Dan Blasberg wrote: > On May 9, 2008, at 1:55 PM, Ron Wright wrote: > >> D-Star rigs are expensive as Ham Radio rigs, but how expensive is >> P25 radios??? >> > Depends on the manufacturer and if you want new or used. Used P25 > radios can be had for as little as $250 (you still need a programming > kit for some) and as high as $2500+ for a new handheld or mobile. > >> Can one add a P25 controller to a typical FM repeater or is it like >> Icom and one must ICOM for all. >> > No, P25 decoder is built into the radio itself, much like the ICOM > radios. And no one has come out with a "dongle" for P25 probably due > to the expense of the codec from DVSI for IMBE. That may change for > phase 2 P25 which will be using an AMBE codec from DVSI. The question > is, is it the same AMBE codec used for D-Star and if so, can someone > write the firmware into a dongle to add both P25 and D-Star to the > same radio. If that were to happen that would be pretty kick.
Well, actually there is one I know now, and others are working on it. Raytheon/JPS has a box that can be added to a system to make an existing analog repeater P25. One unit handles 4 repeaters, so it's really more designed for a trunked system. And it's not cheap-list I think is around $10K or so. But remember-that is essentially *four* controllers in one 1RU cabinet.
