2 Way Radios?

[Pierce151]

I don't want to come off as sounding "Whackerish", a year ago that was practically my nickname; hopefully(it seems to me) that I've matured past that point in my life.
Still, and sadly, have that dreaded helmet crecent with the title of "Jr" adorning it.
This is the heart of my question. I was talking with a Chief of a local company about 40 minles from where I live (Buddy of my uncles). We were talking about various pager options, other than the minitor series- Swissphone, Relm, etc.
I told him I was interested in getting my own pager, since our Dept. is running low, and I'm more than happy enough to dump my Minitor IV, for something I can call my own. He told me about the new RELM serious of portable radios/2 tone encoding pagers. It runs roughly the price of a Minitor V
http://www.pwservice.com/RELMRPV3600.htm
I'm just concerned, with regulations on juniors "owning" a 2 way, even if I'm only using as a pager, or 2-way during fireground operations. I always have a 2 way on me at a call, but thats a dept. owned radio. I'm afraid that I will be bombarded with criticism for owning a 2 way radio. I suppose I would use it as a 2-way (thus freeing one up on the truck), but really I want it as a pager.

Any ideas here?
Thanks a bunch
Sam D.

[nitsua98]

I bought a 2 way myself from a friend of mine, to use mainly as a scanner. They dont work out well as pagers. They are heavy, and bothersome to always be wearing on your pants. Mine usually stays in my room, or goes downstairs with me if im watching tv or something of that sort.

[Pierce151]

Did you check out how tiny the one I'm looking into is?

[nitsua98]

It may be small, but it really just seems like an unnecessary purchase to me, if you already have a pager. The minitor IV is a nice pager, i'd love if I could get one.

[Pierce151]

It may be small, but it really just seems like an unnecessary purchase to me, if you already have a pager. The minitor IV is a nice pager, i'd love if I could get one.

Not my IV, I've had it for a year now, and I got it used from an officer(Already in bad shape)... It's missing the belt clip, and the back housing is cracked in half, held together with packing tape. They don't have anything to give me other than what I've got, since heck, it still alerts!

[Res343cue]

It may be small, but it really just seems like an unnecessary purchase to me, if you already have a pager. The minitor IV is a nice pager, i'd love if I could get one.

Speaking from the viewpoint of working in a radio shop, the Minitor IV is a piece of trash. The design for the belt clip on them, as well as for the board itself is flimsy, and isn't worth the hassle. The size is nice, but the new Minitor V is a little bulkier for a reason...DURABILITY.

Sam, as many others can tell you, if you want a radio that's going to be a "REAL" radio, look at Kenwood and Motorola. Stay away from Icom, Yaesu, Relm, macom, etc. Sounds like a Motorola HT 750 would fit what you want it to do. I'd check around locally, because if you screw up the radio, do you really want to have to ship it across the country to get it fixed? Plus, it keeps your local radio shops in business. Radios are actually much better to use then a pager, in terms of reliability and sensitivity, but size can sometimes be an issue.

It seems like the Kenwood TK 280 / 380, or the TK 290 / 390 series would be about what you're looking for. You may want to consider the ( /\/\ ) HT 750 or HT 1250 also, but for the 1250 you'll have a bit more change to spend.

[Pierce151]

Excellent! Thankyou very much, I'll look into all of those and ask around price wise. Where do I find a local radio shop? I know of none around this part of NJ.

[Res343cue]

Excellent! Thankyou very much, I'll look into all of those and ask around price wise. Where do I find a local radio shop? I know of none around this part of NJ.

Ask your FD where they get their radios possibly?

[Pierce151]

All the above radio's you've listed all seem far to big for carrying with me 24/7. I was hoping to find something slightly smaller than what's in our rigs already.

[nmfire]

I know I've said this before but I can't say it any better. The words "RELM" and "FIRE SERVICE" do not go together. Relm doesn't make radios. They make toys.

May I recommend the Kenwood TK-3160 as a pager radio? It is compact, does tone alerting, and is actually a quality radio.

[Pierce151]

The 3160 looks pretty good, especially for the price. Do you of anywhere I can purchase it where they will program it as well?
What do you think about the TK-2170?

[nmfire]

Never held a 2170 but I've heard wonderful things about it. All their current line radios are excellent. Any dealer can program them for you.

[ffexpCP]

Look at a Radius CP200.

I know it's not designed to be a firefighting radio, but as a junior/explorer...

[StLRes2cue]

..........

[JuniorJJHENN]

all you need to do is buy a new case for your minitor IV from your local dealer or off of the net and they are simple to replace and are inexpensive plus your pager looks brand new when you put it on. Hope this helps.

Former junior capt.

[Pierce151]

all you need to do is buy a new case for your minitor IV from your local dealer or off of the net and they are simple to replace and are inexpensive plus your pager looks brand new when you put it on. Hope this helps.

Former junior capt.

Try 50.00-75.00 just for the back housing with belt clip...

[nmfire]

all you need to do is buy a new case for your minitor IV from your local dealer or off of the net and they are simple to replace and are inexpensive plus your pager looks brand new when you put it on. Hope this helps.

Former junior capt.

And this accomplishes what?

[Res343cue]

all you need to do is buy a new case for your minitor IV from your local dealer or off of the net and they are simple to replace and are inexpensive plus your pager looks brand new when you put it on. Hope this helps.

Former junior capt.

Sorry, but re-casing the pager will accomplish NOTHING. The case is half of the problem. The design of the board that all the "goodies" is on, is the other half. The Minitor IV has no "real" fix to the issues presented above. Want to know Motorola's fix on it? Take the old pager and throw it in the trash, then send you a new one!

This isn't a problem fixed by adding a new case. You need a whole 'nother pager, unless you want to buy just the "guts" for that price.

[GTRider245]

I have a Kenwood 272...and I love it. Not so big where it weighs you dow, just fits in your hand. Works great as a scanner too.