Handheld radios
Every handset in the catalogue, with the recorded parameters.
Selection basics
Handheld or vehicle-mounted: which one the job asks for
Most fleets need both, and the ratio is set by counting posts rather than people. Three things change with the form factor: where the antenna sits, what powers the radio, and who signs it out.
Buyers arrive with a model number already in mind. The decision that settles more, earlier, is whether the radio is carried or installed: it changes where the antenna sits, what supplies the power, and whether the radio is still in the conversation once the operator walks away.
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.How to use this note
- Split the shift into standing posts and driving posts. That split sets the ratio; the budget does not.
- Count the people who leave the vehicle during a shift. Those are handheld posts even if the same person also drives.
- Settle where an antenna can be mounted before settling a model, because a mounted antenna is a site decision rather than a radio decision.
The two questions that decide it
The first question is whether the person is in the vehicle for the length of the conversation. A driver who talks while driving is a vehicle post. A guard who patrols on foot and returns between rounds is a handheld post that happens to have a vehicle.
The second is who owns the radio at the end of a shift. A mounted unit is signed out with the keys and stays behind when the driver changes. A handheld goes with the person. That decides the quantity: three shifts of mounted units need one per vehicle, not one per operator.
What the records hold
| Identifier | Frequency band | Channel capacity | Ingress protection |
|---|---|---|---|
| DP1400 | VHF/UHF; Analog + DMR | 16 | IP54 |
| DP4801e | VHF 136-174; UHF 403-527; 800 MHz on selected models; Analog + DMR | 1000 | IP68 |
| DM3601 | VHF 136-174; UHF 403-470/450-527 MHz; Analog + DMR | 1000 | IP54 |
| DM4600 | VHF 136-174; UHF 403-470/450-527; 300 MHz on selected models; Analog + DMR | 1000 | IP54 (mobile radio body) |
Read from the catalogue at build time. A field the source document does not confirm is shown as unconfirmed rather than omitted.
Read the ingress figure per identifier, not per family. Of the four above, one records IP68 and three record IP54. The difference is a statement about where the unit is expected to live, not a marketing tier.
Where a handheld stops being the right answer
A handheld carries everything it needs: its own battery, an antenna the length of the unit, a speaker small enough for a belt. All three are compromises forced by being carried. The antenna sits at belt height, beside a metal body rather than above it.
The pack is the other limit. How much of a shift is spent transmitting decides whether one pack is enough. That is a battery question before it is a radio question.
Where a mounted unit is the wrong answer
A mounted unit stops being a radio the moment the operator leaves the cab. In a yard, a tunnel or a stairwell it is a fixed point the shift walks away from. If most of the shift is on foot, the fault is in the selection rather than the installation.
The awkward case is the mixed post: a supervisor who drives between buildings and walks through each. Neither form factor covers the whole shift, so that post usually carries a handheld while the vehicle carries a mounted unit for the driving legs.
The split, side by side
| Field | Handheld | Vehicle-mounted |
|---|---|---|
| Carried by | the person | the vehicle |
| Powered by | its own pack | the vehicle supply |
| Antenna | on the unit | installed on the vehicle, fed by cable |
| Available on foot | yes | no |
| Replaced when staff change | the unit is reissued | nothing changes |
| Fails when | the pack is flat | the vehicle is switched off or away |
Mixed fleets: what to settle first
A mixed fleet is not two fleets, provided one decision is taken early: both form factors are programmed to the same channel plan. The plan decides who hears whom. Two units of the same model on different plans behave as two radios, not one.
Installation is the second. A mounted unit needs a mounting position, a supply feed and an antenna route, none of which the radio decides. Ordered without them, it sits in its carton.
What to settle before the split is fixed
- Which posts are driving posts, counted by shift rather than by headcount.
- How many vehicles are in service on the busiest shift, because a mounted unit is bought per vehicle.
- Where the antenna can be mounted on each vehicle type, and who does that work.
- Whether both form factors run one channel plan, and who holds the file.
- How many spare packs per handheld, and how they are rotated.
- How many spare units, remembering that a failed mounted unit takes a vehicle out of service while a failed handheld takes a person out.
What to put in the first message
Every one of these removes a round trip. The enquiry page composes a brief containing them; you send it from your own mail or messaging app.
- Destination country — this decides the approved variant and the marking.
- The frequency range you are licensed to use, in MHz.
- Quantity per site, and whether spares are included in that number.
- Operating environment, if it is classified (hazardous area, mine, tunnel).
- Whether the units must arrive programmed, and if so the channel plan.
- How many of the units are vehicle-mounted, and how many vehicles that covers.
Questions this note answers
Yes, and it usually is at some point. What changes is the antenna: it stays inside or beside the body rather than above it, and the pack is doing a shift of work that a vehicle supply would have done. For a driver whose whole shift is in the cab, a mounted unit matches the job better.
Only while they are within reach of the microphone. The unit stays with the vehicle, so anyone who leaves it is out of the conversation regardless of how the radio is configured.
They need to be programmed, and they need the same channel plan if they are to talk to each other. Whether they are separate files is an administrative question; whether they agree is the one that matters.
By counting posts per shift and separating them into standing and driving. Headcount gives the wrong answer, because three shifts of drivers is one set of vehicles and three sets of handhelds if those posts also patrol on foot.
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.
- 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.
- 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
Vehicle radios
The installed side of the same catalogue.
Buying in quantity
Once the split is known, the terms that apply to a mixed order.
VHF or UHF
The band decision that sits underneath the form factor.
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.