[ACML] Two-Way Radio / Walkie Talkie Recommendation

[Chris King]

If you are looking at communications solutions, please do yourself a favor
and stay away from the cheaper solutions.  

1)  Talkabouts seldom work when interspersed with large numbers of
communications devices, i.e. - other talkabouts, cell phones, etc.  

2)  Talkabout channels are not secure for the most part.  

3)  Talkabouts are usually meant for open spaces where there is a line of
sight from one point to another.  

For smaller conventions, talkabouts may be fine, but remember that you have
attendees that are hip to the talkabout scene and will be scanning for juicy
information.  

What we do for my convention is rent radios and repeaters to ensure
coverage.  Considering that we cover multiple venues, this was the best
solution for us.  Mind you, prior to the radio rental, we used talkabouts
and cell phones.  

Talk with your local rental companies and find out how much it would cost to
rent actual radios, or Nextel units.  Most rental companies can lock out the
cellular phone from usage on Nextel units, so that may be an option for you
as well.  

If you have specific questions, you can contact me offline.

_____________________

F. Chris King, Secretary
Anime Central 2008
FChrisKing at gmail.com or Secretary at ACen.org
(312) 656-5963


-----Original Message-----
From: animecons-bounces at lists.baka.org
[mailto:animecons-bounces at lists.baka.org] On Behalf Of Dave H.
Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2008 6:10 PM
To: Anime convention discussion list
Subject: [ACML] Two-Way Radio / Walkie Talkie Recommendation

So instead of going the cheap solution in just using cell phones, I wanted
to hear anyone's recommendation on two-way radio setup. My current
configuration will force my staff to be in long distances between each other
as many of them will be in the basement of an old Auditorium while others
will be quarter-mile away in a large ballroom. Doing some searching, I see
the low cost radios from Cobra & Uniden but then there's high-end models
from Motorola. They throw out confusing terms about their radio systems and
then make statements about distance but I'm not convinced. I wanted to hear
what other large conventions have gone with in setting up two-way radio
systems amongst their staff where distance, walls and the high-volume of
conventions were problematic but this was solved with a good two-way radio
setup for a mid-size staff w/o breaking the budget.

Dave Henkin
San Japan - Chairman
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