Why are comms sets so expensive?

[Russ83]

2-way radios can work very well if you buy the professional ones and not the really cheap ones and they certainly satisfy your 3 points (unfortunately not Davids 4 and 5 though).

 

We have about 20 of the Motorola XTN446 around the school for mobile communication so for shows we just round up about 8 of them and use them with headsets. In close range (<100m) you get a very clear signal even through walls etc.

 

You can get the newer model Radios and Headsets from CPC. Total cost to the school for 5 sets would be just over £800 and when you are not doing shows the site/senior staff can feel important. Only problems we have are with the headsets falling apart so get some super glue.

[smalljoshua]

The Motorola XTN446s are indeed very good. We have a good 60-70 floating around the school at any one point due to the size of our site. We put everyone on earpieces and make sure everyone adheres to strict etiquette when using them. We have found it works for us and although we did hire coms to talk between box and backstage, we still had everyone else on the Radios.

 

Josh

[johnhuson]

Just performed in an event where the comms between FoH and Monitor Desk was a pair of SM58s going to the FoH headphones, and a stage monitor near the desk.

This is often referred to as a 'shout system' as is often used in conjunction with a normal wired comms system.

[duncanborrowman]

The Motorola XTN446s are indeed very good. We have a good 60-70 floating around the school at any one point due to the size of our site. We put everyone on earpieces and make sure everyone adheres to strict etiquette when using them. We have found it works for us and although we did hire coms to talk between box and backstage, we still had everyone else on the Radios.

 

Josh

 

The original XTN446 is no longer made. I heard (but don't quote me) because Motorola drove the margins down so low on it that manufacturer folded. We sell spares. The one thing that is very hard to get is chargers - mutli way ones are as far as I can tell impossible (we had a demo one we sold recently), we have been supplying single ones to people who want to get them while they are available.

 

All parts for them can take a couple of weeks to get if they are not available in the UK.

[musht]

What makes the differnce between a `pro` Motorola and a `consumer` Binatone PMR radio?

 

Genuine question, both seem to be locked to the maximum output power of PMR446 and CTSS schemes seem to be available on even very cheap radios.

 

Is it just the construction quality and battery type or someat more?

 

Thanks

[duncanborrowman]

What makes the differnce between a `pro` Motorola and a `consumer` Binatone PMR radio?

 

Genuine question, both seem to be locked to the maximum output power of PMR446 and CTSS schemes seem to be available on even very cheap radios.

 

Is it just the construction quality and battery type or someat more?

 

Thanks

 

Yes. Construction. Also cheap PMR have much lower power. All this sort of thing. We were selling a PMR radio with military build spec, but after afew too many broke we have stopped selling them while we sort the issue with the manufacturer. PMR446 really is a case of you get what you pay for...

The cheapest I would go for "semi pro" is the Midland G7E. I would have recommended the Alan HP450 but would now go back to the Motorola XTNID for a radio that needs to work every day of the week on PMR.