Posted: 4/5/2012 6:25:59 PM EDT
|
Howdy guys,
I know this particular radio isn't a ham but I would really appreciate your help finding a used one. I am looking for a Thales Racal P-25 radio. I have looked on ebay, amazon, and even google and cannot find one. I don't know why but was hoping someone who knows radio sites could help me out. I did find an old web page where a guy was selling them for 400$. Thanks for your help EDIT: I guess I should say what I am doing. I am looking to buy a few field programmable radios for with SHTF. I used racals before and found them very rugged and easy to program. I am also looking into Bendix King radios but don't know much about the differences in models. |
|
TRY HERE GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND
Don't know if this will help, but......... |
|
A lot of those links are ones I have been to already. For some reason there are a lot of FS adds from 4-5 years ago. |
|
Why would you be looking for used, surplus radios with expensive/impossible to find batteries, when your quoted price is higher than new products with warranties, etc?
Much better choices for what you're describing. For $400 you could get a current model Icom with NXDN digital if you're looking for digital... NXDN has more range and much better sound quality than P25 IMO. |
|
Quoted:
Why would you be looking for used, surplus radios with expensive/impossible to find batteries, when your quoted price is higher than new products with warranties, etc? Much better choices for what you're describing. For $400 you could get a current model Icom with NXDN digital if you're looking for digital... NXDN has more range and much better sound quality than P25 IMO. I am inexperienced with the Icoms and have some background with the racals. I like how easily the racals field program and I like their size. I know their batteries are rechargeable but they do offer AA clamshells. Most of my experience is with Bendix king's. We use BK digital kings at work and I like how rugged they are but their weight and size are a huge disadvantage. Another plus about the BK's is a lot of my friends have them .I found some older kings for $175 but don't know if I want to be packing around that weight. I guess I am open to suggestions. |
|
Well a little update.
I looked into those older kings and they are the EPH models. I guess that model is only a 14 channel system while the new ones are 16. The EPH's also have internal issues and that is why they were replaced. If I can, I would like to find the GPH model. Any love for the BK's? |
|
How about we back up a little to see what your actual needs are first.
How many channels? What modes are needed? Do you need P25? That narrows the field a lot and boosts cost by an order of magnitude. Do you really need and use field programming all that often? How about a radio with plenty of memory so you can just preprogram everything you would need. |
|
Quoted:
How about we back up a little to see what your actual needs are first. How many channels? What modes are needed? Do you need P25? That narrows the field a lot and boosts cost by an order of magnitude. Do you really need and use field programming all that often? How about a radio with plenty of memory so you can just preprogram everything you would need. Ok. My main radio will be used as a scanner for local frequencies (fire, ems, leo, etc) Most agencies run king radios in my area along with my agency. I have access to the programming software and could easily close another king radio or build a group at work. We have BK DPH digitals at work. The secondary use for my radio would be in a SHTF scenario. I would really like the radio to be able to be programmed in the field. I guess I am not familiar to what P25 does. |
|
Quoted:
I guess I am not familiar to what P25 does. P25 is a particular type of digital communications mode. If you listened to P25 on an analog receiver it would sound like a clearer form of static or noise. If you actually need P25, then your options for radios is significantly reduced and that capability is pretty expensive. The BK DPH you mention is a P25 capable radio. Programming cable and software isn't a big deal for many radios on the market, a much bigger deal for others. Field programming on most radios that are capable of it is usually enough of a PITA that I've mostly always used the computer anyway. With many choices in radios now with 128, 256 or even 512 channels it's possible to have just about anything possibly needed in an area already programmed in. With that said, many of the higher end Icom models with keypad are field programmable once that function is enabled in software. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
I guess I am not familiar to what P25 does. P25 is a particular type of digital communications mode. If you listened to P25 on an analog receiver it would sound like a clearer form of static or noise. If you actually need P25, then your options for radios is significantly reduced and that capability is pretty expensive. The BK DPH you mention is a P25 capable radio. Programming cable and software isn't a big deal for many radios on the market, a much bigger deal for others. Field programming on most radios that are capable of it is usually enough of a PITA that I've mostly always used the computer anyway. With many choices in radios now with 128, 256 or even 512 channels it's possible to have just about anything possibly needed in an area already programmed in. With that said, many of the higher end Icom models with keypad are field programmable once that function is enabled in software. Copy. I just need the radio to be capable of narrow banding. That way if I did decide to use it at work I could use it and not have issues. I am open to ideas as far as radios go. I am biased to Kings because we use them at work and they are tanks. Thanks for your time |
| Everything that's been sold for over a decade can do narrowband analog FM. I really like the Icom F3161, if you don't need P25, only thing is they are not a true waterproof radio. |
|
Quoted:
Everything that's been sold for over a decade can do narrowband analog FM. I really like the Icom F3161, if you don't need P25, only thing is they are not a true waterproof radio. Thanks for the heads up. I will look into those. |