DON'T TAKE THE BAIT !!!
They created this beautiful radio and packed it full of features to lure in unsuspecting radio operators, but this thing is
toxic!
Here's why:
1. It has a permanently installed T-Mobile card in it. Now, bear in mind that this means it's just like having a cell phone. That is to say,
it can be tracked.
What would have been "smarter" is to enable the radio to tether to an actual cell phone via USB, WiFi or Bluetooth, for internet access. Think about this for a moment.
I'm positive that this easier and cheaper solution came to mind in the development phase. But you see, if you did that, then you wouldn't be able to track the radio anymore - just the cell phone that it's connected to. And you are free to turn that off and on at will.
This should lay the groundwork of what kinda people we're dealing with here. . .
2. Everyone else who integrates a GPS into their radios, uses a separate built-in GPS antenna, usually located in the face of the radio. This radio, however, pulls the GPS signals in from the normal external antenna. This is bad. The reason being, you have to introduce a biplexer into the system, so that when you transmit, you won't fry your GPS. This is a "tax" on your transmit power out. . .
3. . . . which according to the stats, is only
20 watts maximum anyway. Even a
rinky dink discontinued Radio Shack HTX-252 will get you 25 watts out. And by the looks of things, I would also count on that biplexer failing much sooner than it should. Although I'm sure the GPS coordinates can be easily relayed through the cellular network by remote request, they aren't necessary. You can use towers to triangulate a position without them.
4. Speaking of remote requests through the cellular network, I would imagine the possibilities are endless.
This radio is susceptible to viruses. If you can imagine such a thing. If you want to disable every one of these radios, you can do so with the flip of a switch. I'm sure the developers have already created a "kill switch", which should sell for a very hefty price to interested authorities.
Other "endless possibilities" would also include being able to actually monitor your radio traffic via the cellular network. Basically, anything that you do with this radio, can be seen and heard by someone else.
5. Pricing. Even though they haven't mentioned one yet, consider this, before even getting to the equipment itself:
- The radio supports D-STAR technology, which is not open-source. They had to pay for a license to do this. Well, let me rephrase that. You are going to absorb that cost.
- As mentioned before, the radio will come with a 1-year subscription to a T-Mobile data plan. That cost will also transfer to you. Whether you want it or not.
6. It is capable of transmitting and receiving on 222-225 MHz on the US version. Why, I have no idea. It's a worthless band. That's more money out for well, nothing. The way that frequency range propagates is utterly awful. I guess for close range it's okay, but more than 10 miles in ideal conditions, with that kind of power out, is probably not going to happen.
Would it make a good
doomsday radio? Well, that depends on a few things. How you plan to use it and such. And more importantly, how it can be modified. You would absolutely have to modify the hell out of it first.
The fact that it can decrypt all voice modes is the most attractive feature. Assuming you can disable the T-Mobile card inside, I'd say it's usable. Then there's frequency expansion. You jolly-well don't want to be using frequency ranges that are popular. Are there any mods available for expanding frequency coverage? If so, then yes, it would be a decent doomsday radio. Mind you, it's brand new, so it might take a year for someone to figure it out and post their findings / instructions on the internet. For now, that answer is "no".
At this point, having disabled T-Mobile, it would make a better scanner than it would a radio. By the time the price tag is hung, I would imagine it would be cheaper to buy separate (and more capable) radios for each of the different voice data modes.
I'd say it's safe that someone is interested in marketing a "Big Brother - friendly" radio, the same way they tried to market "smart guns". Let capitalism handle this one, and stick to the brands you know and love.
