I’m Looking To Buy A Professional Two Way Radio, The RCA br950. I Work In Entertainment And Want My Own Radio. The Ones Handed Out Suck.
My Question Is Can I Scan For The Frequencies So I Can Communicate. Im Always In Different Cities. Would Like To Know So I Don’t Waste My Money.
To better understand the situation, what specifically will you be using the radio to do? Will you be indoors or outdoors? What radios were handed out to you?
From what I’ve heard, RCA doesn’t actually manufacture their own radios. My understanding is that they license their name to a company that imports cheap radios from China and brands them “RCA”. For this reason, I really do not recommend two way radios with the RCA label on them.
A better choice would be the Vertex Standard 450 Series, such as the VX-451 and VX-459. These are heavy duty radios built to MIL-STD 810 specifications and are IP57 water resistant.
These radios also feature loud, clear audio. You can hear audio samples of them on the pages in the links above.
As far as scanning for frequencies, that’s another topic altogether. I don’t want to make assumptions here, so before anyone answers the question, can you be more specific about how you plan to use the radio, i.e. can you clarify what frequencies you want to scan for and for what purpose?
Thank you for your reply.
I do stage rigging so I need a durable radio. The frequencies I’ll be scanning are business frequencies. Also need a radio to be field programmable. I have a frequency scanner.
I’ve been researching and can’t find programming software or cable for RCA br950.
The two radios you mentioned, are they capable of doing what I need?
To answer your question yes, the Vertex models Rick mentioned do have programming cables and CPS software available for programming. However you may pay a premium to get the programming software.
As far as the scanning goes that is a bit more complex. What you can’t see behind the lines is that typically commercial grade radios apply a tone that sits on the frequency to help prevent interference. While your frequency scanner can give you the correct frequency figuring out that tone would be a guessing game.
An easier solution would be to get a hold of the programming information from the individual sites (as I am guessing they will allow you to have access to the system if they were going to give you a radio anyway). That way all you would have to do is input the frequencies and tones into the radio prior to use and avoid having to play the guessing game.
Finally the scanning issue brings up one more thing to consider… Business radios can span different frequency ranges (UHF, VHF, and 900Mhz for example). Typically business radios operate in one of those bands… not all three. So if you bought a UHF for location A but location B uses VHF then you would be out of luck.
To avoid this you can always do some research and find out who uses what prior to purchase. Just something to consider!