How to migrate your analog two-way radios to DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) radios
Analog two-way radio systems are not a thing of the past yet. There are many businesses that still run their daily communications with analog portables, mobiles, and repeaters. But if your two-way radio equipment is old and becoming less reliable, maybe upgrading your system to Digital DMR products is a good option. The cost for Digital technology has decreased compared to when the technology was new. Nowadays, you can find quality digital two-way radio solutions at affordable prices. Not only prices are comparable to those of analog products, digital technology also offers many other advantages that will improve your communications.
Migrating from analog to digital can be easily done. It doesn’t require new frequencies. DMR was designed to fit into the existing 12.5kHz narrowband FM channel used by analog radio systems.
DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) radio is an open standard, not unique to one manufacturer, which means your two-way radio system can have components from different manufacturers of DMR products. This opens the radio market to competition, increasing the number of products available to users. For example, you could purchase a portable DMR radio from Hytera US, base stations from Tait Communications, and they would all be able to work with a Motorola or Kenwood DMR two-way radio repeater, as long as all the products are designed under DMR standards.
What can I do with a DMR radio?
DMR is based on TDMA technology, which offers the benefit of having two independent and simultaneous logical channels or timeslots in one single 12.5kHz physical channel. A DMR two-way repeater can be used by two different groups at the same time and keep each group conversation private. In analog systems, each group must have its own radio repeater to keep the conversation within the group.
Why are digital radios better than analog?
In general, DMR radios offer better audio quality. The analog signal gradually weakens and becomes harder to use with distance. The user experiences more and more crackles until the received audio is lost. The digital signal, due to components that isolate background noise, stays clear further through the coverage area.
DMR two-way radios increase range. Since the received audio stays clear through the coverage area, users of analog systems will notice when they switch to Digital that they are able to communicate from areas where they couldn’t do it before.
Digital radio users also benefit from longer battery life. The DMR radio system is based on two-slot TDMA technology; whenever a two-way digital radio user makes a call, only 1 of the 2 slots is used, requiring half of the transmitter’s capacity. This translates to an increase in battery life.
Furthermore, DMR technology allows for the development of data applications like text messaging, GPS, DMR radio encryption, and other business data services that help companies more efficiently run their daily operations.
DMR two-way radios also include voice services like Private Call, Caller ID, Priority Call and All Call.
Can DMR radios talk to analog radios?
DMR radios can be programmed in digital or analog mode. You can migrate part of your system to Digital and still be able to communicate with the other part until you are ready to replace the remaining analog equipment with Digital.
Check out our PRODUCTS page to see all DMR products we have available. If you need more information or would like to speak to one of our sales representatives, just call at 1-800-268-4098 or CONTACT us and let us know what you are looking for. Mention PROMO CODE: “DMR” to receive our latest discounts.