Batboard

What exactly is TETRA? Can you just buy two TETRA radios and have them programmed and they will talk to each other? Or is it like a cell phone where u need to have a service provider and be in range?

TeTRa (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) is common here in Finland.
Two radios can communicate without a TBS (Tetra Base Station) directly through DMO (Direct Mode). Coverage is a couple km tops.
We have a government-run company that owns and services the network of TBSs. As you guessed, you need to pay this service provider to use any real coverage.

But yes, you can use two TETRA radios and communicate with each other in a manner of speaking.

Tetra is a trunking standard used over in europe. See the RR wiki description below

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/TETRA

There is support for simplex type communications directly between mobile units or portables.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrestria ... s_of_TETRA

Awe,

I had this nice long article written up and you beat me. LOL
However I didn't see anything on the conventional TETRA on MOL. But now that my curiosity is peaked I'll have to look it up.

Motorola has some videos on youtube showing some TETRA units and features.
http://www.youtube.com/user/MotorolaForBusiness


Jim