Batboard

at my job we use ht1000 radios on uhf. i have already shared with some of you how they don't think it is a problem having all of the plastic coating rotting off the antenas. well how about this one... some of the radios are lucky enough to have uhf antenas on them. some however have vhf and some even have the long 800mhz antenas on them too. the radios seem to all receive about the same but i have been wondering if using these other antenas like the 800 or the vhf antenas on a uhf radio will harm the radio in any way? i am thinking this is probably not a good thing for the radios on the transmit end. just wondering....

The plastic rotting off is a common problem as the antennas age - they just need to be replaced.

Improper antennas are definitely a problem. They will cause a high SWR condition which can damage the PA. It might be best for them to figure out how many radios they have and simply purchase a new antenna for every one.

You're on the right track with your thinking. In the long run using the wrong antenna on
the radio will probably do the radio no good and may lead to premature failure.

From this and previous information you've given us perhaps your best course of action,
rather than to go to your supervisor, would be to seek out the person who is really in
charge of your radios and see if you can clue him in. It sure sounds as if he needs help.

well maybe i can talk some sense into my boss about this antena problem. my job thinks they are saving money by using all of these old and wrong antenas on the radios but it sounds to me that they are just going to end up spending a lot more than a few bucks in the long run. it was like pulling teeth just to get new batteries last year. the antenas are a lot cheaper than the batteries. since you guys have given me some tips on this issue i have put my own uhf antena (oem of course) on my unit only and have noticed a difference. thanks for the info guys.

securitymikey wrote:well maybe i can talk some sense into my boss about this antena problem. my job thinks they are saving money by using all of these old and wrong antenas on the radios but it sounds to me that they are just going to end up spending a lot more than a few bucks in the long run. it was like pulling teeth just to get new batteries last year. the antenas are a lot cheaper than the batteries. since you guys have given me some tips on this issue i have put my own uhf antena (oem of course) on my unit only and have noticed a difference. thanks for the info guys.

2 items...

1 - Don't buy knock off antennas off of eBay... Yes, they're cheap. No, they're not a direct replacement. Quality is lacking. The actual radiating element can be snapped off _in shipping_ due to the overly cheap nature of construction. I purchased 6 from the same popular seller; 3 had direct shorts on arrival, 1 was mislabled (swept out on UHF-Lo, sold and marked as VHF-Hi), 1 the connector threads weren't deep enough to make a connection - the one that did show up on arrival was great for the 3 months I had it in use until it snapped in half from what I can only guess was UV damage to being exposed to something other than the inside of an ESD bag.

2 - Your HT1000s are great radios by design. With that being said, repairing a burned up PA is not necessarily an option due to the one piece design of the RF components on this radio. So when (not if) the radio does eventually fail due to the intentional misuse of the incorrect antenna, your employer will be looking at radio replacement, not repair. Much cheaper to change the oil in a vehicle on a regular basis than having to replace the entire vehicle when the motor fails.

If you think you can convince your supervisor, who likely has no direct control on expenditures, to correct this situation, great - have at it...

However... If you're using the radio in a mission critical/life dependant situation, your company's safety officer or the unfortunate company that carries your liability insurance would likely be quite interested in the intentional and blatant misuse of your life line form of communications.

Well about replacing the radios, they did replace our Spectras when some of them died with CDM1250 units. As far as the HT1000 units they just keep sending them into the shop for repair when they don't work at all. Broken clips on the back of radio that hold the battery on, bad speakers, transmiting problems- they even recase some of the radios when they look bad from being dropped a million times. I just wish they get us the antenas we need being its such a cheap and easy fix and it would make a big difference all around. And yes i noticed too that the aftermarket fleebay antenas suck so thats why i got the real Motorola one. We'll see what happens....

securitymikey wrote:Well about replacing the radios, they did replace our Spectras when some of them died with CDM1250 units. As far as the HT1000 units they just keep sending them into the shop for repair when they don't work at all. Broken clips on the back of radio that hold the battery on, bad speakers, transmiting problems- they even recase some of the radios when they look bad from being dropped a million times. I just wish they get us the antenas we need being its such a cheap and easy fix and it would make a big difference all around. And yes i noticed too that the aftermarket fleebay antenas suck so thats why i got the real Motorola one. We'll see what happens....

Best of luck either way with this issue you're having - like I said before, if it's a life and safety critical item, bring it to the attention of your company safety officer, liability insurance provider or whoever your state OSHA organization may be.