How does other P25 stuff compare to /\/\?
Moderator: Queue Moderator
How does other P25 stuff compare to /\/\?
i would ask to spur this off of the "what would you change with astro equiptment" discussion, but as all of us are looking for FEMA grants which require P25 equiptment... what is available and how do they compare in price to Moto? also what is their availabilities in frequency bands, seems that some are just VHF, some are every band in the RF range..
Re: How does other P25 stuff compare to /\/\?
I picked up a Vertex P929 a while back at a pawn shop relatively cheap. The IMBE audio isn't bad, but I'd take my 5k any day over it. The construction is actually not bad; I was suprised at how rugged it was.
-
caprice96
- Posts: 214
- Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2006 9:51 pm
- What radios do you own?: To many to list here.
Re: How does other P25 stuff compare to /\/\?
At one point I had a EF Johnson 5100 and it was not to bad. It seemed to be about as rugged and tough as an XTS and a hell of a lot lighter, same brick size though. The nice part about that radio was that many of the XTS accessories were backwards compatible.(Same batteries and mics) The IMBE audio RX wasn’t anything all that great. Nothing compared to DSP 8. Overall for the price I paid it was not bad.
Re: How does other P25 stuff compare to /\/\?
I have two THALES/RACAL 25 VHF that I use quite a bit. I also mix in an XTS 3000 with ver 8 DSP. I think that the audio quality between the XTS and the THALES is pretty close in quality. The THALES transmit audio is a little hot when received on the XTS, but still sounds great. The THALES is nice because it's light and very thin. I have not used any of the Kenwood, Vertex, EFJ equipment so I can't compare. We are supposed to get some ICOM F-70's in here at work. I will be interested to see how they perform.
Craig
Craig
Re: How does other P25 stuff compare to /\/\?
I have a BK DPH-CMD that I absolutely love.
Pros: Typical BK quality built into a well established product line. Easy to program, all radio parameters are FPP. 20 groups of 25 channels per group (500 channels) plus a group you can add members to or remove from on the fly (command group), will scan up to 27 channels, 32 user selectable transmit NACs & 32 user selectable transmit CTCSS/DCS, mixed mode rx & tx with auto selection transmit mode within a time limit - based on the scan hold time the radio will reply in whatever mode it last received in. You can also force the trasmit mode from a menu to an extent. IMBE tx & rx audio is very good. Display of astro id's is standard in digital mode and I don't think it can be disabled. A 2 Ah battery will run it for two an a half days. Very durable metal construction. Compatable with most BK acc. made in the past several years. Made in USA with an available reasonably priced 5 year factory warrenty.
Cons: Big, heavy radio. If you want to be low key carrying a radio, this isn't the one for you. The scan works well but the priority two member is fixed and cannot be changed without going into program mode. You cannot have a single scan list across multiple groups (except for pri 1 & 2). The work around is to put all the channels you want to scan into your command group and then scan them there. If a channel is configured for auto mixed mode transmit, there is no way to override that and force it to only transmit in a particular mode. Only available in VHF & conventional, although rumor has it a firmware upgrade for APCO25 trunking is in the works. I can't imagine how that is going to play with the FPP. The select call function has a learning curve.
BK has a new line of IMBE radios coming out that will supposedly have models for VHF, UHF, & 800 MHz. I'd be suprised if there were any new radios released in the current old style BK housing. As far as price, I got mine factory fresh with a 5 year warrenty for $1k. There are some shenangens going on in the Relm dealer structure right now & I think some dealers are able to cut the throat of others simply because of who they are.
Robert
Pros: Typical BK quality built into a well established product line. Easy to program, all radio parameters are FPP. 20 groups of 25 channels per group (500 channels) plus a group you can add members to or remove from on the fly (command group), will scan up to 27 channels, 32 user selectable transmit NACs & 32 user selectable transmit CTCSS/DCS, mixed mode rx & tx with auto selection transmit mode within a time limit - based on the scan hold time the radio will reply in whatever mode it last received in. You can also force the trasmit mode from a menu to an extent. IMBE tx & rx audio is very good. Display of astro id's is standard in digital mode and I don't think it can be disabled. A 2 Ah battery will run it for two an a half days. Very durable metal construction. Compatable with most BK acc. made in the past several years. Made in USA with an available reasonably priced 5 year factory warrenty.
Cons: Big, heavy radio. If you want to be low key carrying a radio, this isn't the one for you. The scan works well but the priority two member is fixed and cannot be changed without going into program mode. You cannot have a single scan list across multiple groups (except for pri 1 & 2). The work around is to put all the channels you want to scan into your command group and then scan them there. If a channel is configured for auto mixed mode transmit, there is no way to override that and force it to only transmit in a particular mode. Only available in VHF & conventional, although rumor has it a firmware upgrade for APCO25 trunking is in the works. I can't imagine how that is going to play with the FPP. The select call function has a learning curve.
BK has a new line of IMBE radios coming out that will supposedly have models for VHF, UHF, & 800 MHz. I'd be suprised if there were any new radios released in the current old style BK housing. As far as price, I got mine factory fresh with a 5 year warrenty for $1k. There are some shenangens going on in the Relm dealer structure right now & I think some dealers are able to cut the throat of others simply because of who they are.
Robert
Wyrd bið ful ãræd, Fate is inexorable...
-
Tom in D.C.
- Posts: 3859
- Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2001 4:00 pm
- What radios do you own?: Progreso soup can with CRT
Re: How does other P25 stuff compare to /\/\?
I'm another guy with two Racal (Thales) T25 HTs that work fine in digital mode.
Their one shortcoming is that the audio is not as loud at full volume as the audio
on the XTS5K and 3K radios. The T25 audio is adequate but in a noisy environment
I would have to use a headset or earphone. The built-in mic on the T25s is also
pretty hot, meaning it's easy to drive the transmit audio into distortion unless you
consciously stay at least two inches away from the radio, which is what we're all
supposed to do anyway but the Motorola radios don't mind the close talking nearly
as much. On a recent and pretty unscientific field test of the T25s we were able
to maintain simplex P25 comms between an HT with HT antenna inside a car and my rooftop
Diamond X50A 3db gain antenna fed with 5 watts of RF through 60 feet of RG8
and we lost contact at about four miles which ain't bad at all for 5-watt HTs.
Their one shortcoming is that the audio is not as loud at full volume as the audio
on the XTS5K and 3K radios. The T25 audio is adequate but in a noisy environment
I would have to use a headset or earphone. The built-in mic on the T25s is also
pretty hot, meaning it's easy to drive the transmit audio into distortion unless you
consciously stay at least two inches away from the radio, which is what we're all
supposed to do anyway but the Motorola radios don't mind the close talking nearly
as much. On a recent and pretty unscientific field test of the T25s we were able
to maintain simplex P25 comms between an HT with HT antenna inside a car and my rooftop
Diamond X50A 3db gain antenna fed with 5 watts of RF through 60 feet of RG8
and we lost contact at about four miles which ain't bad at all for 5-watt HTs.
Tom in D.C.
In 1920, the U.S. Post Office Department ruled
that children may not be sent by parcel post.
In 1920, the U.S. Post Office Department ruled
that children may not be sent by parcel post.
How does other P25 stuff compare to /\/\?
We just switched to an 800 mHz APCO P-25 digital trunked system at work recently. It does sound very good on my Motorola XTS5000. I am wondering what scanner will work the best for listening to this system. Or are all of them going to be very disappointing compared to a Motorola XTS5000?
Re: How does other P25 stuff compare to /\/\?
I recently saw a display model of a Midland P25 handheld. It was smaller than the XTS5k...about the size of an HT1250. I was not able to try it out to see how it sounded. It seemed too light and had less substantial feel than I would like. I was comparing to the Astro Saber and XTS5k with me so it really wasn't fair; /\/\ was the clear winner. Midland deserves credit for trying.
Obviously, if I were considering radios for a major purchase, they would have to go through more rigorous testing than just the superficial stuff like how they sound or feel. In particular, I would like to know how the receive performance holds up under weak signal and interference conditions.
Obviously, if I were considering radios for a major purchase, they would have to go through more rigorous testing than just the superficial stuff like how they sound or feel. In particular, I would like to know how the receive performance holds up under weak signal and interference conditions.