How to Get the Best Performance from Your Two-Way Radio

19 November 2015
 Categories: , Blog


Have you acquired two-way radios in order to keep your construction workers in touch with one another? Do you want to know how you can get maximum value from those two-way radios? Read on and discover three ways that you can use to get the best service from those two-way radios.

Get the Highest Elevation

Two-way radio makers indicate the maximum range that those radios can transmit or receive signals. However, that maximum range can be reduced by several factors such as the elevation of the place where the two-way radio is being used. This is because obstructions such as hills can affect how effectively radio signals can travel from one employee's two-way radio to the one held by another employee. The best way to limit this problem is to look for the highest point when employees want to communicate over the two-way radios. For instance, he or she may move to a nearby loading ramp instead of talking when he or she is inside an excavation site. The increased elevation at the top of the loading ramp will reduce the obstructions to the movement of the radio waves. Tell the employees to take advantage of any elevation close to them.

Keep the Radio Away from Your Body

Many people strap two-way radios on their trouser belts. This may be a convenient place for keeping the radio, but it interferes with the effective reception of radio signals. This is because the body will block the movement of the signals. Consequently, the employee may be unable to hear when a colleague says something over the two-way radio. The best thing to do is to place the two-way radio at the highest point of the backpack so that the radio is away from the body.

Take Advantage of Privacy Codes

Sometimes, many people may speak over a given two-way radio channel at the same time. This can create a lot of chatter that can interfere with how clearly employees can hear one another speaking. Tell them to limit the amount of chatter by using a privacy code or interference eliminator code. This is a function available on many two-way radios. To use it, they should select a channel (such as channel 3) followed by a code (such as code 5). This will narrow down the chatter to the voices of those few individuals that may also be using the same channel and code. This is much better than listening to all the chatter coming from all users of the channel you are on. Remember that the code only reduces the chatter; it does not make their conversation private.

Keep the tips above in mind when guiding your employees on how to use the radios and they will have very clear two-way radio communication with their colleagues.


Share