On Wednesday, August 6, 2003, at 05:44 PM, Chris Johnson wrote:
Here is a link to MnDoT's web page about this radio system:
http://www.dot.state.mn.us/oec/metro/metrofactsheet.html
Thanks for the link- the site is by itself a scathing inditement of this pentagon class fleecing of the taxpayers. Right up front MNDOT admits that this system cost $60,000,000 before the first radio was bought. Of course, with the only two suppliers in the market bidding together what do you expect. Then $1500 and up for even a handheld "walkie-talkie" type radio that has little more capabilities than a cheap cellphone.
The MNDOT site fails to ask more important questions like "if this technology is so great, why aren't the business and amateur radio users buying it? Well, the taxi company, wrecker service, public utility, or whatever isn't about to spend thousands of dollars more for radios that will have less range, poorer audio quality, and less reliability than conventional systems. We amateur radio operators are given the freedom to experiment with a plephoria of modes and frequencies. We have tried digital voice communication and found little advantage. And while Minneapolis Police are moving to the 800 megahertz band with it's poorer range, amateur radio operators are sticking with the better signal propagation found in the VHF and UHF frequency ranges that MPD is abandoning.
Business users, amateur radio operators, and outstate governments are sticking with proven FM VHF and UHF technology because they want to communicate... Apparently Minneapolis Police have a different agenda.
ex-communicated in Hawthorne,
Dyna Sluyter
TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.)
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