Duress radios

[hemi444]

I was wondering if anyone knew or have anylinks for radios that have a duress button that opens the mic in emergency situations were an officer cannot use the radio but activate the button. Any input would be of help. Thanks

[Minneapolis Security]

The Icom IC-F43TR UHF trunking radio has a "Man Down" option board avalable.

http://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/landmobile/portables/f43tr/options.aspx

I believe some of the high end Motorola also have orange panic buttons on top.

[N. A. Corbier]

Any Motorola that supports MDC1200 should be able to generate an emergency tone. You push it, and (if enabled) a shrieking audible alarm starts up on the radio, as well as a beep on every other radio in the system. The MDC1200 ID is shown on everyone's screens (If you have a MDC1200 capable radio, it should have a screen...) so that someone knows who just hit their button.

If its not programmed, then it does absolutely nothing.

[HotelSecurity]

The Montreal Police have walkie-talkies as described above. They have a button on them that when activated sends a 10-07 (Officer in trouble) signal to the disparcher's consule. The Transt Security people have a system that sends the destress signal when the radio is laid on it's side, it is not necessary to press any buttons. I believe both forces use Motorolas.

[SecTrainer]

...and if you're talking about a fixed site, there are a number of "employee-in-distress" options ranging from "pager" type wearables to "panic buttons" that are either wireless or hardwired. These are mounted strategically throughout the facility. Healthcare facilities sometimes use these.

[FireEMSPolice]

Our crappy, POS Motorola HT750's have an orange "man down" button. However, we do not have a system in place to make it a panic button so our radio vendor programs it as a scan button. We got an estimate on what it would take to make it a panic button but it was expensive.

[bpdblue]

A police department that was in a city next to my old department had this type of system, but it also had a system of showing your patrol car's exact location on a map in their dispatch center.

[Penthrox]

Our crappy, POS Motorola HT750's have an orange "man down" button. However, we do not have a system in place to make it a panic button so our radio vendor programs it as a scan button. We got an estimate on what it would take to make it a panic button but it was expensive.

Im sorry but I use GP328s which are the same radio in effect (with a few differences however the casing and the programming are the same) and I program my company radios as well as my own personal radios. All it takes to get the panic button set up is the right programming. It cost nothing to set up and as I said is a matter of telling the radio you want it to do that.

[N. A. Corbier]

Im sorry but I use GP328s which are the same radio in effect (with a few differences however the casing and the programming are the same) and I program my company radios as well as my own personal radios. All it takes to get the panic button set up is the right programming. It cost nothing to set up and as I said is a matter of telling the radio you want it to do that.

Their repeater trunks may not be setup for MDC1200. Either that, or simply... The radio company wants lots of money to program. Not many people know that they can buy the programming cables and the software, then program their own radios.

[FireEMSPolice]

Their repeater trunks may not be setup for MDC1200. Either that, or simply... The radio company wants lots of money to program. Not many people know that they can buy the programming cables and the software, then program their own radios.
Motorola wants a butt load of $$$$ for their software. I wish I could program our radios in-house. Some of ours are 4 channel, others the 16 channel model, though we only have 3 channels.

[OccamsRazor]

Motorola wants a butt load of $$$$ for their software. I wish I could program our radios in-house. Some of ours are 4 channel, others the 16 channel model, though we only have 3 channels.

I would never endorse programming your own radios.
http://www.batlabs.com/
I hear there are many ways to do it, by downloading software or building your own.
http://www.batlabs.com/
I also hear you can build yourself the connection cable needed to program.
http://www.batlabs.com/
I'm sure this would void your warranty.
http://www.batlabs.com/
Just a thought.
http://www.batlabs.com/
:D

[SecTrainer]

I guess my question would be, if you program your own radios "on the cheap", what if you don't get it right? What would the liability be if it doesn't work properly when it's needed (even if self-programming isn't the real reason)? Lawyers for a fallen officer's family would have a field day with that, wouldn't they?

One good thing about leasing radio equipment is that both upgrades and programming (or even switching to a different brand) are included, at least in the contracts around here. I know you can pick up used radios pretty cheap, but then you're stuck with whatever you've got for quite awhile. The way technology is racing forward these days, it's usually a debatable decision to "own" technology if you can lease it.

Just like Web sites. Sure, you can run your own Web server, but no way would I do it when I could let a hosting company like Corbier's do it. They can justify the ROI on system ownership, maintenance, backup, etc., because all of those costs are spread out among a lot of clients. I don't want to own the technology.

[Penthrox]

I guess my question would be, if you program your own radios "on the cheap", what if you don't get it right? What would the liability be if it doesn't work properly when it's needed (even if self-programming isn't the real reason)? Lawyers for a fallen officer's family would have a field day with that, wouldn't they?

One good thing about leasing radio equipment is that both upgrades and programming (or even switching to a different brand) are included, at least in the contracts around here. I know you can pick up used radios pretty cheap, but then you're stuck with whatever you've got for quite awhile. The way technology is racing forward these days, it's usually a debatable decision to "own" technology if you can lease it.

Just like Web sites. Sure, you can run your own Web server, but no way would I do it when I could let a hosting company like Corbier's do it. They can justify the ROI on system ownership, maintenance, backup, etc., because all of those costs are spread out among a lot of clients. I don't want to own the technology.

To be honest I have had my own radios for around 3 years. I have used these radios every single weekend for these last 3 years and have never have a problem. I use the motorola programing software and a program that my radio technician created. Now I am sure as with most people that they ensure the safety of themselves before they go to work and ensure that all their equipment is operational. I would never endanger myself or my colleagues by halfassing something as important as a radio.

I also program over 100 radios for the company I work for aswell as assisting my radio tech in maintaining them. Every night after their use they are charged, cleaned, checked (including attachments) and then rechecked. I then sign them back into their carry bag and they are placed into my duty gear bag.

I respect what you are saying however I am 100% sure I do everything right and only a radio failure due to outside circumstances is what would cause a problem.

[hemi444]

Thanks for the info and happy new year.

[NRM_Oz]

Where I worked during the y2k, due to the extreme risk levels we used a brand (need to find it) that had mercury type switches like in hospital psych wards (perhaps some of our ER / hospital friends can assist with exact details) where if you were bent forward for any longer than 10 seconds it would sound a piezo alarm and then a 2ndary alarm together with a SIGNAL ONE - like a 10 - 07 alert (officer down) and page the exact location to ALL radios.

1 site manager on a remote site suffered a heart attack and through this alert the ambulance was alerted immediately probably saving his life. These style radios are also used in high risk prisons and other suitable locations and I do know they were very very expensive to operate - we did purchase them outright due to security risks. Mind you this was 8 years ago so things will have changed alot too.