Company equipment

[Coondog27]

Hello,

I am in the search for some equipment for my company. We run tractors and am wanting to equip them with two way radios. I am in the process of the fcc paperwork. What I am curious to know is what you guys recommend. Things I am looking for are, antennas, radios, and coax that would be able to reach close to 10-15 miles. The machinery is often run next to trees, so I'd like to keep the antennas close to cheap. Also, on the radio side, they have to be simple as our hired help may not be so great besides push the button and it should work, but I don't want to cry of i lose an expensive radio. I have 4-6 tractors to equip and would like to keep the cost around $300 of possible? Are HT's going to be a better choice?

Thanks for your help once again.

Coondog27

 

[RatsoW8]

What FCC paperwork is in "process" and what radio service are you looking to use? I would say to contact a local communications company to discuss it.

 

[Coondog27]

From what I understand is that you have to fill out the form provided by the fcc wanting to know the company name and so on.

 

[Coondog27]

I guess I don't know what you mean by service. I'm open to suggestions.

 

[w9cll]

GMRS

 

[RatsoW8]

GMRS

Probably. Not knowing your terrain it's hard to tell but with a GMRS 5 watt limit on output power I doubt you're going to see more than a mile or two between mobiles a best.

Your may want to consider cell phones with direct connect capabilities. That's pretty much push a button and talk technology.

I still think you should speak to a professional communications company. Going piecemeal with equipment you think might work may just cost you a pile of cash and not work the way you expect it to.

 

[w9cll]

Probably. Not knowing your terrain it's hard to tell but with a GMRS 5 watt limit on output power I doubt you're going to see more than a mile or two between mobiles a best.

Sure about this? I am finding references that allow up to 50 watts on certain freq's.

 

[Coondog27]

We all have cell phones, but I was thinking that with radios, then the whole crew would hear one message without having to call each individual.

 

[RatsoW8]

Sure about this? I am finding references that allow up to 50 watts on certain freq's.

I only looked at GMRS briefly some time ago but that may be max allowed repeater output but I can't say for certain. Maybe a GMRS guru will show up..

 

[RatsoW8]

We all have cell phones, but I was thinking that with radios, then the whole crew would hear one message without having to call each individual.

You can do person to person or group talk with Nextel phones too.

 

[Road Squawker]

Sure about this? I am finding references that allow up to 50 watts on certain freq's.

the FCC GMRS/FRS regs are a mess,........... they state that GMRS transmitters may be capable of 50 watts ERP..............DUH! transmitters are not rated in ERP, only PEP/RMS.

it is legal to use an aftermarket GAIN antenna on GMRS freqs, but not on FRS freqs.

 

[Robb]

the FCC GMRS/FRS regs are a mess,........... they state that GMRS transmitters may be capable of 50 watts ERP..............DUH! transmitters are not rated in ERP, only PEP/RMS.

it is legal to use an aftermarket GAIN antenna on GMRS freqs, but not on FRS freqs.

Guess what they are trying say,is that the antenna gain/db's will affect total 'effective radiated power'. So, a 5/8 wave ground plane antenna will need 15w output to radiate 50w/ERP.

 

[BBB]

Do you care if the public can hear your conversations or do they need to be scrambled/ encrypted for privacy, security or trade secret reasons?

 

[Coondog27]

No need to be secret. If they want to know which way to drive down the road or how many loads are left, who am I to judge.

 

[222DBFL]

If that is the case, CB/SSB radios could work depending on the terrain. 20 miles is possible on SSB with a good antenna setup. I have used a stock 980 uniden and a Sirio 5000 performer on top of an E350 work van and was able to get out to about 30-35 miles to other stations. Both mobile and base. So I would think 20 miles would be or could be achievable. Best bet like someone else stated would be cell phones with PTT option. Pretty well every phone has apps that can do this.
But you could try a couple of CB/SSB radios and some good antenna setups and see what you get. Wouldn't cost too much and would let everyone hear what was going on. Stay off the main call frequency (38lsb), and find a quiet channel and switch to either USB or LSB and give it a try. Hard to know what will work without knowing the terrain and such. Cell phones are pretty much charge and go devices that you don't have to even sign a contract to get theses days. And with a decent phone you can get an app for the PTT thing. ZELLO, AT&T enhanced PTT, Verizon PTT, the list is pretty large these days just by doing a quick search on the App Store. I found more than 20 apps that will do this. And range shouldn't be an issue as long as you have coverage. Just some food for thought. Like I said, I am not familiar with your area and terrain, and this is why I suggested the cell phone like others have. But it's not impossible to get 20 miles distance from a CB/SSB radio with the proper antenna setup. That being said, only way to truly find out if radios will work is to try a couple. I would use SSB versus AM mode, but some may disagree with me. If you can get radios that are on frequency and that stay that way, you'll be fine. It's when someone has an unlocked clarifier and doesn't know how to properly use it that things can become an issue. That is JMO. A properly tuned and aligned radio should be on frequency and there should be no need to have an unlocked clarifier if this is the case. At any rate, hope you find something that fits your needs. Good luck and be safe.