Hey Hey
so i am a complete newb when it comes to two way radios…
we are planning a road trip with 7 cars and half of them have DTR550 radios and rest of us have regular amazon Motorola radios …
can they work on the same channel?
When you say “regular” Motorola radios, I suppose you mean consumer Talkabout FRS/GMRS radios. In any case, the answer is no. The Motorola DTR550 is a 900MHz digital radio. These will only talk to other DTR series radios, such as the DTR410, DTR550 and DTR 650 models.
The Motorola FRS/GMRS radios will communicate with any other make and model FRS/GMRS radio.
If you are new to two way radios, our podcast is a good starting point for learning more about them. The very first episode of The Two Way Radio Show podcast is an introduction to the basics of consumer two way radios.
TWRS-01 - An Introduction to Consumer Radios
Also, our Radio 101 video series provides short tutorials on introductory topics related to two way radios in general.
Just to add to what Rick said, the Motorola DTR radios can only talk to other Motorola DTR or Motorola DLR radios.
They all communicate using a frequency-hopping, spread-spectrum algorithm and there are some fairly well documented differences between the DTR series and DLR series. This forum has probably the best info of anyone on the net.
The DLR radios are more compact than the DTR radios, but do not mistake their smaller size for lower performance. Both the DTR and DLR radios are very high quality, military-grade business radios that will easily last for many years.
If you think they are expensive, keep in mind that they are about the only licence-free business-class radios on the market that are completely secure from interference and immune from eavesdropping. Unlike FRS radios where you share the same frequencies with every kid and drive-through burger joint in a 2-mile radius, you have choices of hundreds (and even thousands in the DLR) channels and my back-to-back tests show they have about the greatest range of any handheld two-way VHF or UHF radio on the market.
Trust me on this one … if you and the others in your group can afford the DLR1060 radio, they will NEVER go back to an FRS radio again.
If you have any specific questions about the DTR/DLR radios, the folks at buytwowayradios know more about them than almost any other dealer, and this forum is a great source of information about them. Unless you really need to communicate with others using consumer-grade FRS or GMRS radios, the DTR/DLR radios will give you almost unprecedented range and quality of transmission.