Category Archives: 2 way radio

2 way radio

Some Stuff About The IC-F27SR

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Again a different article i found remarkable on the topic of Walkie talkie’s, what would you do if i didn’t post this ehh? you would have to look at the original content, and the chances that you found it could be slim, so deem yourself fortunate that i have shared this glorious short article with you.

Professional PMR446 Licence Free Two Way Radio

The IC-F27SR professional Licence Free Two Way Radio is the successor to the best selling IC-F25SR and retains the simplicity, functionality and build that made the original so popular. However, there have been some big improvements including a smaller and lighter body, 800mW loud and intelligible audio, built-in VOX function and several new scanning and security features. To top it off, the IC-F27SR includes highly efficient circuitry that provides up to a massive 35.5 hours of operating time with the supplied BP-265 2000mAh Lithium-Ion battery pack.

High performance, Professional Licence Free Radio 
Outstanding audio quality, high performance and strong commercial build make the IC-F27SR the ideal licence free radio. This licence free radio is ideal for users in diverse areas such as construction, catering, event management, shopping centres, factories, farms as well as serious outdoor enthusiasts.

Up to 35.5 hours of operating time
The IC-F27SR features highly efficient circuitry, providing up to a massive 35.5 hours of operating time* with the supplied BP-265 2000mAh lithium-ion battery pack. This means it can be comfortably last an entire shift.
* Tx: Rx: Stand-by =5: 5: 90 with power save ON. 24.8 hours with BP-264

Outstanding audio quality 
800mW audio output is provided from the large 45mm speaker meaning the IC-F27SR can deliver loud and intelligible audio even in extremely noisy environments such as a busy shop floor or construction site.

Just three main controls
Transmit button, volume control and channel selector. This simple to use radio is ideal for high turnover environments and shift work where the radio is constantly passed from person to person.

Lightweight, Compact Body
Small size (58×186×36.5mm) and lightweight (285g) makes this transceiver ideal for all users.

Commercial grade construction
The IC-F27SR is extremely rugged. It has been tested to 11 categories of environmental and military standards for dust protection and water resistance making it suited to outdoor use.

Internal VOX for Hands-free operation
Built-in VOX function provides convenient hands-free operation, when used with our optional headset adapter cable.

500mW output power 
Provides wider communication coverage.

Other features 
• CTCSS and DTCS encoder and decoder for group call
• Surveillance function turns off the LED and beep sound
• Siren function can be used for security alarm
• Power save function
• Low battery alert
• Time out timer
• Monitor function

  • High performance, Professional Licence Free Radio
  • Up to 35.5 hours of operating time with BP-265 Li-ion battery pack *Typical operation with power save on. TX:RX:Stand-by=5:5:90
  • Outstanding audio quality
  • Simple to operate, just three main controls
  • Lightweight, compact body
  • Internal VOX for hands-free operation (Optional headset and adapter cable required)
  • IP54 and MIL-STD-810 ruggedness
  • CTCSS and DTCS tone squelch for group call
  • Same accessories as “F3002/F4002” series handhelds
  • 2 year warranty on transceiver, 1 year warranty on accessories

MH370: Motorola cargo comprised walkie-talkies, besides batteries and chargers

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what would you say if this website About keyword was the best one we found this week, would you believe us?

A two-tonne consignment aboard the ill-fated  MH370 flight is believed to comprise walkie-talkies, lithium ion batteries and their chargers.

The cargo manifest released in the preliminary report of the incident shows that the plane was carrying 200kg of the batteries while the balance is said to be “radio accessories and chargers”.

The revelation by Malaysia Airlines confirms a report by fz.com on March 25 that revealed that the shipper of the lithium ion batteries, walkie-talkies and chargers was Motorola.

Quoting a source at that time, fz.com reported that the goods were shipped from the factory’s facility in Penang.

The goods were sent by lorries to the KL International Airport, and based on the master air waybill, the items were sent from Penang on March 6.

Of the 2.4 tonnes that was shipped from the plant in Penang, only about 200kg comprised the batteries.

Though the cargo manifest and master air waybill indicated lithium ion batteries, it did not reveal that walkie-talkies made up the rest of the consignment.

MAS later said in a statement that they were “radio accessories and chargers”.

The air waybill prepared by NNR Global Logistics Sdn Bhd on behalf of its client, Motorola, showed that two loads were packed, one being 1,990kg for 133 pieces and another being 463kg for 67 pieces.

The batteries and accompanying goods were later shipped by NNR Global Logistics, while the balance divided into “13 packages”, were forwarded by Kerry Logistics (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.

The cargo manifest showed the plane carried 9,947kg in three large shipments.

While mangosteens from Muar, Johor weighed the heaviest at 4,566kg and the 2,453kg worth of lithium ion batteries and accompanying goods (written up only as “consolidated”) are more or less accounted for, the other 2,250kg of “consolidated” items have sparked interest.

A source familiar with aviation forwarding industry practices said the mystery surrounding the cargo manifest and the exact loads that went onto the ill-fated MH370 can only be resolved if MAS revealed the house air waybills.

The source added that without the house air waybill and the packing list, the cargo manifest and the master air waybill were redundant because only those two documents would properly state the goods and the shipper.

“It is understandable that MAS cannot reveal the other two documents simply because they may not have it.

 “As for the house air waybill and packing list, the Customs Department, the freight forwarder and the shipper should come forward and reveal them,” he said.

Days after the Beijing-bound flight went missing along with 239 passengers and the crew on March 8, Malaysia Airlines chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said the plane was carrying 200kg of “small” lithium ion batteries.

He said the load was not considered hazardous as it was packaged in accordance to safety regulations.

In response, the aviation source said though the shipment contained batteries and declared as dangerous goods, they are within specified permissible levels.

“The dangerous threshold for lithium ion batteries is not measured by its weight but its watt per hour measurement. For instance, a handphone probably would measure 100 grams watt per hour which is not lethal.

“The watt per hour measurement indicates the battery activity by the hour,” he had said while cautioning that forwarding companies and shippers often failed to declare “hidden dangerous goods” in the shipment.

These include flammable liquids, lubricants, corrosive and oxidising materials that could and have resulted in fires onboard flights, he said.

Read more: http://www.fz.com/content/mh370-motorola-cargo-comprised-walkie-talkies-besides-batteries-and-chargers#ixzz31gub3d3V

Riedel to Provide Radio Communications Network and Equipment for Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games

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This was originally posted at softwaredev.itbusinessnet.com and we thought we’d share it here, Riedel are one of the worlds biggest radio companies and have run the communications for the london olympics, euros 2012 and many other big events, so thsi story comes as no surprise.

Riedel Communications, provider of pioneering real-time video, audio, data, and communications networks, will supply all radio communications equipment and services for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, running from July 23 to Aug. 3 in Glasgow, Scotland. 

“The ability to communicate effectively at Games venues and throughout Glasgow and other parts of Scotland is an essential element to delivering a successful Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games,” said Brian Nourse, chief information officer, Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. “We have benefited from Riedel’s extensive experience of being involved in many previous major sporting events to ensure a robust communications solution is delivered for our event,” 

 Riedel Communications has designed a radio communications solution for use across Glasgow and at the 14 venues hosting 17 different sporting competitions. The company is providing all radio handsets and radio communication accessories — including more than 6,000 radios — used in the lead-up to and during the Games, along with a terrestrial trunked radio (TETRA) digital network and a Motorola MOTOTRBO digital radio repeater system. Both the TETRA and MOTOTRBO systems are dedicated, fully monitored, and serviced solutions. 
TETRA combines the advantages of analog trunked radio with those of digital mobile radio to provide optimal frequency usage, high transmission quality for speech and data, maximum security against eavesdropping, as well as flexible networking and connection management. Beyond that, the digital trunked radio system supports full duplex communication, GPS-positioning, and connection to the public telephone network. The system offers the option of operating different virtual channels, and it can leverage IP connectivity to support wide-area operation.
With this communications infrastructure, Riedel will ensure outdoor street-level coverage at all official venues, throughout the city of Glasgow, and along the official cycling road race and marathon routes, as well as indoor coverage at Glasgow 2014 competition venues. Riedel is also supplying the radio communications solution for the Scottish leg of the Queen’s Baton Relay, ensuring radio communications run smoothly as the baton makes its way through Scotland to Glasgow for the Games.
“We are delighted to be the Official Radio Communications Partner of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games,” said Christian Bockskopf, head of marketing for Riedel Communications. “We’ve worked closely with the organizers to develop a radio communications solution that satisfies both the technical and operational requirements of all the key players during this world-class event.”

 

What Type Of Two Way Radio Should A Shopping Centre Use?

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The truth is that shopping centres (or ‘malls’ if we’re being American about it), can seriously improve an area’s local economy. It is basic economics really, if the supply is less than the demand, then there is profit to be made. I expect a percentage, Deepak!

OK, I’ve thought a bit about this one and, I reckon your best bet would be an affordable, yet high performance unit like a Motorola DP3400 or similar. I suggested the DP3400 because it a) it won’t bankrupt the (hypothetical) project, b) it is very versatile and c) it is exceptionally easy to use (user training takes, on average, about 20 minutes).

A DP3400 offers use of 32 channels, functions as both analogue and digital and is available in UHF or VHF versions. In short, this radio is perfect for security, health and safety or even customer service.

I’ve recently found the ‘Case Studies’ sections on the Motorola website (you can probably tell by my other pieces this month), but the DP3400 has a case that’s exactly like yours. For what its worth, here’s what they said about it.

“Digital two-way radio was chosen to provide a secure, discreet communicationsystem with no risk of transmissions being compromised by eavesdroppers. The Centre’s local Motorola Authorised Dealer demonstrated how  MOTOTRBO digital radios could provide greater coverage and improved audio clarity than analogue and enable users to make both one-to-one and group calls. The increased battery power would extend battery life by up to 40%, enabling the radios to be used throughout the entire 11-hour trading day without recharging”.

That sounds pretty good to me. In any instance, you keep dreaming and don’t let anyone discourage you. Find out what it takes to be an…um, ‘shopping centre design person’ and just go for it! 

What frequencies do walkie talkies use?

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Hi Pat (Patrick? Patricia? The Puppet Formerly Known as ‘Postman’? – Just kidding!),

Happy New Year!

Now, to answer your question, two-way radios use a range of what are called ‘frequency bands’ – these are areas of the electromagnetic spectrum (a fancy name for the total range of electromagnetic radiation) that are used for audio communication.

Most radios will operate on either VHF (Very High Frequency – any frequency range between 30MHz and 300MHz) or UHF (Ultra High Frequency – any radio frequency range between 300MHz and 3GHz) modes, but the two types of radio are incompatible with each other, so a careful choice is required on the part of the user.

Generally speaking, UHF radios are better suited to urban or indoor environments, whilst VHF has a slight advantage if you’re using your radio outside. For more on the VHF vs. UHF debate, check out Wendy from Stoke-On-Trent’s question, posted in December.

Anyway, the lowest frequency is the VHF Lowband frequency (25Mhz – 50MHz), whilst the VHF Highband frequency is anything between 126MHz – 174MHz. The general UHF Band is anything between 403MHz and 512MHz.

Of course, the right frequency for you depends greatly on your needs. Is your radio system used professionally or as a hobby? Is security an issue or not really? That sort of thing.

Remember also that it is illegal to use certain frequencies, as they are used by the Emergency Services. Two-way radio use is actually quite tightly monitored/restricted, largely for public safety purposes.

According to a Motorola online course “Because frequency spectrum is an infinite resource, and the number of users in many areas is high, many radio channels are becoming crowded. Channel loading is a term used to describe the number of users assigned to the same frequency. Channel loading is so heavy in some areas that additional users are no longer allowed on particular channels, or frequencies. The use of channels is authorized and licensed by government agencies in most countries”.

The course goes on to say that,

“In all cases, a license to operate radio equipment is required and must be applied for with the appropriate governing body. The license is granted to operate on a particular frequency, or set of frequencies, with specific eligibility rules that must be met”.

Anyway, is pays to do a little research before heading out into the field with your walkie talkie. 

Why Can’t I Use a Radio or a Phone on an Aeroplane?

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The real reason is that the signals generated by your radio receiver (yes, it generates signals as well as receives them) can interfere with the aeroplane’s navigation equipment.

 

In an article for ‘The Straight Dope’, published in 1987, Cecil Adams (who ran a similar, but far superior, column to this one) explained it far better than I could. He said,

 

“Most modern receivers use something called a “local oscillator,” which is sort of an internal transmitter. The oscillator generates signal A, which is mixed with the somewhat raw incoming signal B to produce nice, easy-to-work-with signal C. There’s usually some sort of shielding around the oscillator, but it’s not always effective and sometimes errant signals leak out to make life difficult for other radio equipment nearby. If the other equipment happens to be an aircraft navigation device, somebody could wind up digging furrows with a $25 million plow. So do your bit for air safety and bring a tape player instead.” Continue reading →

Why Can’t I Use a Radio or a Phone on an Aeroplane?

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The real reason is that the signals generated by your radio receiver (yes, it generates signals as well as receives them) can interfere with the aeroplane’s navigation equipment.

 

In an article for ‘The Straight Dope’, published in 1987, Cecil Adams (who ran a similar, but far superior, column to this one) explained it far better than I could. He said,

 

“Most modern receivers use something called a “local oscillator,” which is sort of an internal transmitter. The oscillator generates signal A, which is mixed with the somewhat raw incoming signal B to produce nice, easy-to-work-with signal C. There’s usually some sort of shielding around the oscillator, but it’s not always effective and sometimes errant signals leak out to make life difficult for other radio equipment nearby. If the other equipment happens to be an aircraft navigation device, somebody could wind up digging furrows with a $25 million plow. So do your bit for air safety and bring a tape player instead.” Continue reading →

Inform, Entertain and Educate, Two-Way Radios in Broadcasting

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The disparity between how easy it is to watch a television program and how difficult it is to make one is truly staggering.

Outdoor shoots are often rushed, always difficult and dependent on a number of factors completely outside of any Human control (principally: the weather). Managing a live broadcast outdoors is a difficult job that only highly trained professionals are properly equipped to deal with.

Mistakes can cost huge sums of money and even jobs to be lost in an instant. As a result, it is of absolutely paramount importance that an outdoor shoot runs as smoothly as possible. It is not possible to control all the variables in this equation, therefore the factors that are controllable need to be handled with a great deal of care and attention. Continue reading →

Hotel Radio Communication

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The tourism industry is a big one, with various holiday seasons bringing in huge revenues around the world, year in, year out. In some cases, tourism profits are actually vital to the survival of small towns and resort areas, as well as major factors in the host country’s GDP.

Approximately 30 Million people visit the UK from all over the world each year (and we don’t even get nice weather!). Drawn to our many sites of cultural interest, even more of historical interest, or just a slice on English country life, these tourists are actually a considerable part of our economy. Continue reading →

Innovative or Simply Post-Modern? New Paradigms in the Study of “Radio”

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Radio is the wireless transmission of signals through free space by electromagnetic radiation of a frequency significantly below that of visible light, in the radio frequency range, from about 30 kHz to 300 GHz. These waves are called radio waves. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space.
Information, such as sound, is carried by systematically changing some property of the radiated waves, such as their amplitude, frequency, phase, or pulse width. When radio waves strike an electrical conductor, the oscillating fields induce an alternating current in the conductor. The information in the waves can be extracted and transformed back into its original form.
Etymology
The etymology of “radio” or “radiotelegraphy” reveals that it was called “wireless telegraphy”, which was shortened to “wireless” in Britain. The prefix radio- in the sense of wireless transmission, was first recorded in the word radioconductor, a description provided by the French physicist Édouard Branly in 1897. It is based on the verb to radiate .
The word “radio” also appears in a 1907 article by Lee De Forest. It was adopted by the United States Navy in 1912, to distinguish radio from several other wireless communication technologies, such as the photophone. The term became common by the time of the first commercial broadcasts in the United States in the 1920s. The term was adopted by other languages in Europe and Asia. British Commonwealth countries continued to commonly use the term “wireless” until the mid-20th century, though the magazine of the BBC in the UK has been called Radio Times ever since it was first published in the early 1920s.
In recent years the more general term “wireless” has gained renewed popularity through the rapid growth of short-range computer networking, e.g., Wireless Local Area Network, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, as well as mobile telephony, e.g., GSM and UMTS. Today, the term “radio” specifies the actual type of transceiver device or chip, whereas “wireless” refers to the lack of physical connections; one talks about radio transceivers, but another talks about wireless devices and wireless sensor networks.
Processes
Radio systems used for communications will have the following elements. With more than 100 years of development, each process is implemented by a wide range of methods, specialized for different communications purposes.
Transmitter and modulation
Each system contains a transmitter. This consists of a source of electrical energy, producing alternating current of a desired frequency of oscillation. The transmitter contains a system to modulate some property of the energy produced to impress a signal on it. This modulation might be as simple as turning the energy on and off, or altering more subtle properties such as amplitude, frequency, phase, or combinations of these properties. The transmitter sends the modulated electrical energy to a tuned resonant antenna; this structure converts the rapidly changing alternating current into an electromagnetic wave that can move through free space.
Amplitude modulation of a carrier wave works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in proportion to the information being sent. For example, changes in the signal strength can be used to reflect the sounds to be reproduced by a speaker, or to specify the light intensity of television pixels. It
was the method used for the first audio radio transmissions, and remains in use today. “AM” is often used to refer to the mediumwave broadcast band .
Frequency modulation varies the frequency of the carrier. The instantaneous frequency of the carrier is directly proportional to the instantaneous value of the input signal. Digital data can be sent by shifting the carrier’s frequency among a set of discrete values, a technique known as frequency-shift keying.
FM is commonly used at VHF radio frequencies for high-fidelity broadcasts of music and speech . Normal TV sound is also broadcast using FM.
Angle modulation alters the instantaneous phase of the carrier wave to transmit a signal. It is another term for Phase modulation.

Continue reading →

I’m going Skiing in November and I’m looking for a Good Two-Way Radio Set. Any Suggestions?

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Lemme get this straight, you live in Spain (where all the nice weather is) and you want to go on holiday to a cold, snowy place? To quote the great French thinker Obelix, “These Romans are crazy!” However, I shall answer your question, but only if you send me a postcard from your trip!

Well, I actually have bad news for you. When I wrote the piece above, I was all set to get online and find you a bargain. However, a little bit of research (together with some applied common sense) tells me that there actually aren’t any radios around (or at least commercially available) that are specifically adapted to skiing (or any mountainous activity, for that matter). Continue reading →

On The Air, In The Air Radios and Air Travel, an inseparable Mix

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Radios are a Vital Tool for Air Travel. At London Heathrow airport, for example, three hundred companies employ some 80,000 people every day, whilst 65 million people leave from, arrive at, or pass through the airport. In the face of such staggering humanity, fast, efficient communication becomes paramount.

Medical personnel need to be notified quickly in case of an accident. Security guards must be able to respond and react to any potential threat as swiftly as possible. Other, daily issues such as reuniting lost children with their parents, locating missing luggage and the inspection of imported goods, must also be dealt with in a clear and professional manner. Continue reading →

Communicating in harbours what are the best, least costly choices

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Approximately 1.6 million folks are used within the global shipping industry. These people grade, guard, handle, transport, import or export the 8 billion tons of cargo that’s shipped every year. Put simply, shipping anything overseas is a massive endeavour and, in this day and age, we do it a lot.

The global shipping companies are undergoing an era of substantial expansion, with revenues rapidly improving. The surfacing of new economies in the marketplace for cheaply manufactured goods has aided this boom period for the shipping industry. In addition, the World-wide-web has given today’s consumers access to products and markets within the farthest corners of our world. This might have negatively affected high street stores and shopping centres, but it is a considerable reason in the growth of the shipping industry. Continue reading →

What is the talk around Analogue and Digital?

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Analogue and digital communications both have their supporters as well as their detractors. Each tech has its positive factors also as its drawbacks, but neither are massively well understood by the standard customer. So here is what we are planning to do; a helpful modest puff-piece detailing which type of walkie talkie is best for your specific requirements.

OK, so, 1st, let us take a look at the differences between analogue and digital communications.

Analogue

To begin with, analogue technology translates information into radio waves in order to convey it over extensive distances. The more the wave could be compressed, the clearer the transmittion can ultimately become, and with less noise as well.

Analogue technology records waveforms as they are and translates them like that, versus its digital equal, which samples and records waveforms first before transmitting them. Nonetheless, analogue gadgets normally consume more power.

Analogue radios are also inherently more cost-effective than their digital counterparts. Digital radios can cost a great deal of money and, as they are an emerging technology, new products can potentially be rendered ‘old hat’ within a relatively brief span of use, while analogue technology needs far less upgrading.

The draw back here, however, is that the end for analogue two-way radios is certainly in view. Digital is evidently going to become the best way forward.

Digital

Digital technology operates on an extremely distinct principal. While analogue interprets voice into radio waves (as we discussed earlier), digital technology instead interprets the identical information right into a binary format (basically 0’s and 1’s). This needs a communal language between the sending and receiving devices; otherwise the signal can’t be decoded.  

Digital tech samples analogue waveforms, assigns a pair of numbers to them then it records them. Ergo, digital 2 way radios are way less likely to be interrupted by signal reduction, outside noise and other interruptions, mainly as most noise responses are analogue in nature.

Digital transmittion processing is almost immediate, as digital sampling works at 8000 samples per second. The disparity linking digital signal processing and analogue is therefore negligible.

Finally, digital gadgets tend to not draw much power as analogue radios.

Which one for me?

Therefore, now that’s out of the way – which is right for you?

Eventually, when it comes to two way radio usage, analogue two way radios will serve you well, but not for much longer, it would seem.

Start by considering health and safety considerations. An analogue radio is straightforward to use, highly strong and totally instantaneous. This is, in short, technology that saves lives. That is one reason that these 2 way radios continue to be employed by everyone from law enforcement officials to construction workers the world over. Another reason is cost. Analogue two way radios are still less expensive than their digital counterparts.

Digital radios possess a much wider signal range with a clearer sound, but, as we said, they can be cost exorbitant.

Overall, if it’s outdoor, manual work (where rapid, proficient communication is important) if cost is an issue, if protection and security are chief factors if reliability is vital, an analogue 2 way radio is an affordable choice, but can be slightly short-sighted given the massive enhancements made by digital technology in recent years. It could be wiser to easily bite the bullet and spend extra over the short term in order avoid spending considerably more over the long term.

If you want to get a jump on the rivals, if you would like to be up to date and now have your workforce operate the very best technology money can buy, then digital is certainly the best way forward.

What about hybrids?

A device that covers both grounds is a good option, given that it is still easy to use in a crisis and bug free. If you’re forced, then a digital 2 way radio is probably best. The tech has come some distance now and certainly is the future of two way radios.

So there you go, that is our reply.

How two way radios might help a building site run easily

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Immediate communication is of significant value to construction workers the world over. Radios are part of the lifeblood of the construction business. It is not a real understatement to call the use of two way radio systems vital for the wellbeing of our industry, not just in the interests of communication and proficiency, but also for security.

Active construction sites are instead one of the more challenging places for 2 way radio networks to navigate. Building sites present abundant challenges for 2 way radio networks, such as background noise, signal coverage, earth to crane comms, protection issues and subcontractors requiring access to the infrastructure. Continue reading →