System planning
How many radios, mobiles and repeaters a described site needs.
Site coverage
DR3000: what a repeater changes that a radio cannot
A repeater is not a bigger radio. It changes the licence, the antenna system and where the equipment can sit — and the record states indoor rack equipment, not a portable.
When coverage disappoints, the first instinct is a repeater. Sometimes that is right. But a repeater does not work like a larger radio: it receives on one frequency and transmits on another, at a fixed position, through an antenna system that has to be installed, on a licence that has to cover both frequencies. The unit is the smallest part of the change.
What this note does not do
This note explains how the decision is made. It does not quote a coverage figure for your site, because the site does not hold one it can evidence. Anything shown as unconfirmed on the catalogue pages is unconfirmed here too.
Confirm the position with your regulator, your site authority or your freight forwarder before you commit to an order.What the record says
| Identifier | Frequency band | Channel capacity | Ingress protection |
|---|---|---|---|
| DR3000 | VHF/UHF; Analog + DMR TDMA | 16 | Indoor rack equipment: no portable IP rating |
Read from the catalogue at build time. A field the source document does not confirm is shown as unconfirmed rather than omitted.
Two parts of that line are easy to misread. The channel figure counts conventional channels, not talk groups and not simultaneous conversations — system capacity is a separate question. And the ingress field states indoor rack equipment with no portable rating, which is not a gap in the record: a rack unit is not carried, dropped or hosed down, so a portable rating would describe a test it was never put through.
What changes when a repeater is added
Five things, none of them the radio
- The licence. A repeater transmits and receives on different frequencies, and both have to be held, not just the one the handsets use.
- The antenna system. A fixed antenna, its feeder and its mounting are installation work, not an accessory in the box.
- The position. Coverage comes from height and line of sight far more than from output power, so a good position in a poor building can beat a better unit in a cupboard.
- The power. A rack position needs a supply that stays on, which usually means more than a wall socket in an office.
- The talk path. Handsets have to be programmed to use the repeater, which is a channel-plan change across the whole fleet, not only the base.
When a site does not need one
If the site is one building with a handful of users and the dead spots are corners rather than zones, a repeater is usually the expensive answer. Moving the working position, adding a unit at the far end, or accepting that a stairwell is a stairwell all cost less than a licensed base station and an antenna installation. The honest test is whether the coverage problem has a shape: a repeater fixes a boundary, and it fixes a weak spot only when that weak spot is at the boundary rather than inside it.
Where the site genuinely needs one — several buildings, a yard with vehicles, a floor plate with a shielded core — the planning question stops being which repeater and becomes how many, and that is a question about the site rather than the catalogue. Describing the site is more useful than choosing a model first.
Questions this note answers
No. It receives and transmits on different frequencies from a fixed position through an installed antenna, so it changes the licence, the installation and the channel plan as well as the coverage.
It counts conventional channels, which is not the same measure as system capacity. Simultaneous use depends on the system configuration, and the record states that explicitly rather than implying a number.
Because the record classifies it as indoor rack equipment. A portable ingress rating would describe tests the unit is not specified against, so the field states the classification instead of quoting a figure.
Yes, but the fleet has to be reprogrammed to use it, so the channel plan should leave room for that from the start rather than treat the repeater as a later accessory.
Other notes written against the same decision — Selection basics.
- GP338 and GP340: what 128 channels buys over 16
Two analog portables that look alike on a quote, recorded at 128 channels and 16. The channel plan decides which one a site needs, not the price.
- DP2400 or DP2400e — the letter changes the build
The e is not a revision of the same radio. One record holds 16 channels at IP55, the other 64 at IP67 — a build decision that a price comparison hides.
- Analog or digital DMR — which does a new fleet actually need?
Digital is not simply the newer analog. It changes what the radio can be asked to do — and it changes what happens when part of your fleet stays analog.
- Is this part number the right battery for this handset?
A battery part number is easy to quote and easy to get wrong: it looks like a commodity item, but it carries a chemistry and a voltage that have to match the handset. The fit list is the check — provided you read it for what it actually is.
Where to go from here
Selection FAQ
The questions that decide an order before a price is requested.
Identifiers named in this note
Buyer notes are written from the catalogue and the published reference pages. They carry no parameter the site cannot evidence, and an unconfirmed value stays unconfirmed here too. BaltiGo is a trading and distribution company supplying Motorola two-way radio hardware into markets worldwide, and does not claim to be a Motorola authorised dealer or official distributor.
Enquiry
Send the configuration, not just the model name
Band, destination and quantity decide whether a quotation is usable in one round or three. Compose the brief and it carries all three.