Best of the Radius/CT/Business radios?

[poser]

Which are the best of the business radios in terms of feature set and performance? (Radius/CT/CP)
I know the CTs are known as the "can't talK'

[Rayjk110]

Best of the CT/Radius?

One of the good 'ol workhorses is the Radius GP300. The main thing that fails in respect to Radius portables is the 2-pin mic jack - GP300, SP50, CP150, CP200, CP125, P1225, CTxxx, PRxxx, etc... they're all plagued with it. You'll be ordering 0980683Z01 before you know it.

But the best? I suppose if I had to choose one it would be the GP300. For win with most features... probably the PR400 with a full keypad. They do LTR, MDC, and I believe QC signaling as well, should you require these features.

You might also consider Kenwood... the TK3160, 3170/3173 are great radios as well.

[MT2000 man]

Well, that's definitely a very "wide open" question, that I'm sure you'll get many different answers on. However, regard the past "radius" series radios, you simply CAN'T beat the old P200/HT600 radios. Next, I would choose (for a "Radius" radio) the Gp300. A very solid performer. Truth be told, I've never even handled the latest CP/CT series, however, from what I'm told, they are not as durable as the older Radius series was. True, they (had to have) improved is a lot of areas, but they just "don't make em' like they used to". Personally, give me an old P200 any day of the week over these newer radios (of course, providing that most of the radio systems were still analog only lol).

[poser]

Is the P200 a Genesis radio? (MT1000/HT600)
I just wanna set up a simple MURS system

[Rayjk110]

Technically it is... but it's a spinoff to the Radius line. Kinda like the MaxTrac and GM300... same radio, different name and product line.

[Al]

The P200 and the HT600 are the same radio, disregarding the housing color, tags, and a few other minor things. If you're using all the MURS frequencies, be aware that only two of the five are legal to use at 20/25 Khz bandwidth, the other three are 12.5 Khz. So if you're wanting to use all five frequencies, you should look at portables that can be programmed for 12.5 and 25 Khz tx bandwidths. The Genesis series doesn't allow programming for wide or narrow bandwidths on a per-channel basis like the newer CT/CP series. Neither does the GP300....it's gotta be all wide *or* all narrow tx bandwidths, and the same on receive.

[Josh]

A lot of the newer stuff is crap. I don't think there's much left of the Radius series at all from what I see on the moto site.

A lot of people here speak highly of the GP300, as do I. It is older though, you may be able to locate 12.5Khz versions, they are denoted at the end of the model number, such as "00C2AA", as opposed to "20C2AA", the 00 means narrow band. If you think the mic jack will be a problem and are dead-set on Radius stuff, you may want to look at the GP350, which is similar to the GP300 in many ways, but improved on its weaknesses (battery contacts and accy jack). They program and charge the same way. I liked the GP350, but it didn't catch on the same way the GP300 did.

Come to think of it, both the GP300 and GP350 can be narrow-band upgraded, I recall seeing info on a kit for that.

If worse comes to worse, an HT750 is a fine choice or even an HT1000, although not Radius.

-Josh

[poser]

Not set on Radius or CT or PR or whatever business oriented radios, it seems like they are the cheapest though. Will Genesis radios do narrowband at all? (or even the Sabers, though when the Police think you have one of their radios, I don't wanna have to explain)

[escomm]

A lot of the newer stuff is crap. I don't think there's much left of the Radius series at all from what I see on the moto site.

Strongly disagreeing here. The CP200 is a workhorse and does its job well. It's got more features than any previous Radius (MDC, QCII, scan, VOX, and of course is narrowband or wideband by personality). The PR400 has the same guts and does LTR trunking. It should be noted that the CP200 is Motorola's highest selling radio by volume, and the bread and butter of their presence in the commercial market.

My biggest gripe with the CP/PRs are the bandsplits, 438-470 or 465-495, which for LTR is useless here in LA since the LTR systems have channels from 450-476.

I have found the BPR40 to be surprisingly well built. They take quite a beating and keep doing their job. Biggest problem with this radio is the speaker will tend to blow if the volume is left at maximum for a few shifts. Can't complain for a sub-$200 8-channel radio.

I refuse to sell CP110s because of the $300 pricetag on the software (although the wholesale equivalent, the RDX, has free software) and I am still waiting to get my CP185 demo kits, so I can't speak to the two most recent addition to the low-tier catalog.

As far as Radius goes, sadly the name does not carry the same cache` it once did. The Radius division revolutionized the way Motorola did business, opening the market up to dealers who were not MSS/MR when launched 22 years ago.

The business philosophy of the Radius division was absolutely stellar, and it's really unfortunate that it has pretty much faded away into obscurity, a mere label on just a handful of radios nowadays. The internal wars between Radius and Full Line (think MaxTrac) would make a great book.

A bit of trivia: The shift trick to take radios out of band came from the Radius division.

[escomm]

And let me add, the Radius mobiles, CM200/CM300 do their job more than adequately, and have kept Motorola in the marketplace for low-end mobiles for users who do not need a fancy radio.

[avguy]

The BPR-40 is a nice unit for the price.
With a stubby antenna it's pocket size and also light enough to carry around all day.

[poser]

Thanks
How's the AVX series? (how are those different from CP125s?)

[poser]

Also, how much of an upgrade would an HT1000 be (they all seem to go for a LITTLE more than the Radius radios)