Costs
Questions about the cost to purchase and ongoing costs.
Not determined yet (28th Jan 2021) it all depends on the group buy. How many radios, Lee has to order.
Yes there is. There is a cost to run the network.
There is a small fee of $5 dollars per radio/phone per network per month.
This means if you have One Radio and want to connect to NewsNet and SafetyNet you will pay $10 dollars per month.
That is a personal preference question.
With the bulk buy we get radios at a reduced price, that price is not always available.
If you are not interested in listening to Fire, police etc then the phone app might be a better option for you.
There will be a small fee to reprogram the radio should you need it.
Reprogram is only needed if you move to another area and you want to listen to police fire etc. and/or you want to participate in the local area group (newsnet or/and safetynet).
If you want to add additional channels, that is also considered as reprogramming.
You do not have to ship the radio back, programming can be done over the network.
Safety
Questions about the safety, for example, lost or stole. Privacy in conversations etc.
The Network Administrator can prevent your radio from transmitting.
If your GPS is enable the admin can locate your radio.
No there are two scenarios for this.
First ALL communication that takes place on the network is scrambled, so people who do not have the scramble key cannot hear/understand your conversation. It is secure.
First scenario, you can setup a private channel, only those on that channel can communicate with you and hear what you saying.
Second scenario, you are connected to a “group” channel, everybody in that group can hear what you say, and you can hear what they say.
The radio has a panic button. When you press that button, a signal is send to the administrator. The administrator can see your location and can talk to you directly with out you operating the radio.
The administrator can listen to what you say and to your conversation, based upon that the administrator can raise the alarm.
Radio specific
Questions specific to the radio. See here for the official Kenwood site and information.
That depends on your surroundings and what band you selected (UHF/VHF).
You can expect a 5mile odd range.
You can increase that range by increasing the antenna size.
If you connect to the internet via “The Dongle” then you can talk to anybody around the world who is on the network.
Yes the radio is waterproof.
See kenwood site for more details.
thank you for putting this site together, it is helpful! the shop portion is nice too however I have no idea what the necessary components would be for a set of radios. guessing that all depends on desired purpose and range. I apologize for questions that might have been covered in private discussions but for some reason I haven’t been able to access. thank you
Hi Jan,
During the discussions, Lee mentioned that if you do not know UHF or VHF, then you just can let lee know. He will recommend a radio based upon your “habits”. For example if you do a lot of hiking and outdoors then you most likely will want a radio suitable for that.
When I mention radio, it will be the kenwoood. The only difference is UHF/VHF, Lee will help you with that.
Thanks so much for the hard work and info! I live in Scottsale, Az and sent Lee a message letting him know I have a Uniden SDS 100 if he want to use this as a scanner feed for Safety Net in Maricopa County, Arizona(This is the sister model to the SDS 200 Lee has discussed) except for form factor – the 100 is handheld mode. I filled out my quote and signed up for both network last night. Pls let me know if I can assist in anyway. Thx, JP
Thanks so much JP… we will be in contact for sure….
I am assuming the radio comes with a base and a plug cord to recharge the battery, and a belt clip and a radio antenna
What would be the cost of a better antenna, extra batteries, belt loop
If some are doing laptops are we also getting a discount on the program?
The cost of the opensource3 is $300, wondering if there is any discount for this as well
I would like programming of channels including fire and police
I really want the radio besides using it at home, to work when hunting and fourwheeling.
How well will the radio work in the woods without a phone internet?, and what if possible can improve the radio in the woods with no internet