New Minitor 5 is this True????

E911EMT · Post by **E911EMT** » Sun Feb 15, 2004 12:17 am

Hello all,

I was informed by someone that Motorola is making a Minitor 5 is this true any info would be appreicated...

RADIOMAN2002 · Post by **RADIOMAN2002** » Sun Feb 15, 2004 6:08 am

Heard the same thing last summer, thats because the Min4 is such a DOG! The Min4 was a replacement for the Min3 because of all its physical problems, knobs and such. The Min 4 is a Min 3 in a new case. But why buy a pager for $450.00 when you can buy a 16 chan portable for $250.00. After all the problems my department had with Motorola radios we now buy Vertex, and have just placed another order for another 75 of them, on top of the 60 we bought last year.

n9upc · Post by **n9upc** » Sun Feb 15, 2004 9:59 am

Yes I have heard that there is a Minitor 5 coming out from a source in the paging division or what is left of it.

One of the main features is suppose to be for the pager to work with narrow band systems. Which is not really needed as you would only experience approx. 10% audio decrease by using a wide band radio to recieve narrow band.

As for the cost yes a pager costs more then soem radios these days, but I am not sure about your department but we have people that do not need radios. They speak when they do not need to, and no matter how much talking you do to them they still do not put two and two together on radio procedures.

Jay G. · Post by **Jay G.** » Sun Feb 15, 2004 11:39 am

Many of the Fire Departments by me who still use low band are now going with crossband UHF repeaters on their buildings. This way, they purchase UHF pagers to work with the existing countywide communications system on low band. The repeater puts the low band tones onto UHF. I love it because I carry a UHF portable anyway - Now I dont need my pager!

Wes · Post by **Wes** » Sun Feb 15, 2004 12:09 pm

Getting it to work with narrow band is the least of their problems........

n9upc already explained that a wide band reciever will recieve narrow band just fine.

Somebody needs to step up to the plate and either get Motorola back in the pager business or get out completely.

The only reason the Minotor IV sells is cause there aint much else to chose from.

My $.02.........

Wes

cfdeng3 · Post by **cfdeng3** » Mon Feb 16, 2004 3:15 pm

What they need is a pager that can scan 2 channels that are more than 10Mhz apart.

My whole department has III's and IV's and have never had major problems! I know I see bad stuff about them all the time on this board but I think ours work great!! Also when we bought ours we upgraded from Minitor II's on low band and now are using the new ones on UHF Narrow band.

ASTROMODAT · Post by **ASTROMODAT** » Mon Feb 16, 2004 4:18 pm

The 5 is supposed to do ASTRO IMBE. The biggest question is whether it will handle P25 Trunked IMBE.

Larry

kf4sqb · Post by **kf4sqb** » Mon Feb 16, 2004 5:30 pm

IMHO, the Minitor IV is a real P.O.S. I used to carry a II, and it worked great. Then, I had to "upgrade" to a III, due to joining another VFD, and the II will not decode two sets of tones without a common tone between them. The III was, of course, worse than the II. Then, due to my III kicking the bucket, I had to "upgrade" again to a IV. Although I never thought I would say it, I actually miss my old III. If the IV is a III in a new case, what the HELL did they do to the receiver before they put it in the new case?

DJP126 · Post by **DJP126** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 9:59 am

If the IV is a III in a new case, what the HELL did they do to the receiver before they put it in the new case?

The rcvr specs on a IV are a little better than a III but still not at the level of a II. The V is to resolve electrical problems of the IIIs & IVs including rcvr sense. It is supposed to be as good or better than the II. At least that is the impression that was given to the techs at the depot. Time will tell.

Wes · Post by **Wes** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 11:19 am

ASTROMODAT.......

Are you saying that the V will be capable of trunking?

What bands will it cover????

Wes

ASTROMODAT · Post by **ASTROMODAT** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 11:45 am

No, I am NOT saying that. I said that there has been considerable speculation and rumors that Trunking capabilities may be a possibility. Even IMBE is not for sure. The entire existence of the 5 is still an open question. I do know that there is considersable debate underway, which says the product is WAY, WAY far away in time. Right now, Motorola is cutting 2-Way programs big time, as they struggle to re-define themselves and regroup. Products such as the XTS1500 UHF/VHF are competing against other various projects internally for funding. The new Quant is still on hold. Many programs have been delayed, or even outright killed.

Larry

RadioSouth · Post by **RadioSouth** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 11:54 am

Well, the Minitor 3 and 4 are a bad joke. Will They Get It Right THIS TIME ?

ASTROMODAT · Post by **ASTROMODAT** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 12:50 pm

I don't know how it can survive the internal budget cut process. Imagine how much $ they lost on the last go-around. Also, consider that you can buy a great IMBE monitor from The Rat Shack for $499, and this price will easily drop to $199, or less, within a year or so.

Larry

kf4sqb · Post by **kf4sqb** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 5:30 pm

DJP126 wrote:
If the IV is a III in a new case, what the HELL did they do to the receiver before they put it in the new case?
The rcvr specs on a IV are a little better than a III but still not at the level of a II. The V is to resolve electrical problems of the IIIs & IVs including rcvr sense. It is supposed to be as good or better than the II. At least that is the impression that was given to the techs at the depot. Time will tell.

The receiver specs are better on a IV than a III? They lied!!!! The III I used to carry will run RINGS!!! around the POS IV I am carrying now. Then again, I don't think any of /\/\'s products of late will meet the spec's they attribute to them, anyway.

Wes · Post by **Wes** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 5:36 pm

ASTROMODAT,

I appreciate you clarifying that. I didnt mean to start a roumor, bu I just wanted to make sure I didnt misunderstand your post.

Until they can mae some MAJOR improvements, we are gonna stick with the SCA Sceptar.

We have had excellent success with these units, performance and durability.

Wes

10-95 · Post by **10-95** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 5:36 pm

I have also heard rumors that M is developing a Minitor that will work off a trunked talkgroup. I heard this from an M employee about 6 month's ago and she stated that there was a beta version being tested somewhere.
Probably true, it would just make sense to do it since it seems like everybody is getting on the trunking band wagon!

10-95

Ben · Post by **Ben** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 5:41 pm

Just recieved a Minitor III from a department I just started with. Is there any way to tell if it was been upgraded from Moto? I did a search on here and the web link about the upgrade was gone from Motorola's site so I don't know if this one was in the recall. I've always had II's and loved them so I hope this III works ok, if not maybe the V's will be out soon.

Ben

RADIOMAN2002 · Post by **RADIOMAN2002** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 11:56 am

After going round and round with Motorola in Plantation, Motorola stated that the sensitivity problem was due to the increased bandspread of the programmable pager. Our Fire Department was given free tune ups on all of our Min III to our one channel. Motorola stated that after it was done the Min III would have the same sensitivity as the Min II. We never did it, because we went to portables, BTW if you got people who shouldn't talk on the radio, don't program them for transmit, works for us! A side note, any Min III we have sent back to Depot for repair has come back as a Min IV, plays havoc with the programming, since it has the old model and serial numbers on it.

ASTROMODAT · Post by **ASTROMODAT** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 2:27 pm

If you need to monitor only and not transmit, you can't beat the PRO-96, and it handles IMBE beautifully, as well as P25 Trunking. A much better choice than any stinking Minitor XX.

Larry

ro · Post by ro » Sun Feb 22, 2004 5:49 am

In Austria, Switzerland and Germany many Public Safety agencies and commercial companies use (and love) Swissphone pagers:

Don't know if they are available at all in the US.

Ett1033 · Post by **Ett1033** » Sun Feb 22, 2004 3:27 pm

I got 2 demo Swissphone pagers and tried them out for a while. They are very close to the Nova pager as far as audio/size. The audio is not so great due to the size of the unit. The receiver was slightly better than the minitor IV. This unit would be great for fire department administration, however, it is just not user friendly for duty personnel. The Minitor pagers have that nice rototary knob to change your setting quick. This unit, as the I have found with the Nova pager, use a series of button presses to change to different modes. It is very durable and small. It is next to impossible to open the battery compartment. I rate it nicely, just not for duty personnel.
I received my free demo from this guy. He was very accomodating. Give it a try and see if it works for you.
[email protected]

chipjumper · Post by **chipjumper** » Sun Feb 22, 2004 5:33 pm

Anyone know where I can send a Nova pager out for repair? Have a few in need of help...

I just assumed they were paperweights...

New Minitor 5 is this True????

New Minitor 5 is this True????

Sensitivity