student radios

[skydiveoc 0]

Looking to re-invest in new student radios. Can anyone recommend a reliable set up?

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Looking to re-invest in new student radios. Can anyone recommend a reliable set up?

The Motorola Minitor series pager radios are the gold standard for ruggedness and reliability, although they are not cheap.

Sometimes is takes a while to get particular units serviced if they quit working, so you may need 2 instructor transmitters (tranceivers actually) and 1 or 2 extra pagers (student radios).

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Looking to re-invest in new student radios. Can anyone recommend a reliable set up?

The Motorola Minitor series pager radios are the gold standard for ruggedness and reliability, although they are not cheap.

Sometimes is takes a while to get particular units serviced if they quit working, so you may need 2 instructor transmitters (tranceivers actually) and 1 or 2 extra pagers (student radios).

We use these as well because of the very high reliability.

~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

[NSEMN8R 0]

Are the older versions suitable for what we're doing?

I found a pretty good deal on some Minitor III's on craigslist.

Are the Minitor V or VI worth the extra money?

Also, how are you guys putting them on your students? I'm thinking about putting spandex pouches on the side of our pro-tecs, but I've seen other dzs just hang them around the students neck under their jumpsuits. Any other ideas?

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Are the older versions suitable for what we're doing? [Yes.]

Are the Minitor V or VI worth the extra money? [Probably not much.]

Also, how are you guys putting them on your students?
[They are load and clear enough to put on the chest strap (with an additional rubber band for security).]

I'm thinking about putting spandex pouches on the side of our pro-tecs.. [You would need to keep them turned down, as they can be quite loud.]

[monkycndo 0]

SkyDance has a pocket on the upper arm of the student jump suit. It is easily accessible to check if it is on during in plane student gear check. It is out of the way during the jump/deployment. Once the student has their hands in the toggles, the radio is at ear level.

YMMV.

50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

[milehigheric 0]

My local uses these (link below) for AFF. Perhaps not the cheapest option but I much prefer the idea of an integrated radio over external.

http://www.headzone.com/helmets/mach1-helmet

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

We at this dropzone (Skydive San Marcos) and my previous dropzone (Raeford Parachute Center) use slightly modified CYPRES pouches worn sideways on the chest strap as our radio pouches. Perfect.

Chuck

[Skydive2 1]

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Post: My local uses these (link below) for AFF. Perhaps not the cheapest option but I much prefer the idea of an integrated radio over external.

http://www.headzone.com/helmets/mach1-helmet

Nice set up! How is the reliability? Any issues?

[milehigheric 0]

To my knowledge they have never had issues with them. I used them during my AFF in 2011 and had no complaints. I believe they are designed for water environments (wake boarding etc) so you would expect them to be built tough.

[SEREJumper 1]

Whats the most reliable instructor transmitters (tranceivers actually) that people are using for the minitors?

We're not fucking flying airplanes are we, no we're flying a glorified kite with no power and it should be flown like one! - Stratostar

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SEREJumper

Whats the most reliable instructor transmitters (tranceivers actually) that people are using for the minitors?

Good question, and I don't know any model numbers. If you were buying both pagers and tranceivers all at once from a dealer, they would be able to set you up.

My guess is that there would be a couple of models to choose from.

[birdynamnam 28]

www.blackboxradios.com have a lookie

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SEREJumper

Whats the most reliable instructor transmitters (tranceivers actually) that people are using for the minitors?

We're using something along this line. I don't remember off the top of my head if the stuff we have is UHF or VHF.

Transmitter and receiver have to match obv. You can find the pagers on ebay in lots many times for pretty cheap, but I would buy a brand new transmitter with a stubby antenna.

~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

[NSEMN8R 0]

So I got these 4 monitor IIs. They're programmed to receive on 462.95mhz. I went to a motorola dealer to find something to transmit on this freq and I was told I'd need a special license for that and there are some hefty FCC fines if you're caught without it. They're also saying that the only Minitor model that can be programmed to work on the license free band is the Minitor V.

Anyone else dealt with this before?

I feel like maybe they're just bullshitting me to sell radios.

[excaza 1]

I'm pretty sure that's an emergency response frequency.

ETA: Whether or not it's being used in your area is another story, but I think that's in a reserved frequency block. Might be worth chatting with the local fire/PD to see if they have more info.

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NSEMN8R

So I got these 4 monitor IIs. They're programmed to receive on 462.95mhz. I went to a motorola dealer to find something to transmit on this freq and I was told I'd need a special license for that and there are some hefty FCC fines if you're caught without it. They're also saying that the only Minitor model that can be programmed to work on the license free band is the Minitor V. Anyone else dealt with this before? I feel like maybe they're just bullshitting me to sell radios.

The one source I found when looking up that frequency said:
Business Paging 462.475-462.95 MHz
Emergency Medical Service 462.95-463.175 MHz

So the Minitors might need to be changed to a "better" channel, so as to not be on an "emergency channel" perhaps used by your local police or fire.

They whole idea behind a Minitor is to get it on a frequency band that requires licensing. That way you won't have to deal with interference from yahoos with walkie-talkies on a license-free band.

I think the FCC license is a couple hundred bucks, and then you pay the radio dealer to change the frequency. Then get a transmitter for that frequency.

Google "fcc business license".

[councilman24 36]

At our DZ the owner had (or did it himself) thermoplastic (Opaque, abs, hmm something hard) molded into a holder for the pager. It went on the out side of the protec and the inside of the ear piece was cut out to allow the pager to be put in from inside the helmet. So unless the helmet came off the pager couldn't be lost. We had a few helmets come off in the air. And we had to train students not to take their helmet off before they got back to the clubhouse. The holders had a slot to allow the JM to turn them on in the airplane. Worked very well.
No snag, no loss, hard protection for the pager.

Can probably find or get a photo of one.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[skydived19006 4]

The Minitor is a pager. Is it a programing change, or option to have it act as an open receiver?

Experience is what you get when you thought you were going to get something else.

AC DZ

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skydived19006

The Minitor is a pager. Is it a programing change, or option to have it act as an open receiver?

It is a receiver, but is called a pager. I don't want to repeat anything that I am not sure about, so I had better just include this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_Minitor And of course asking a dealer would be the best bet.

[skydived19006 4]

peek

***The Minitor is a pager. Is it a programing change, or option to have it act as an open receiver?

It is a receiver, but is called a pager. I don't want to repeat anything that I am not sure about, so I had better just include this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_Minitor And of course asking a dealer would be the best bet.

There's a Motorola dealer in Wichita, I'll stop by and see him.

Voice pagers generally have a signal frequency that triggers that pager to monitor the frequency. Once you've listened to your message, it will typically monitor until you push a button to shut it up, or for a pre-determined time. Anyway, the dealer should be able to straighten me out.

Experience is what you get when you thought you were going to get something else.

AC DZ

[skydived19006 4]

I'll update this thread a bit.

I purchased 5 pagers on Ebay, ended up with 4 Motorola Minitor III, and one Minitor IV. The Minitor I, and II require crystals for the frequency change, the III and up are programmable. Minitor V would work, but is the newest generation, so at the top of the price range. I choose to go with a UHF model with a frequency range split that covered the General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) frequencies, and ended up buying them for $50 to $75 each.

I found another guy on ebay who did the programing for me, I think for $30. They're set up with no "tone frequencies", so when turned on, they'll act as an open monitor for the programed frequency. I just ordered a 2 watt output Kenwood programmable radio, and will program one of the frequencies to match the pagers.

We have not yet tested them in the real world. One thing that I likely should have done was to go up on a jump with a radio, and played with various frequencies to see if any had traffic. There's a chance that the frequency I picked will have other traffic (construction crews, fast food drive through, etc.), in that case, I'll be looking at reprogramming.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minitor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Mobile_Radio_Service
http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/general-mobile-radio-service-gmrs

Experience is what you get when you thought you were going to get something else.

AC DZ

[NNB 0]

Headzone Machi helmets from Australia have built in waterproof receiver radios and have proved vary reliable at a number of drop zones along the east coast. Check them out, you will be pleasantly surprised!

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