Motorola DTR550 Portable Digital Radio

• Allows users to access up to 20 public and 10 private groups
• Allows other DTR radios on same group ID and channel to communicate
• Transmits
• Meets military 810 C, D, E, and F specifications for shock, vibration, water, dust and temperature extremes.
• Stores recent call list up to last 10 transmissions.

I bought four of these radios after trying many others including the similar TriSquare brand. I faced many problems with the other radios including range, battery life, privacy, interfearence, voice quality and build quality. The only problems I've had with the DTR's is price and a slight delay from transmission to receive. I assume this delay is due to the digital encoding and decoding the unit has to do.

The range The range is much more than I need, the extended antennas improve it's capabilities even more. While running an event in a radio dense area of Walt Disney World I was able to effortlessly use them from the main level of the Dolphin hotel to the front gate of the theme park over 1.5 miles away, I was using the extended antenna.

The battery life With standard two-way radios I had 4 to 5 hours of heavy use before I had to change. With these I'm easily able to reach 7 and even passed 9 with the extended battery.

Privacy I'm finishing a computer science degree at UW Madison so the first thing I tried doing was to intercept the signal and see how easily I could listen in, something I can do effortlessly with standard radios. These radios not only use frequency hopping (FHSS) but have a digital encoded signal which makes it very hard to decode in real time. I was able to listen into the Trisquares without much effort because while they use FHSS, they don't digitally encode the signal. Please note this is not encryption and anything is always possible.

Interfearence I haven't experienced any interference with these radios, most likely because they operate on a different frequency than most other radios.

Voice quality Its many steps above a standard radio because it's digital but not quite the quality of a phone call. The great thing is NO STATIC since its digital.

Build Quality military spec....enough said.

Other great features I love that I am notified if the radio I'm try to reach is out of range or turned off. Also the ability to call a single radio works nicely when I need a private conversation. Takes 30 minutes for a full charge. Has an attachable keyboard for easy program. Holder that doesn't feel like a toy. Docking station for desk.

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Our team is fascinated by the reach and clarity of the transmission for these radios. The reach is more than the rated distance and floors by motorola. In open field with rolling hills we have achieved almost a 2 mile reach, with clear communication.

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The merchandise received was very good quaity, however the merchandise received was not exactly what I ordered. I ordered 2 of the same item and they were not identical in terms of features. One had the vibration mode and a long antenna and the other had a short antenna with no vibration mode.