, and I had to buy another Vertex one.

I don't know what happened to the radio. It did sound good when I first got the radio, and it never went into the water, or was dropped.  Its supposed to be water resistant and durable, but my dispatch tells me that through our repeater, it has poor and scratchy audio, and using it on simplex frequencies radio to radio it also sounds bad.   I was in a bad storm one day and got drenched from the rain and a few big waves, so maybe that's what did it.   

Whatever the case, I need to feel 100% comfortable in the gear I carry, and even though I have a large mobile Motorola  radio mounted in the boat, many times I am off the boat by myself and my radio just has to work all the time.

Probably a great radio for production, or general business uses, but not a radio I would recommend for public safety.

Its sort of our own fault for thinking an inexpensive radio could last on the boats, but our program gets little money and we tried to stretch our radio dollars. Now I'm back to buying used proven radios.

[Henry Cohen]

Probably a great radio for production, or general business uses, but not a radio I would recommend for public safety.

Its sort of our own fault for thinking an inexpensive radio could last on the boats, but our program gets little money and we tried to stretch our radio dollars. Now I'm back to buying used proven radios.

You discovered (fortunately not in a life-safety situation) the VX-2xx, 3xx and 4xx series is not designed for, nor marketed for PS applications and is intended for the business market, as is the CP200. Even the Waris series (HT750/1250/1550) is not marketed to PS though many agencies do use it because it happens to be quite rugged at a significantly lower price point than the XTS and APR series.

If you're looking for a cost effective PS grade radio, the VX-530 (what NYPD is now using) and the VX-920 are excellent candidates. Of course there's also eBay for XTS series and Thales radios.

[Andre Vare]

Brocomm, not far from you in Rockton.
I'll fetch a phone number for you tomorrow.

Thanks Ron.  I found their website. 

www.bro-comm.com

Not far? I can not even prepend their phone nuumber with a 1!   

Locally,
Andre

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