Monday, April 4, 2016

Can Two Way Radios of Different Brands Communicate

One question that is frequently asked by people interested in buying two way radios is that can you mix brands of two way radios. To answer this question properly, it is imperative to understand first how the devices work. It should be known that whether you have a small business or a large warehousing facility, UHF band radios never communicate with the VHF band radios. Therefore, if you are looking to buy a radio, make sure to buy additional units of the device of similar bands. In this way be it a UHF band radio or a VHF band radio, if set to the same frequency can work with all brands. However, some considerations have to be put in its place beforehand.

Functionality

Two way radios imply that it can both send as well as receive radio messages. They are transceivers that are battery powered. The radios operate on a half-duplex channel system. This system implies that the radio will be able to transmit a signal on a single channel that can be received on many devices at the same time. Normally these radios are designed to transmit short-range signals. Almost all of the two way radios function on the same principle. They all include a microphone, an antenna, a speaker, and the Push to talk Button. These radios are designed to function on different frequencies.

Frequency types

The general public use frequencies are the Family radio service frequency or the FRS and the general Mobile radio Service frequency or GMRS. Both these frequencies work on a 460 MHz rage. The UHF frequency or the ultra-high frequency is ideal for the two way radios as they can easily penetrate the interference in the form of building and trees. The two way radio with a long UHF antenna will push through the concrete and will do your work efficiently. On the other hand, VHF antennas on the radios are much longer than the ones in the UHF radios. These are ideal to use in the outdoors as they usually can transmit signals over very large distances.

Types of radios

There are normally two types of radios, that are used in businesses and that are used in consumer situations. The consumer radios normally work on the FRS or the GMRS frequencies. Regardless of the number of channels in the radio, the two way radios can be mixed with other brand radios. Only the radios have to be set to the same privacy code, the channel number, and the same frequency. Alternatively, there are several different types of frequency in the business two way radios category. The radios use the UHF, VHF and the 800/900 MHz type frequency. Just by choosing, the radio with the same frequency may not be compatible with the radios of other brands bought beforehand. While buying the radio, the dealer may have programmed a special customized frequency into the radio beforehand. In order for the business, two way radios to work efficiently with the radios of different brands it is essential to completely figure the type of band that the radio uses, the pre-set frequency on the radio from the dealer.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

ever wondered what different types of Bluetooth earpieces there are

Bluetooth technology has been designed for many different purposes and situations. Consequently, when people want to buy a bluetooth ear piece for a specific situation, there are some things that they will need to consider. Specifically, based on their specific situation and circumstances, they will need to review the best style of bluetooth earpiece that is available on the market today. Since there are different styles that have been made for for one or more reasons, it's important for each individual to do their research to see which style can accommodate their needs. It is also important to note that the kind the person purchases must be comfortable so that they can wear them for an extended period of time and they fit the devices that they will be used for. Listed below are three of the bluetooth styles that’s currently offered by manufactures all over the United States and abroad.

Bluetooth ear pieces for Mobile Phones

Most people take their mobile phones wherever they go. To work, school, church, parties and all kinds of other events that they may attend. Because these phones have become commonplace in many environments, people have a need to handle them and talk to others when their hands are free. This is also a great reason for individuals who work in certain settings to make sure that they are buying the right style that will best fit their needs.

One specific style that some people may choose is the ear cradle style of headphone. In fact, this kind of bluetooth earpiece is idea for people who want to spend their time working out and performing all kinds of other extracurricular activities. People are also encouraged to buy this kind of style because they may be driving when they receive a telephone call from a family member. Or, they may be working at the job typing a memo or walking around taking care of wide hosts of other kinds of activities that are not conducive to holding a mobile phone by hand to the ear. Whatever the situation, this style of bluetooth earpiece technology is great for many different situations and purposes.

Bluetooth ear pieces and Headsets for Music Lovers

In addition to the cradle style for mobile phones, people should also review other styles as well. One specific style that is also functional in many different settings is the DJ over the head headphones. This style has been designed for the serious music lovers, especially those who can appreciate making distinctions in sounds and beats that come from specific musical instruments like the bass, violin, trumpet and other popular instruments. For those who like and prefer this kind, they will also find that this is one of the best styles for keeping out outside noises that normally interfere with a person’s overall entertainment experience. Also, because they are wireless, they are great for people who like to stay mobile during the day instead of remaining in a sedentary position.

Bluetooth Ear Pieces for IPODs

In some situations, people may want to use bluetooth technology with their IPODs. Therefore, they should consider buying an additional popular style bluetooth earpiece technology. This style is known to be very popular, specifically because it is similar to an actual earbud. An ear bud is also another excellent choice for people who want to remain both active and hassle free. Though this is a great choice for people who like to remain mobile in a wide variety of different situations, one of its main draw backs is that they tend to fall out of the individuals ear. Which means, they can also be lost since it lacks additional support to keep them stabilized inside the ear.



Monday, March 14, 2016

How 2 Way Radios Helped A Group Of Festival Volunteers Against Natures Fury

Entrusting security of a large bluegrass music festival to volunteers is an act of faith; handing us 2 way radio equipment gave us the power and connection to do the job right. For the price of a few day shifts and at least one overnight watch until sunrise, we security volunteers got to enjoy some of the finest concerts and classes in a beautiful mountain setting. When disaster struck -- twice -- we didn't need extensive training to be effective, just a fully charged battery.



First Challenge: Nice Guys Slide Off Dirt Roads

The first disaster was minor but challenging. A courteous pickup truck driver had moved over for oncoming traffic on a hillside dirt access road and slid off the edge just enough to get stuck. Calling for a tow was a perfect use of our radios that otherwise would have required sending a runner back down to the main tent. As the tow truck positioned itself to lift the truck back onto the road, we found a second radio use: solving problems by committee remotely!

Since no one outranked another, we wound up addressing the problem from several angles: "the road is blocked," said one, "halt the cars coming up." "I don't have authority to control traffic," said another. "There's no turning around, so they'll all be stuck if you don't," said the first. In the end, with quick radio communication instead of breathless runners doing a relay, a dead-end country traffic jam was avoided and the truck was rescued.

Second Challenge: Set Them Up and Blow Them Down

As if that wasn't excitement enough, on another festival day a mountain thunderstorm descended with hurricane-force winds. By the time the blow was over, camping and performance tents were scattered and destroyed, the entire area was drenched, and nearly every portable restroom was knocked over. The practical people running the event organized crews, called the restroom vendor, and went about setting everything right.

The festival proceeded with minimal interruption from the storm: the radios not only made recovery possible, but made getting back on track effective and timely. It's a good thing we had plenty of radios and volunteers to coordinate the activities. We got updated information to performers and attendees, and responded to issues requiring executive decisions or medical assistance as quickly as possible.

In addition to keeping the festival going, ensuring everyone's health and safety, and streamlining decision processes, using radio gave the festival a professional appearance with a large contingent of lightly trained volunteers. Event attendees could enjoy their week of mountain music and head home feeling that the organizers had great acts on stage and a team they could trust behind the scenes. Our teamwork contributed to a solid event reputation and growing attendance numbers year to year.

In a remote area where cell phone users had to find a good spot to get a connection, 2 way radios were the perfect solution for making festival volunteers efficient and effective. Bad luck and bad weather was no match for a dedicated crew that could work together over the airwaves. For the lonely overnight watchman role, the radio was a reassurance that he wasn't alone watching over the festival fans under the starry mountain sky.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Radio spectrum allocated for global flight tracking

This very simple, very easily executable solution to a problem that is growing. The Frequencies are already allocated to the airline industry and a simple piece of equipment (non expensive) can be installed. You can find the full article here.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has allocated radio spectrum for global flight tracking for passenger aircraft using satellite-based systems.

The move follows developments spurred by the so far unexplained disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in March last year, which prompted the aviation community to look into possibilities of constant monitoring of passenger planes in flight.

The frequency band of 1087.7-1092.3MHz has been allocated, which is already being used for data transmissions between planes and terrestrial stations that are within the line of sight.

Extending the system to cover also communications between planes and satellites and satellites and terrestrial stations will enable creating a complex system capable of tracking passenger planes throughout the flight even over oceans and remote areas.

The ITU agreed on the allocation at its 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference following a call by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

Performance criteria for satellite reception of the signals will be established by ICAO.

“In reaching this agreement at WRC-15, ITU has responded in record time to the expectations of the global community on the major issue concerning global flight tracking,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao. “ITU will continue to make every effort to improve flight tracking for civil aviation.”

ITU has been working on standards to facilitate the transmission of flight data in real time since early after the MH370 disaster.

Already in April 2014, less than a month after the aircraft’s disappearance, Malaysian Minister for Communications and Multimedia called upon ITU to address the issue.

“The allocation of frequencies for reception of ADS-B signals from aircraft by space stations will enable real-time tracking of aircraft anywhere in the world,” said François Rancy, Director of the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau. “We will continue to work with ICAO and other international organizations to enhance safety in the skies.”

In October 2014, the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference meeting in Busan, Republic of Korea, instructed WRC-15 to consider global flight tracking in its agenda.

 

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Guide To Which Motorola Connector You Need

Since the 1920’s Motorola has been leading the advancement of radio technology in more ways than one. From the battery eliminator created in 1928 to the world’s first handheld public safety LTE device created in 2012, Motorola truly has been an innovator in the radio world.

There was one of Motorola’s products that stood out and started paving the way for the Motorola brand name. That was their two-way radio systems. In 1978 Motorola introduced the RDX1000. This device was a portable data terminal. With a built-in keyboard and advanced transmitters, The RDX1000 made it possible for a person to share information, like inventory control, wirelessly with a central computer system. It is because of advancements and products like the RDX1000 that Motorola was awarded the National Medal of Technology twice.

Yet, even with being the one of the leading technological companies they still had their issues. For example, the connectors used for their devices, usually, were confusing and weren’t universal like most of our tech is today. Yes, with being in the lead of the industry with innovative products they needed new forms of connectors and pieces that couldn’t exactly be matched by other companies. To be more specific, the connectors to the Motorola earpieces came with their own specific confusions.

Over the course of the years, Motorola devices have had over 50 different types of earpiece connectors. Motorola earpieces are specific to their devices so the pieces chosen had to be precisely specific to the device it was being matched with. You can imagine, with over 50 different types of connectors, finding the correct corresponding puzzle piece that would fit was imperative. The confusion wasn’t just limited to a small portion of the Motorola accessories. Motorola earpieces were different by model of the same device as well. With the earpieces you can’t exactly go by looks either. Most of the earpieces look very similar with very subtle difference.

Even though some had connectors with very similar differences. Differences ranging from appearance and size of the connector to the type of material used in the pin of the connector itself. This confusion also spans over several different years of manufacturing as well. With connectors from earlier years being a small series of pins in lateral form that would only connect to the proper outlet with the proper series of pins. Or like the single pin connector that would only be in a specific size per model, you wouldn’t exactly be able to take a Kenwood connector and confuse it with a Motorola 2-pin connector because on these connectors the pins are of a different size to the Kenwood. Some specific connectors can be understood considering the advancing of the technology as well as the device it connects to has some significance.



The importance of the device does have some control over the type of connector used as well. Because you don’t want to issue and offer a radio and have to worry about it getting lost or stolen and being used for an inappropriate purpose. But, you would expect a device in the same model family to be able to connect or at least the connectors to be somewhat interchangeable. This isn’t the case with Motorola radios. For example, The DP2400 two way radio takes a Clip on block style of connector. While the DP3400 responder radio has to have a Screw in Block  connector in order for the product to be used properly. Even though the station and responder radio are two different products, they share similarities and commonalities. Also you would expect them to share the same connector.

Unfortunately this is the case with many of the Motorola earpieces .

Monday, February 8, 2016

Can you hear radio broadcasts through your teeth?

Do you mean me specifically? If so, then the answer is ‘no’ I’m afraid. I must also say that given the state of pop music these days, I’m actually very glad of it!

So...Awkward question time: are you hearing radio broadcasts through your teeth mate?

Lol. Just kidding.

Whilst it sounds like utter nonsense, there have actually been quite a few reported cases of people ‘picking up’ radio broadcasts through their fillings/dental caps over the years.

Our oft-quoted friend Cecil Adams, of The Straight Dope.com, actually answered this question back in 1992. In his answer, Adams highlighted two particularly interesting case studies. I’ll reprint them here, along with a link to the site in question.

Case #1. George, of suburban Chicago, lost a front tooth at the age of 12. A year or so later, in about 1961, he was fitted with a cap that was attached to the tooth stump with what George recalls as a brass wire. Thereafter he began hearing music in his head, generally popular tunes of the day, usually while he was outdoors. The music was soft but distinct. He never heard an announcer's voice or commercials and was unable to identify what radio station, if any, he was hearing. After a year or two of this a new dentist put in a cap without a wire and the tunes stopped.

Case #2. Lois, also of suburban Chicago, says it happened just once, in 1947, while she was riding a train from her home in Cleveland to college in Rhode Island at about age 18. The experience lasted maybe 10 minutes. She couldn't tell what station she was listening to but recalls hearing commercials and an announcer's voice. She has silver tooth fillings but doesn't recall if she'd had one put in just before the event.

Actress Lucille Ball even claimed to have helped the allies by intercepting radio signals in this, frankly rather bizarre, way. This story is widely re-told and was even used as part of the plot of the musical ‘Something For The Boys’.

Adams goes on to mention a piece on Snopes.com about the incident, which appears to feature the testimony of the actress herself, who says,

“One night I came into the valley over Coldwater Canyon, and I heard music. I reached down to turn the radio off, and it wasn’t on. The music kept getting louder and louder and then I realized it was coming from my mouth. My mouth was humming and thumping with the drumbeat and I thought I was losing my mind”

According to the Snopes account, after she related this strange story to Buster Keaton, he told her that it had happened to a friend of his.

If you’re interested, here’s Lucille’s account of ‘catching’ the Japanese spies, which allegedly transpired about a week later.

“All of a sudden, my mouth started jumping. It wasn’t music this time, it was Morse code. It started softly and then DE-DE-DE-DE DE-DE-DE-DE! As soon as it started fading, I stopped the car and then started backing up until it was coming in at full strength. DE-DE-DE-DE DE-DE-DE-DE! I tell you, I got the hell out of there real quick. The next day, I told the MGM security office about it, and they called the FBI or something and sure enough, they found an underground Japanese radio station. It was somebody’s gardener, but sure enough, they were spies”

As entertaining as Lucille’s story is, Snopes could find no record of the event, which surely would have been heavily featured in the local, if not the national, news. A cover-up to prevent mass panic? Personally, I don’t think so, as Snopes goes on to mention a Japanese submarine being spotted off the coast of Santa Barbara on February 23rd 1942, which was obviously an extensively covered event.

A discussion on Skeptics Stack Exchange.com uncovers another major flaw in this story (and all others like it). The users suggest (rightly) that any radio signal must first be demodulated in order to make any sense at all. As far as I know, dental fillings have no demodulation circuits.

So, is it possible or not?

Probably not. A demodulation circuit is not and has never been a part of a dental filling’s mix-up.

There is some compelling ‘evidence’ out there, as well as a couple of cases that have been looked into somewhat scientifically and featured in various respected journals, but then again, according to certain statistics, 3.7 million Americans have been abducted by aliens. That alarming statistic, in and of itself, ought to be enough to make you skeptical of anything.

Thursday, February 4, 2016

How to Hide a Radio Earpiece

A 2 way radio earpiece is an accessory which can receive and transmit unlike the broadcast receivers which only receive content. 2 way radio earpieces allow the user to engage in conversations with other such radio earpieces that are operating on a similar radio frequency. 2 way radios are readily available in hand held, mobile and stationary base configurations. The hand held radios are usually known as walkie talkies or handie-talkies.

2 way radio systems normally operate in 1/2 duplex mode; this basically means that the user can listen or talk, but cannot do both at a go. A PTT (also known as press to transmit) button usually activates the radio's transmitter. When the button is released, its' receiver becomes active. For 2 way radio earpieces, a push to talk button is included on a wire that runs up the arm of the user, with an acoustic tube up to the ear.

There are 2 wires which run independently from the 2 way radio; one ends at the PTT and mic, while the other ends at the radio's earpiece. The 2 wire kits are worn under the clothing, running one cable from the 2 way radio, up to your ear. The other cable runs from the 2 way radio, up your back and down your sleeve to the cuffs of your long sleeved shirt or clipped by a lapel on the front of your shirt. 3 wire kits separate the Mic and PTT with one cable running down the arm, connected to the PTT, another connected to the mic, with normally includes a microphone which is clipped to the jacket or shirt and the third has the acoustic tube to go into the ear.

How to Hide a Radio Earpiece



You can run the wires underneath the shirt; hiding the wires from the 2 way radio to the earpiece underneath your clothing, offering more discreetness. If you aren't too concerned with discreetness, you can leave the wires outside of your clothing. The radio will work either way. Here are the steps on how to hide a radio earpiece;

Take the wires of the radio earpiece and run them inside your shirt. Now take the wires out from your shirt's top; this way the wires will be well hidden. Take your earpiece and then put it in one ear. Ensure, the earpiece fits tightly and wont fall when walking, you can put the earpiece in either ear.

Once you're comfortable with your earpiece, it is now time to fit the wires that go into the radio. Take the wire that connects the earpiece and the radio, and fit it inside the shirt. Take this wire out from your shirt's bottom. Put it in your radio, and then clip the radio properly on your belt. Once all the wires are properly fitted inside your shirt, you can now tuck in the shirt to hide them completely.

Once everything is properly fitted, switch on your 2 way radio and test it. Now, you can use your 2 way radio earpiece covertly

The real benefit of using a hidden radio earpiece, is that other people will not notice when you're talking on your earpiece, remember to never share radio earpieces; this is for health and sanitary purposes. You can also buy radio earpieces, along with your own personal ear tips and clear coils.