Batboard

what would be a good reliable but still inexpensive handheld for use in the 150mhz range?
the group has to put a budget together but has no starting point. the local EMS was going to set it up with cp200's but the funding they had for that cant be transfered as it was a grant for another purpose. even decent used radios may be an option. any ideas?

thanks paul

Quite honestly, with the exception of Vertex, most new equipment is well made. Icom, Kenwood, and Motorola can be on your shopping list with reasonable expectation of being satisfied with price and performance. I would seek out a local dealer rather than shop it out on the web so that you have support close by.

If you search around, I see HT-600's cheap, like $10-$20 range.. of course, you would need to find antennas, batteries, chargers, etc. but that's a start. If you PM me, I think I may have access to 5 or more..... or if you want a smaller radio, I may have some vhf visars (AN versions, no dtmf) left....

Duane

The HT600 / P200 / MT1000 series was a pretty good radio, and there are tons of them coming available as agencies upgrade. They wouldn't be a bad choice for a short while until the narrowband deadline hits in two years. With CERT groups it is important to have good working radios that are all the same to minimize frustrating training issues. The volunteers are there to help, but most of them do not have a background or an interest in radio. I keep boxes of old radios around to support a couple CERT's in my area at the lowest possible cost to me. As customer's upgrade, I keep the best looking, best working stuff so nobody has to spend any money which is important since CERT's are never well funded.

On the other hand, 2013 is not that far away, and while everybody else is getting ready for it, most of the CERT's do not have a coordinating officer staying ahead of the curve. That's why I recommended he work with a local vendor. Depending on how flush and generous that vendor is, and how involved he is in local affairs, he may be willing to maintain the radios at little or no cost to the group as long as they are willing to work with used equipment.

So, he needs a count of how many radios he needs. Then he needs to know what channels he's allowed to work on within a larger agency. That is, is he going to be on the old police channels abandoned after the city upgraded to 800, on the working public works channel, the dog catcher channel, or one of the mutual aid fire channels? Then he needs to procure the equipment. Perhaps one of the nearby agencies has more than enough, or maybe they have a closet of old stuff he can fish through. Then he needs to verify there is someone in dispatch monitoring the channel, or an activation procedure so they will put his channel up during training and ops. Then he has to figure out how to maintain the radios since they will only be used occasionally, and portable radios have a habit of not waking up after extended storage.

And the radios is just one of the logistical problems he has to stay on top of while managing a CERT. I wish him well, and hope he has lots of support.

thank you for the wealth of information. the head of the group was hoping to have some grant money re directed but that got shot down. odds are that the frequencies used will be shared with the local EMS and public works as the higher ups are the heads of EMS and EMA. those are simplex frequencies and the plan was to go with cp200's. with the redirect of grant money being killed that may not be an option. i am a member of the group myself and was asked to see what i could find out. i dont have any vhf handhelds or i would have donated them myself for the time being. i have the frequencies programed in my mobile radio but that does not help in the field. the grant was for an equipment trailer which the county already has two. i will try and find out who the local dealer is but if it is who i think it is they will not be very helpful. again thank for all the info.
paul

Bill_G wrote:The HT600 / P200 / MT1000 series was a pretty good radio, and there are tons of them coming available as agencies upgrade. They wouldn't be a bad choice for a short while until the narrowband deadline hits in two years. With CERT groups it is important to have good working radios that are all the same to minimize frustrating training issues. The volunteers are there to help, but most of them do not have a background or an interest in radio. I keep boxes of old radios around to support a couple CERT's in my area at the lowest possible cost to me. As customer's upgrade, I keep the best looking, best working stuff so nobody has to spend any money which is important since CERT's are never well funded.

On the other hand, 2013 is not that far away, and while everybody else is getting ready for it, most of the CERT's do not have a coordinating officer staying ahead of the curve. That's why I recommended he work with a local vendor. Depending on how flush and generous that vendor is, and how involved he is in local affairs, he may be willing to maintain the radios at little or no cost to the group as long as they are willing to work with used equipment.

So, he needs a count of how many radios he needs. Then he needs to know what channels he's allowed to work on within a larger agency. That is, is he going to be on the old police channels abandoned after the city upgraded to 800, on the working public works channel, the dog catcher channel, or one of the mutual aid fire channels? Then he needs to procure the equipment. Perhaps one of the nearby agencies has more than enough, or maybe they have a closet of old stuff he can fish through. Then he needs to verify there is someone in dispatch monitoring the channel, or an activation procedure so they will put his channel up during training and ops. Then he has to figure out how to maintain the radios since they will only be used occasionally, and portable radios have a habit of not waking up after extended storage.

And the radios is just one of the logistical problems he has to stay on top of while managing a CERT. I wish him well, and hope he has lots of support.

I've heard there might be some requirements for grants for this type of thing. You might want to check up on the grant requirements before you buy anything. I had an acquaintance tell me about a CERT radio grant issue related to this.

well as of now i am buying nothing. this is a information gathering mission. i think they be trying for a different grant for radios but right now they are stuck with a grant for an equipment trailer that they already owned.

I bought motorla bpr40 radios in uhf because we have apartment buildings in our town and vhf is very poor in concrete structures.
I was looking to find motorole xtn radios because they will run off aa batteries which are readily available in case the power goes out.
The other issue is that the radios will probably sit for years on the chargers and cook the batteries.

You mean to say that all of vhf including MURS is going narrowband in two years???? Also, I thought CERT used license free radios or is uncle same going to pay for licensing???

Bill_G wrote:The HT600 / P200 / MT1000 series was a pretty good radio, and there are tons of them coming available as agencies upgrade. They wouldn't be a bad choice for a short while until the narrowband deadline hits in two years. With CERT groups it is important to have good working radios that are all the same to minimize frustrating training issues. The volunteers are there to help, but most of them do not have a background or an interest in radio. I keep boxes of old radios around to support a couple CERT's in my area at the lowest possible cost to me. As customer's upgrade, I keep the best looking, best working stuff so nobody has to spend any money which is important since CERT's are never well funded.

On the other hand, 2013 is not that far away, and while everybody else is getting ready for it, most of the CERT's do not have a coordinating officer staying ahead of the curve. That's why I recommended he work with a local vendor. Depending on how flush and generous that vendor is, and how involved he is in local affairs, he may be willing to maintain the radios at little or no cost to the group as long as they are willing to work with used equipment.

So, he needs a count of how many radios he needs. Then he needs to know what channels he's allowed to work on within a larger agency. That is, is he going to be on the old police channels abandoned after the city upgraded to 800, on the working public works channel, the dog catcher channel, or one of the mutual aid fire channels? Then he needs to procure the equipment. Perhaps one of the nearby agencies has more than enough, or maybe they have a closet of old stuff he can fish through. Then he needs to verify there is someone in dispatch monitoring the channel, or an activation procedure so they will put his channel up during training and ops. Then he has to figure out how to maintain the radios since they will only be used occasionally, and portable radios have a habit of not waking up after extended storage.

And the radios is just one of the logistical problems he has to stay on top of while managing a CERT. I wish him well, and hope he has lots of support.

Quite honestly I don't know since that service is already narrowbanded. However, I don't think there is any requirement for CERT's to use MURS or FRS exclusively. Teams are always local, and they cooperate with other agencies in their area. I imagine many CERT's would use unlicensed product since it is cheap and readily available. Around here they tend to be "sponsored" by the police or sheriff, and thus have access to public resources albeit the old stuff that used to be the primary ops.

kato56 wrote:You mean to say that all of vhf including MURS is going narrowband in two years???? Also, I thought CERT used license free radios or is uncle same going to pay for licensing???

well a temporary solution has been found. and it was mentioned in the thread. the group had its monthly meeting and it has been decided to go with frs and each member will pick up their own. they are still looking for one or two vhf radios for the leaders for communication with the county authorities and they will be held by the scene commanders. i am trying to put together a couple of maxtracs to fill the vhf need until something can be worked out for handhelds. the county is also due for relicensing and they may be adding a vhf frequency for cert if they can get it. we are figuring on a year or two before we can get funding for new radios and that depends on the license the county can get.

kato56 wrote:You mean to say that all of vhf including MURS is going narrowband in two years???? Also, I thought CERT used license free radios or is uncle same going to pay for licensing???

Have you read the service rules and specifications for MURS? Most of it is already narrowband (by specification). In reality, it's a free for all on those frequencies. VHF CB.