I posted this question over in the LEO board and got one response. which was a positive response. but looking for anyone that has any first or second hand info on these radios.
Tait Radio webpage for VHF



I was at the MN operational ARMER meeting this week, meeting about the MN 800 mhz trunked system for all LE, FD, amb and all state workers,  which all the counties are going to, except where I live

anyway all the big vendors were there. Harris, Motorola, Kenwood and a couple others.  also Tait Radio. I'd never heard of them, i might have seen them in an ad but never looked at the radio, until this week.  

I asked them how much for a HT, and they wouldn't put a price on one except to say, "it'll be about 1/3 the price of what you'd expect to pay".. I countered, and said that sounded like less then 500 for one HT. they each looked at each other and said, that would be real close if not less.

the radio comes with programming CD, cable interface. the radio is 1000 channels, and can be grouped into banks.  

The Tait radio is a lot more water resistant then my FT-60, more channels also. But, this radio has to be programed by computer. This isn't a major problem for me, I still have the Yeasu for trips out of my area or when I would want to program while away from home.  

the Plexiglas screen is thick, recessed and appears to be heavy duty. the bottom of the radio has rubber bumpers on the corners. and it has an aluminum case inside the plastic housing which you see. it's Mil-Spec for a bunch of stuff.

I'm looking to buy 2 or 3 VHF portables this spring, for job. and if I can program mine for local ham repeaters and simplex all the better.

I can't speak to the quality of Tait radios, but I can tell you Tait has been around for quite a while. They aren't newcomers to the radio industry. I worked for a small paging company back in the mid 90's and remember the owner debating whether to buy new Tait radio "modules" or keep the Motorola Mocom 70's in service. He kept the Mocoms in service..

from what little I've read, they are popular in Austraila, New Zealand and Im assuming the UK.

yes, they have been around quite a while, just not popular in the USA.

I use Tait radios for the repeater. I like them, straight forward, no silly Motorola packaging, parts, programming, or schematics.

[I'm a Moto fan also BTW,  for portables]

Have no experience with the Tait handhelds.

There is a Tait Yahoo group where you can get nearly any question answered as well as SW.

All LMR/commercial/public safety radios are like this, it's required for FCC type acceptance.  There are many full waterproof radios on the market.

I'm not familiar with the Tait product specifically, but some brands will cover the amateur frequencies and some do not.  I know Icom's typically cover 136-174 to cover all the VHF high band users, and are popular with say CAP folks (who use 140MHz military freqs) for that reason.
http://icomamerica.com/en/products/landmobile/portables/f3161_series/specifications.aspx
Those are really nice and should be well within the price range you mentioned for example.

thanks for input Gamma, right now I use an Icom F70DS. I didn't buy this, the old chief did, i thought he told me it cost him something like 1200 bux... I'll double check on this..
I have no issues with the icom radio. it is larger then some of the similar counterparts.

found this:
]Icom F70 w/full keypad

712 bux plus shipping

Are you using P25, or analog?

I don't know about tait but I love my Kenwood TK2180..  

analog, we are not encrypted or digital. County has no plans to go P25 for a long time. when they do, I'll be in the rocking chair.

If you're just looking for a cheaper alternative to Moto, you might also want to take a peek at EF Johnson.

But if I were you, I'd get a VHF/7/800 APX 7000. If you're going to get a brand spank'n new radio, you might as well go all the way with it!

hmm,, one radio 500 bux,, other radio 5000 bux... maybe I'll pass...
but I am jealous of the county, they have 15 of the 7000's sitting on a shelf in the sheriff's office collecting dust.

thanks for all the input..

Wow. I am so glad I read this thread. When I first glanced at the subject line, I read "Taint" not "Tait."

I'm not sure if I was bothered more by the idea of how to carry the radio, or the muscle control required to turn the dials and press PTT.

What are you going to do about narrow banding?

Most rural areas will just go to narrow band analog FM.

yup,, we are narrow band as of last year.

this is one reason i'm thinking of why not to buy it.

The F50 is smaller than the F3161, is less expensive and is fully submersible, but has fewer channels.  The F3161 has a nicer display with more characters per channel tag, and a little faster scan speed.  It's also capable of using the 6.25kHz NXDN digital format via an upgrade board.

The F70 is a higher feature radio, and what adds to the cost is the upgradability to P25 digital.  If P25 digital is included then the price is quite a bit higher, $1200 would be a pretty good price for the P25 version.  At that price level I would get the newer F9011 instead of an F70.

One tidbit about the F50, it uses an SMA antenna connector instead of the more typical threaded stud mount types, so can be easily connected to an external antenna if desired.  If you're looking for a radio small enough to carry around all the time, the F50 is an excellent choice.