Hi Everyone,
I need help with two way radio communications because I’m a bit lost here. I’m a IT tech working in a windows and doors factory and I’m pretty good at what I do but I don’t know much about walkie-talkies.
A quick summary of the situation: a while ago, my department head bought at Costco about 40x Midland X-Talker T61a walkie-talkies that were on rebate. He knows even less about two-way communication than I do and consulted no one before buying them. He saw that they can go up to 32 miles in range, the price tag and bought them.
They work great indoors between the production managers because the range always stay short. No problem with them.
On the other hand, the forklift drivers and the workers that are present in the satellite buildings around the main plant need to work outside and sometimes need to go to the edge of the 2-3 million sq. ft. property. They all have to talk to various employees and managers that are all sitting or moving in the main building but the signal constantly breaks even if the walkie-talkies are broadcasting at their highest power setting.
I did some research and I submitted my ideas on how to correct the problem. All were rejected because of the price tag involved EXCEPT installing a repeater or something like that because the company doesn’t want to invest in expensive W-Ts that can be dropped on the ground or crushed by the forklifts (yes a lot of the employees are a bit rough with them). Powerful W-Ts that are bolted on the forklifts are also out of the question because they need to stay on the employees belt.
Going back to the repeater, what we will need it to do:
- installed outside on the roof or inside the main plant if powerful enough
- relay signal from outside to inside the main plant and vice-versa
- work with multiple UHF signals ranging from 462.5875 to 462.7250
- be able to broadcast a clear signal on a 2-3 million sq.ft. property with many obstacles in the way
- easy to program by a tech that has very little knowledge about W-Ts
- easily accessible to buy (Amazon, BestBuy, etc)
Specialists and experts, what are your recommendations? What repeater model could I use or what other means could I use to correct this problem without spending a huge amount of money?
Thanks in advance! Cheers.