Batboard

Currently my company operates on some VHF channels (a few repeater and a few not). The problem we have is when we go outside of our repeater range on assignment or on surveillance we cannot get the distance we want to achieve with our HTs. Having mobile radios in the vehicle is not an option as we often rent different vehicles for use on assignments.

The question is, what band would give us some better range? We operate in both urban and rural environments so we need something that will be a good mesh for both.

cellular

This is an old problem that used to be addressed by sheer brute force - money and sites. Cellular fixed most of the range problems. There are places a cell phone won't work, but neither do your radios. It is a tough decision.

UHF

Bill_G wrote:cellular

This is an old problem that used to be addressed by sheer brute force - money and sites. Cellular fixed most of the range problems. There are places a cell phone won't work, but neither do your radios. It is a tough decision.

+1. Get Nextels with the Group Connect or Talkgroup function - they will function just like real radios over the cell system, with the added benefit over a real radio system of not having to worry about encryption, etc...

VHF simplex has a greater mobile to mobile range with UHF second.

Again limited by the antenna used.

For rental or non radio equipped vehicles we have a mobile Spectra mounted on a breadboard that has a cig lighter plug for power.
The cutting boards come in wood and plastic with a slot for a handle that we pass the seat belt through to keep the radio from sliding off the seat.