Wanted Portable radios

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Frooom

Member
Dec 6, 2012
843
NH
Hey folks!

The school my wife teaches at has 6 old motorolas. They're in a sad state, and there's not a lot of funds or time to go get new ones. I'm looking for either donations or affordable options to replace all 6 if anyone can help out. Just looking for basic portables, UHF or VHF should be fine because they're only used to talk around the school and grounds. Max use case range of 1000 ft maybe. Ideally a few charge bases would be helpful, perhaps a spare battery or two.

I would be willing to also throw equipment towards this in trade. Got a pair of eniex apollo f12 in r/w, and I have a 911ep millenium modded with whelen lr11, just needs a CID/diagnostics.
 
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Sparky_911

Supporting Donor
May 15, 2013
2,648
Central Illinois
Hope you get some replies. In all honesty they might look into the frs radios from various manufacturers (motorola included). You can get multi packs for 30-300 dollars online. I know a lot of my area (Central IL) schools use them.
Screenshot_20220616-070929_Google.jpg
 

Frooom

Member
Dec 6, 2012
843
NH
Oh ****. If I could find a pack like that, I would happily buy it and donate it to the school. Anyone know how reliable these are? I want to be DARNED sure they work in a brick school building, from the sports fields, etc.

Then again, they use 2 double A's....not sure how reliable that would be versus a more traditional
nicad...


Seems like maybe there's some that come with chargers and batteries?

 

Sparky_911

Supporting Donor
May 15, 2013
2,648
Central Illinois
You can do both. The ones I've purchased came with nimh or nicad packs and chargers but can be removed and AAs used. I have personally tested 2 models and got range of about 2 miles outdoors on mostly flat terrain in a rural town type setting. Maybe snag a cheap pair locally and test them?
 

Frooom

Member
Dec 6, 2012
843
NH
Ehhh, seems a bit iffy then, range wise. Unfortunately there's no "cheap" or "local" here in NH. I'll keep this want ad up, see what comes by, but I will also watch ebay for maybe a cheap set if one comes up ^_^
 
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C17LVFD

Member
May 21, 2010
1,537
Harrisburg, PA
If u want building penetration you’ll want UHF not VHF.

2 watts should be fine for a 1000 ft range which are what most FRS are and they’re UHF. As others have said, grab a pair and do some testing b4 buying. Some of the FRS channels don’t require a license, some do. If you license FRS you can go up to 50watts. You’ll def want a PL or DPL on the channel to minimize additional radio traffic.

Hope this helps,
Seth
 

Frooom

Member
Dec 6, 2012
843
NH
Thanks Seth. I admit, it's been a while since I've dealt with or used 2 ways that you can get at places like walmart of sporting stores. My last experiences with them was pre 2008 and they sucked.
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
if the school has a license from the FCC you need to follow it.. check records..
 

C17LVFD

Member
May 21, 2010
1,537
Harrisburg, PA
Jarred has a good point, checking the FCC database is a good place to start. Six portables in bad shape doesn’t give me the warm fuzzies that if a license was ever gotten that it’s been maintained. If it had, likely someone would in admin would have known who to talk to and would like have the radios on a replacement plan.

If ur not familiar with the FCC search database, shoot me a pm with specifics of the organization and I can do a quick search.

As far as radios go, in FRS world, you get all kinds. Personally, all of my professional work is with Motorola radios. Say what you want, but they have a decent history of making solid radios. I would probably try a pair of these and see how they do at the school.


Six of these out the door is about 225. These look decently robust and have good overall reviews on Amazon.

Seth
 
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Frooom

Member
Dec 6, 2012
843
NH
Just to be clear folks, I am not sure what they have now requires any sort of license, and I absolutely do not want to get them anything that does. The best I can say is they have an older motorola version of a basic portable, but not anything higher powered, and certainly not what we use in life safety. I just want to get them something robust as a replacement, since they are a school and therefore have crap for a budget.
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
Just to be clear folks, I am not sure what they have now requires any sort of license, and I absolutely do not want to get them anything that does. The best I can say is they have an older motorola version of a basic portable, but not anything higher powered, and certainly not what we use in life safety. I just want to get them something robust as a replacement, since they are a school and therefore have crap for a budget.
If they are a "business" they require a license technically.. my job uses moto ones has a business lic and we're technically a state entity. "Higher education" if it's a county school they should have a license they can fall under... I understand buoy want to KISS.. but if they were ever violated it's thousands of $$$$. Never hurts to check :)
 

Frooom

Member
Dec 6, 2012
843
NH
If they are a "business" they require a license technically.. my job uses moto ones has a business lic and we're technically a state entity. "Higher education" if it's a county school they should have a license they can fall under... I understand buoy want to KISS.. but if they were ever violated it's thousands of $$$$. Never hurts to check :)
Gotcha. It's an elementary school, so I have no idea how they would be treated honestly.
 
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handcar

New Member
Jan 14, 2022
4
Santa Clarita, CA
Motorola HT1250s can be purchased used on ebay for around $150 programmed. You need the frequencies and private tone settings of the existing radio system. It could be the existing radios just need new batteries. If the radios are used daily the batteries won't last more than a couple of years at most.
 
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Frooom

Member
Dec 6, 2012
843
NH
Their radios they have are decent motorola units, but they've seen better days and they don't have enough of them. Unfortunately 150 per unit is going to be well beyond my means for this. I think the prior linked T200's will be the way to go, but I have to get some first hand capability reviews (I can't afford to buy and test on my own). This is for the school for managing the kids, recess, etc, so whatever I get them has to work, period. Next time I am there I'll get the model info.
 
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