Analogue radio devices that can be used without registration help a lot to better coordinate in groups working together on crafts. But especially in places where it often gets louder, digital radio devices can filter speech, thereby transmitting it more understandably and offering greater range due to their high reception sensitivity.
The price difference between analog and digital radio devices in the 446 MHz band (PMR446) is rather small today – at least in the entry-level and middle classes. As soon as the first attempt with inexpensive devices in everyday work shows that voice radio offers added value, it is worth taking a look at the less expensive digital radio devices.
- Digital radio in the 446 MHz band offers better voice quality and greater range than analog PMR446 devices.
- Color codes, time slots and talk group IDs are crucial for mutual communication between different DMR radio devices.
- Encryption does not always work between devices from different manufacturers.
Following on from the article on configuring the analog parameters, on the following three pages we explain how you can configure license-free digital radio devices from different manufacturers so that you can hear each other. As examples, we take the Midland D10 (165 euros/device) and the Retevis P64 (55 euros/pair) as before; Both are DMR devices (Digital Mobile Radio) that can also transmit analogue signals. However, DMR and dPMR (Digital Private Mobile Radio) devices are not interoperable in digital mode.
That was the excerpt from our heise-Plus article “Radio in construction: programming PMR446 digital radio devices”. With a heise Plus subscription you can read the entire article.
