Motorola DLR1020 and DLR1060

[RFguy]

Looks like a new radio is about to be released. The Digital Lightweight Radio (DLR). DLR1020 (2 channel) and the DLR1060 (6 channel) models. They sort of look like the CLS1413 radios with the PTT button on the front.

It seems be be a frequency hopping, 1-watt radio that operates in the 902-928 ISM band (similar to the DTR radios).

Here's a link to some FCC info on them.

Test report https://apps.fcc.gov/eas/GetApplication ... id=2596012
External photos https://apps.fcc.gov/eas/GetApplication ... id=2596040
User manual https://apps.fcc.gov/eas/GetApplication ... id=2596041

[RFguy]

Hmmm, can't seem to find the edit button.

Hopefully these links work

External photos https://fccid.io/document.php?id=2596068
Test reports https://fccid.io/document.php?id=2596012
User manual https://fccid.io/document.php?id=2596041

[d119]

*yawn*... More Junque... One foot in the grave and they are spending time on this nonsense? Nice.

Can you please explain the ergonomics of that front mounted PTT? I thought we were done with that... Idiots!

[escomm]

Radio geared towards retail environments, restaurants etc. They'll sell a lot of them I'm sure

[Jim1348]

Has anybody here had a chance to try these yet?

[n1das]

Has anybody here had a chance to try these yet?

I own a small fleet of DLR1060 radios and a MUC. They work excellent. They are compatible with the DTR 410/550/650 and the new DTR 600/700 series. Range and RF performance are identical to the DTR series. Audio output and battery life are also similar to the DTRs. I also own a small fleet of DTR650 radios and a small fleet of the new DTR700 radios.

My only complaint about the DLRs is the transmitted audio doesn't have any sort of AGC function to help constrain the transmitted audio. Users may experience distorted received audio if a user climbs up on the mic too much. Adjusting the mic gain (low/medium/high) doesn't help much. I left the mic gain at the default (medium) setting. The older DTRs processsed the audio better. The new DTR 600/700 has the best audio of all because it has AGC to help control the transmitted audio.

The target market for the DLR radios is everywhere you see the popular CLS series radios in use. The DTR 410/550/650 series often represented too much radio for the average business radio user and the DLR series is Motorola's answer to that for their digital on-site business radios.

My fleet of DLR radios and fleet of DTR radios have completely replaced my use of GMRS/FRS/MURS for my non-ham local on-site simplex communications with family and friends. A coworker asked me why not just use FRS? My answer was that I have been doing that since FRS was created in 1996 and longer than that as a GMRS licensee since 1992. I want a license-free all-digital solution that's higher quality and more professional than FRS. I still have GMRS/FRS/MURS as a backup but these are no longer my default go-to modes for local on-site simplex operations with family and friends. I went all-in on the DTRs and DLRs because they work so well for my local on-site simplex ops. I don't use analog anymore for local non-ham simplex ops.

DLR = Digital Lightweight Radio according to Motorola.
https://www.motorolasolutions.com/en_us ... radio.html
https://www.motorolasolutions.com/en_us ... roductinfo

[n1das]

*yawn*... More Junque... One foot in the grave and they are spending time on this nonsense? Nice.

Can you please explain the ergonomics of that front mounted PTT? I thought we were done with that... Idiots!

Not idiots. Actually very smart. The radio is insanely easy to operate. This is important for business radio users whether it's in a restaurant or on the retail floor or out in the warehouse.

The round front PTT button makes sense given the radio's very small form factor. The radio is smaller than most GMRS/FRS bubble packs. The PTT button is comfortable and easy to operate from either hand with a thumb press. The PTT button is easy to operate even when the radio is clipped to something and not in your hand. A side-mounted PTT button would be awkward and harder to operate on such a small radio. A side mounted PTT makes more sense for larger radios.