Eric is right on the money here, with a few additions / comments. 1) Your warranty does not include wear and tear or physical damage on the radios, externals speakers or microphones (the last two are for mobiles more than handhelds). I've heard horror stories about customers wanting free replacements for some of the weirdest reasons.
2) Make sure that the end-users understand that the rechargeable batteries have a finite life. People that have rarely used cell phones and charge them every third or fourth or even fifth day have some unreasonable expectations about handhelds. They need to understand that they have a finite life and a finite number of charge/recharge cycles. They also need to understand that they can't just toss them into the desktop chargers and ignore them for nine months, then pull them out and expect then to have full life. An acquaintance is the office manager at a convalescent hospital and they have four Moto XTN handhelds in desktop chargers. One is used by the handyman, a second by the receptionist, the other two have never left the chargers. The receptionist pulls the radio out of the charger, uses it for 10-30 seconds and puts it back in. I wonder just how much life those radios will have when they are really needed. They also need to that they need to budget for new batteries periodically. Depending on the usage profile of the individual radio it could be as soon as 18 months or as long as 3 years. 3) Make sure that you understand the users expectations. You may be talking to the administrator (who has one set of expectations), but the guys that are going to actually use the radios may have totally different expectations. For example, one local organization has a campus site that the maintenance people had expectations that they would be able to use the radios from the basements of one buildings to the basement of any other building. The radios system turned out to be a trunking system and the nearest site was 15 miles away. The expectations of that group of users were not met. A repeater that needs to cover a area with a radius of less than 1500 feet doesn't need much power - but two big questions need to be asked: What is the building construction type and Do any of the buildings have basements? It may need the power to penetrate more than to cover an area. You may chose to lower the antenna so that the taller buildings are in the pattern rather than below it. Locally we have a hospital with the rent-a-cop repeater on the top of the highest building. The radio system works great on the far side of town, but doesn't cover worth a damn on the campus. Several people have tried to years to get the administrator to move the 60 watt repeater from the top of the tower building to the top of the 2 story building at the center of the campus. Years ago I saw an interesting solution to fully penetrating a downtown high-rise office building... Radiax in a stairwell, with a ground plane antenna on the roof to terminate it. The coverage was enough to saturate the building and also extend for several blocks around so that the rent-a-cops could walk to the nearest bar and grill for lunch. So make sure that you understand what is a "wish list" and what is an ACTUAL requirement. Mike WA6ILQ At 09:24 AM 05/14/10, you wrote: >Although the 60 foot building is certainly tempting to use as the repeater >location, you should first ensure that there isn't a bunch of HVAC equipment >on the roof. The sheet-metal ducting and enclosures of rooftop HVAC >installations are often prolific sources of passive intermodulation >interference. Since radio equipment cannot be installed in an elevator >machine/control room, you should plan on putting the repeater in an area >where you have a cable pathway to the antenna that does not use the elevator >hoistway. > >You should be able to purchase a used GR1225 or similar UHF and narrow-band >capable repeater for less than $1,000. A new basic UHF antenna, mount, and >feedline might run around $600 or so. Simple four-channel UHF portable >radios, such as the Motorola CP200, will run you around $300 each, and the >programming software and cable will run another $500 or so. > >If I were to buy this system new, I would look at a Motorola CDR700 desktop >repeater, with two CDM750 radios inside, for about $2,800. The HVN9025 >programming software and RIBless cable will run another $400 or so. Simple, >four-channel radios in the Professional line, such as the HT750 with a NiMH >battery, will run around $400 each, and the RIBless programming cable costs >about $200. The advantage of using these Motorola radios is that the >repeater and the portables use exactly the same programming software. > >I urge you to NOT "mix and match" a bunch of used radios of various brands, >since they may not have compatible reverse-burst squelch-tail elimination >formats. If you buy your portables new, you have all fresh batteries of the >same part number, the same chargers, and a warranty. Once you start mixing >brands and models, the issue of programming software and cables becomes a >headache. > >Finally, once you have put together a list of materials for your entire >system, send that same list to every local radio shop and to big discount >suppliers such as Houston Communications and Ameradio. In your cover letter >to each potential vendor, ask each one to submit a single dollar figure to >deliver all items on the list to your door, with all taxes and shipping >charges included. No doubt, you will be astounded at the spread of the >quotes! Make it clear that the vendor is not to make any changes, >additions, or deletions. When I did this exercise several years ago for the >purchase of an MTR2000 repeater, the spread of quotes was nearly $2,000- >with the highest quote coming from one of the local shops. Caveat Emptor! > >73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com >[mailto:repeater-buil...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of rahwayflynn >Sent: Friday, May 14, 2010 4:48 AM >To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com >Subject: [Repeater-Builder] UHF System Budget Example > > > >I'm working with a relatively new non-profit that needs analog-only coverage >over their 26 acre campus. Site is pancake flat, no hills. > >Anyone have a finance spreadsheet with the costs associated with a >single-site UHF system build out? Even though much of the equipment will be >used, the board likely will want to see the what "new" would cost. > >Side note: they have an existing 60 foot tall building to house the >repeater, so the "tower" itself is covered. > >------------------------------------ > > > >Yahoo! Groups Links > > >
