RF Gear 2 Go

Many folks new to radio (and some old-timers as well) generally believe that anything a manufacturer produces that’s “newer” is nearly always “better”, so many radio marketing departments go out of their way to make their marketing match or exceed customer expectations (and take advantage of customer’s not knowing what’s accurate information).

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Within the radio communications world, a lot of marketing noise is being made regarding DMR (digital mobile radio) without most folks ever realizing the various hidden issues regarding DMR choices.  There are many places to go on the internet to get technical information regarding radio technology choices, but this paper will attempt to provide an overview of the pros and cons of DMR vs. LMR (land mobile radio) technology - without getting bogged down into the various technical differences between the two formats.

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Anyone considering DMR has probably assumed that any newer DMR radio will automatically have the features of that manufacturer's older LMR radios (many manufacturer’s marketing departments count on this basic mistaken customer assumption).  Unfortunately, many of the DMR radios currently on the market do not have the features of that manufacturer's previous analog LMR radios.

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For example, most DMR radios (handheld or mobile) only ship with one radio band included (VHF or UHF), but not both.  Yes, you can get dual-band DMR radios, but they are NOT the ones you generally see at attractive pricing on the internet (various lower cost TYT, Tytera, and Hytera models come to mind).  If you plan on using both VHF and UHF communications, you’ll need to either shell out additional money for a second single band DMR radio (and carry that second radio on your belt), or spend the extra money for a higher priced dual-band DMR radio.

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Another big problem (within the DMR market) is the lack of common digital standards.  Again, we’re not going to debate the various pros and cons of the various digital modes available (like P.25, MotoTrbo Tier I/II, NXDN, IDAS, C4FM, or D-Star).  The important thing for you to realize is that these competing digital modes are not normally compatible with each other!   

As an example, think Beta vs. VHS, or (if you are younger) Blue-Ray vs. HD DVD.  In both cases, the technically higher quality products (Beta tape and HD DVD) both lost out in the consumer marketplace.  Until the various digital radio manufacturers either establish a common DMR standard (or a way for each digital radio to talk to another digital radio using a different DMR format easily and at low cost), you may spend your hard-earned money only to find out a few years from now you picked the wrong horse in the hotly contested digital radio race.

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So “if” you get a TYT MD-380 MotoTrbo Tier II radio and your buddy is using his Icom’s D-Star radio just a mile down the road (or even an older MotoTrbo Tier I radio), you can’t talk to one another using your “digital” simplex radio mode. 

“If” both radios have an analog option (not all DMR radios do), and “if” both operators understand why they can’t work (hear) each other (and switch their radios to analog mode), and “if” both radios have the same frequency range, and “if” both radios are easily field programmable, they’ll be able to communicate, but only once both operators switch to analog mode.

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“If” you can accept giving up the entire VHF band (to get one of the cheaper single band only UHF DMR radios), another big issue is less range (distance) using DMR radios.  Most DMR users (under actual field conditions, not marketing lab test results under perfect conditions) report digital transmissions are up to ½ less range than their LMR analog counterparts (on the same frequency with the same power level and antenna type).   DMR radios are just like your HD television, you’re either completely within range (with a great picture) or you’re not getting a picture at all (there’s no in-between signal). 

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TV manufacturers get around this problem by getting TV users to subscribe to cable or DirecTV.  DMR radio manufacturers get around this problem in much the same manner (by selling you more DMR repeaters with their proprietary protocols to extend your range).

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Government agencies can easily overcome this loss of DMR distance by simply taking our tax dollars and installing more DMR repeaters, but for most end user’s, unlimited radio budgets are not an option, and many amateur radio operators that first dive into DMR for the new “wow” factor end up admitting that DMR simplex range is far less (up to ½ vs. their previous analog radios), plus there are far fewer DMR repeaters available to fill in the large coverage gaps.

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In my home state of Arizona, for example, there are only 18 open DMR ham radio repeaters in the entire state as of this writing, and of those, 10 of the 18 are in the local Phoenix or Tucson areas (leaving very little DMR ham radio repeater coverage for the remainder of the state).  Compare that to over 325 analog ham radio repeaters in Arizona  and you begin to see the challenge of using DMR (to get the same coverage area) vs. analog LMR.  Even our Arizona state police still use analog LMR UHF radios and repeaters for their statewide coverage needs (at least for now).

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Another common mistake is thinking that all DMR radio users are on the same

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