Pagers and Receivers
 | What's the best alerting device for YOU? |
Most volunteer firefighters think of a voice monitor pager as the primary means of being alerted when their services are needed. In fact, the pager against which all others are compared is the Motorola Minitor with the latest version being the Minitor V. There are a number of competitive alternatives available including models by Apollo, Cobalt-AV, SCA, Swissphone, and US Alert. There are also a number of small 2-way radios with built in paging capability that are sometimes used as a alternative to a selective alert voice monitor pager. We are often asked what we would suggest as being "the best buy".
Our answer is that you never go wrong when you purchase Motorola and this is particularly true with pagers. However, the answer will vary with the application. If you want the best value for a firefighter, the answer is the Minitor V, period! However, if you want a good administrative pager, either the Apollo VP100 or US Alert NOVA pager would be a good choice. If you want the best combination pager/radio, our personal choice is the ICOM F50V. You can learn more about these pagers and pager/radios at www.falcondirect.com/firepagers.
As an item on note, we should point out that there are NO 800 MHz voice pagers and there are no voice pagers capable of operating on the new super narrow band 6.25 kHz frequencies. At the end of this section, we will introduce the idea of using privately operated digital paging systems as a viable solution for those who require personal alerting capability.
There are other ways to alert people besides monitor pagers. A fixed monitor is the alerting system of choice by most paid fire departments. These devices can be connected to audio amplifiers that can drive multiple speakers. The 2TR9 is an excellent choice for this type of device. It is shown at the bottom of the picture above. Additional information is available at www.falcondirect.com/2tr9.
There is also the need to alert large groups of people in outside areas. The solution for this application is known as a wireless PA system. In essence, it is a selective call receiver connected a public address amplifier and high output speaker. The product we recommend for this application is called a LoudMouth. You can learn more about LoudMouth at www.usa-radio1.com/prices/loudmouth.
The idea of using digital alphanumeric text message pagers is very popular outside the USA. This technology has been inhibited in the USA by the belief that digital pagers are not approved by ISO for firefighting activities. That is absolutely untrue! The error comes from the fact that most users think you can only acquire digital paging service from a public paging carrier or use a cellular text messaging service. The fact is that you CAN set up and operate an inexpensive digital paging service that WILL meet ISO standards. This is an idea worth considering since digital pagers have many benefits over voice pagers. For additional information, we invite you to visit www.info4u.us/digitalpagers.pdf.
