CP040 vs GP340?

[bw18]

No 2 pin accessories wont fit directly... You need one of these for each radio:

http://www.delcom-radio.com/accessory-adaptor-for-most-motorola-s-multi-pin-to-2-pin-converter.html

I'm not sure if Rob-Admin can supply these, he might be able to sort you out with a good price  The only downside to adaptors is they do fatigue quite quickly if they are low quality, this can cause chaos when circuits short out and either constant TX or don't RX properly!

[emsgeorge]

the gp series has a multi pin connector.

You can get adapters on fleabay for a tenner or so, that put it back to a 2 pin socket.

I always used to use the 'lump' adapters on the gp series, as the 2 pin (older) type accessories were always cheaper - and if they went wrong / you wanted to use the radio as a handset, all you do is unplug. If you used the 'proper' connectors (the multi pin ones), you require a screwdriver to disconnect the accessory from the radio.

Looking at your info above, vhf would be the way to go for you - as long as you are outside, as vhf can get really crap once you put bricks or metal in its way. you dont need to go trbo, but you future proof yourself, and can still go on analogue. Because trbo is so new, theres not a lot on ebay (certainly not as many as the gp series), and so people pay a premium for it. We've halved our radios here to go trbo, for all the bells and whistles you get. As Ben says, its an interesting sound to get used to, it certainly sounds a lot worse than analogue when you start listening, but you get used to it, and the sound cancelling properties are excellent - you can be stood at an event in front of a speaker stack, and nobody can hear the music in the background.

If you are going mobile - get some vhf magmounts for the car, and you will be a lot happier.

EDIT: Ben replied whilst I was writing. If you can, go for the original Motorola ones, we had some issues with the aftermarket lumps, where no sound would come through the radio speaker when you disconnected the accessory. turns out its when the pin inside the adapter is worn, it doesnt connect properly to re enable the speaker.

[MotoNut]

Cheers chaps. I have a few 2 pin headsets so the adaptor sounds a better idea. will PM Rob once GPs are sorted.

What worries me with VHF is the capability of it being able to transmit through car to car (metal). A fixed aerial is NOT an option here!
The other issue I'm concerned about is whether they will be able to clear hills etc. I mean UHF works at the moment but not long distance, perhaps it's the stubby aerial or it being a CP not the GP series?
I'm tempted to go all out and grab a set of 6 VHF GP340, but don't want them doing the complete opposite. At the same time also willing to give the GP340 UHF a go too! DOH.. Back at the beginning!! Haha

[bw18]

Nope, any portable radio UHF or VHF will struggle to TX & RX in a car... George's idea of a magmount on the roof is truely the best option. If you are not in a position to attach a magmount then its going to be a case of dealing with what you have got! Atleast with a magmount you can put it up and take it down when you want, also your car is a great groundplane!

You really cannot expect massive coverage without the use of a repeater. Coverage can even vary depending on the atmospherics/weather. VHF will clear hills... but not mountains. If you are on the top of the hill you will RX from miles around, but if someone is one side of the hill and someone is the other you might hear both sides of the conversation, but they will only hear you! As I say without using a repeater with a decent aerial set-up you can expect around 2-4 miles coverage, depending on how flat the land is and obstructions.

I really cannot tell you how important aerials are in this game... You only need to look around your local area for some 'Hams'... they spend ££££ on aerials, let alone the HF kit itself! When you see a serious Ham set-up you start to understand how they manage to talk to Australia!

Don't run out and spend hundreds on new radio's just yet, go and see your dealer and higher a couple of VHF radios, £10 per radio per week is about the going rate. Get a couple and go and test them in a scenario that you intend to use them. You will not notice a huge difference between CP040 UHF and GP340 UHF, the build quality is better and the features are better, but the actually coverage remains fairly similar. Although the CP040 does have a reputation for being slightly 'deaf'.

Shame this topic did'nt come up 4 months ago... I sold the majoirity of my GP kit which was a mixture of GP340/360/380/GM340/GM380 VHF & UHF to move over to TRBO!

[Cyberprog]

HI BW,

Thanks for the reply and taking the time to explain.

Yes I have a 1520 Peli with Pick n Pluck and if I decide to part the CP040s out I would want to make sure the GP fits in their place without buying a new case. The CP040s just fit and wondered how much taller the GP340s are?? Pic to show...

Your GP's should fit in just fine, my cases are all interchangeable between units.

However we throw away the standard charging bricks and replace them with a laptop charger and spider to feed the bases. Uses less space, and less power sockets! This case actually has a full set of 6 bases now, just didn't when I took the picture. My GP340 cases are larger:

As I have separate 6-way Chargers for those radios:

[MotoNut]

Thanks cyberprog. Your set up looks great. What is this laptop charger you are talking about?
Also What batteries are you running there? (dont look OEM). How do you get on with them and are these Nickel or Li-ion? What mAh and how long do they last?

TIA, MotoNut

[Cyberprog]

Just a 120W unit from eBuyer, but has been discontinued temporarily due to counterfeit UK 13A > Cloverleaf leads. They were about £10 each! Then built up some splitter leads from component parts on eBay.

[Cyberprog]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120W-Universal-Laptop-AC-Power-Charger-Adapter-with-USB-/220873735198?pt=UK_Computing_LaptopAccessories_PowerSupplies&hash=item336d19bc1e would be a suitable option BTW for the charger. You're basically looking for an output of about 1A per charger pod, so a 6A laptop PSU is perfect. The Motorola Pods use 16V (CP040) or 18V (GP340) +/- 20% as they have built in rectification circuits to get down to 7.2v for the radios. This is a much more cost effective route for the CP040's than having banks of wall-warts and the associated weight!