A special message for 2-way radio users with remote transmitter sites

Need to know.......

when power has failed at a remote transmitter site or a off premise unattended facility? Falcon Wireless Direct has introduced the new SiteAlert, especially designed for 2-way radio users operating off-premise repeaters or for instant power failure notification at unattended premises. The new and improved model replaces our original ACR-Plus with no increase in price! Four models are available in your choice of either VHF or UHF offering full compatibility with virtually all brands of analog radios and receivers. Prices start at just $349.

The SiteAlert Model ACR100 Plus is an efficient and affordable AC power failure reporting device that meets both ISO and NFPA power failure reporting standards. Priced at just $449, the ACR100 Plus reports both power failure and power restoration. This model is very well suited for users with generator backup since it announces power failure, power restoration when the generator comes on, and return of normal AC power. Input terminals are included for use with door alarm, motion, or smoke detection sensors to detect and report unauthorized entry, vandalism or fire.

The SiteAlert ACR100 Plus can pay for itself! To order, visit  our on-line store at Best PriceRadio. Your satisfaction is guaranteed!

FEMA Defines P25

After almost a decade of dodging the bullet on just exactly what is, and what is not "P25 compatible", 
FEMA has FINALLY published some guidelines.  It's a crying shame they didn't do this years ago!

Taking the Mystery out of P25 Communications Equipment The only eligible Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) activity for interoperable communications equipment is the acquisition of P25 compliant equipment. P25 compliant equipment is programmable, scalable, and can communicate in analog mode with legacy radios and in both analog and digital mode with other P25 equipment.  P25 compliance enhances interoperability, allowing first responders to communicate with each other to coordinate their response to and mitigate all hazards. It is the grantee’s responsibility to obtain documented evidence that the equipment to be acquired has been tested and passed all the applicable P25 requirements and the grantee shall be able to produce such documentation to the AFG Program Office upon request. . AFG applicants do not have to identify a specific P25 product in their application narrative; but they must affirm that the interoperable communications equipment requested or acquired is P25 compliant. The procurement of communications equipment that does not meet the P25 compliance equipment is considered unallowable and may not be reimbursed or paid for using AFG grant funds. As an initial step in researching P25 compliant communications equipment, for either your Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) application or an AFG award; please visit the DHS Lessons Learned Information Sharing website, RKB Certifications & Declarations at: https://www.llis.dhs.gov/knowledgebase/certifications-declarations-list Type the vendor/manufacturer name of the equipment being researched into the “Title” box and hit “APPLY” Products listed will have supporting P25 documentation.  Click on the product for specification details and documentation. NOTE: This site is a resource and under constant development; there may be products for a vendor that are P25 compliant, but are not currently listed.

AFG Home Page: www.fema.gov/firegrantsAFG Frequently Asked Questions: http://www.fema.gov/assistance-firefighters-grant/2013-frequently-asked-questions AFG Regional Representatives: http://www.fema.gov/fire-grant-contact-information AFG Help Desk: E-mail: firegrants@fema.dhs.gov Telephone Toll-Free: 1-866-274-0960

No Time For Crime!

Is Crime a Problem In Your Town?

If so, you need to know about our No Time For Crime Program.  With our Safe-Cities Plan we can put crime on the run and simultaneously provide enhanced community services, more efficient employee and vehicle administration as well as proactive solutions to litigation avoidance.

Not only have we developed a simple and affordable system, but we can help law enforcement agencies get it funded!  This is the time of the year to begin preparing for the Justice Assistant Grant (JAG) which can pay for all or part of law enforcement programs and equipment like our Safe-City No Time For Crime Program.

In many states, there are excess funds left over from the previous grant period which must be spent before the 2014 program is opened (expected to be in late March or early April).  That means you have TWO chances for funding if you act now.  For additional information, click here!

Minitor VI Is Here!

Here it is!  The long awaited Minitor VI.  It's smaller, lighter, more rugged and Accelerated Life Tested to perform up to seven years without a failure.  Better yet, you have a choice of Intrinsically Safe (IS) or non-IS models.  If you don't need the feature, you don't have to pay for it!

You can have a single channel or a five channel model with up to fifteen page tones per channel.  You get a 2 year standard warranty (finally) and stored voice as a standard feature on all models!

What did we leave out?  Oh yes - the price, it's LOWER!  One bit of bad news for you low band users (30-50 MHz) - you're out of luck.  No low band - just VHF and UHF, and before you ask - no 800 MHz!

There are some other nifty features like a USB charger.  Don't know what's so neat about that, but if Motorola says it's spiffy, it must be.  And there is a pulsed vibrate feature - boy I've been waiting a long time for that!  One thing I do like is the fact that the non-IS model is field repairable and you can use alkaline batteries in an emergency.  Welcome to the 21st century!
For more information, please click here!

Your price (1-5 quantity) is only $364 for the single channel stored voice model with vibrate, desk charger, Lithium-Ion battery pack, and programming.  Add $42 for the 5 channel model and/or $48 for Intrinsically safe (UL) version. Your choice of VHF or UHF.  Both models are IP56 rated for maximum water and dust protection and MIL-STD 810G for reliability. Quantity discounts and accessory pricing  available.  Call for pricing.

Want to be the first to have the Minitor VI in your neighborhood?  Give us a call at 800.489.2611. We'll give you a great price on any quantity.  We'll even say thank you for your business, maybe even give you something FREE!

Minitor VÔ and Minitor VIÔ are registered trademarks of Motorola SolutionsÔ 

Here's Your Next Home Thermostat!

You are looking at the thermostat used as a part of an entirely new concept in home and business energy management and premise protection. We call it SmartStat! (above left, and the SmartMeter to the right). So you may be wondering why is a wireless company interested in thermostats?  Some of our readers may recall an earlier announcement that we are taking a new direction for 2014. We are in the safety and savings business, working with selected partners to make our communities better places to live, work, and play.  We simply use wireless technology to make all this happen.

I won't get into the details at this time, except to say that this thermostat and the associated power utility meter can replace what you have at your home or business when your local power utility decides to offer this service in your area.  What you will pay, and how you will pay will depend on a number of factors.  Suffice to say for now that your power bill will likely be less and you'll get some nice freebies like an AM/FM and DRM radio (we'll tell you more about DRM radio at another time).  For now, let us just say that you won't need a weather radio, or a home security system.  This new SmartStat with associated sensors does it all. It even talks!

You'll be able to remotely control temperature and power cycles for HVAC, pool pumps, and water heaters.  You can be notified by cell phone when there is a problem on your premises; whether equipment failure, unauthorized entry, or just about anything you want reported! 

The reason we are telling you all this is that if you are an electric utility provider, we invite you to call us at 800.489.2611 for additional information.  If you are an electricity consumer, and would like to have this service in your area, contact your local power company and tell them about us! And, if you are an advertiser, get ready for a whole new way of promoting your goods and services on a localized basis with display advertising right on the thermostat.  This advertising can be targeted to a local neighborhood by large or small business at incredibly low cost.  This is just one of the reasons we are changing direction for 2014. Pretty neat don't you think?

And finally, if you would like to get the latest information from us on what's new in the world today, sign up to receive our Blog messages as they are published. Just fill in your email address in the space above the picture of the SmartStat and hit the SUBMIT button at the right. We've got lot's of good things to be telling you!

Minitor V Pager To Be Discontinued - Last Day To Order is February 18th 2014!

We understand that Motorola Solutions is discontinuing production of the Minitor V Pager with last orders accepted by the close of the day on February 18, 2014. So, say Goodbye to Minitor V, and Hello to Minitor VI....  Here's the story!  The new Minitor VI will be available in single or multiple channel models (kind of like WatchDog has been doing for years).  Minitor VI will be available in intrinsically safe or non-intrinsically safe versions with Stored Voice as a standard feature.  Minitor VI programming kits, batteries, chargers and accessories will NOT be compatible with Minitor V accessories.

Final orders placed for the last of Minitor V's could require 30 to 45 days for delivery.  Minitor VI is not available for ordering at this time.  Ordering availability is expected around March 1st 2014.  In the meantime, you can order the WatchDog pager right now and get it now, with batteries, chargers, and accessories that are compatible with all models.  Additional information on WatchDog is available by clicking here.

Minitor VÔ and Minitor VIÔ are registered trademarks of Motorola SolutionsÔ 

The Other Motorola, Unlicensed Radio Use, The FCC, The Man, and YOU!

Few of our readers are aware of the distribution channels used by Motorola Solutions to command a dominant market position.  Without going into detail, let's confine our discussion to the way 2-way radios are sold through the indirect network.  The traditional Motorola 2-way radio dealer invests a lot of time in learning their product, FCC licensing rules, and long term relationships based on value added services. These guys and gals are rewarded for their knowledge based on a substantial investment in inventory, service facilities, training, and brand loyalty.

There is another completely different sales channel where the sellers are chosen based on no real  knowledge of products, FCC licensing, or even building their business based on service.  These are the companies that have large numbers of customers in a particular field of business such as education, food service, industry, retailers, and specialized trades.  Typically, these sellers include radios only as a catalog item, not a business endeavor.  These are the ones, that through their lack of knowledge, present 2-way radios as simply a "tool". FCC licensing is rarely (think never) mentioned.  However, ignorance or disregard does not change the law and the consequences of breaking the law. See info4u.us/FCC_Information.pdf for additional information.

The problem is that the user, not the seller is responsible for adherence to FCC rules.  We know that many users are aware of this situation and they are looking for alternatives for unlicensed radios. We know this because our MURS (Unlicensed radio) site (See mursradios.com)  receives four to five times the number of visits compared to the rest of our web sites.  Unfortunately, good quality MURS radios cost more than commercial grade radios of equal quality.  The reason being quantity.  If you only produce small quantities, the price will necessarily be higher than large production volume (unless you are building "economy" products).  

So, the bottom line is the price of radios sold by the Motorola alternative distribution channel (the ones selected on the basis of LACK of product, operational, and regulatory knowledge), focus on products (generally UHF commercial grade) that sell for under $200, or even under $150.  A good quality MURS product can't meet that lower price point. So, what is a user to do that wants to get a good radio at a reasonable price and not be looking over their shoulder for a guy with a badge and a Suburban?

The answer is simple.  Call us at 800.489.2611.  We've got your solution!

Google Loses Almost 10 BILLION Dollars on Sale of Motorola Mobility!

The big news, in case you missed it,  is that last week, Lenovo — a Chinese technology company and the worlds largest PC maker — bought Motorola MOBILITY from Google for $2.91 billion. Google did hold on to Motorola's Advanced Technology and Projects group. They purchased Motorola MOBILITY  in 2011 for $12.5 billion after Motorola Inc. was split into Motorola MOBILITY and Motorola SOLUTIONS.

Wow!  A loss of nearly 10 billion dollars in less than a three year period (plus operating expenses incurred during that time)!  BTW, in case you don't keep up with such things, Motorola MOBILITY is that part of Motorola that developed the cellular handset products. Motorola SOLUTIONS is the remaining part of Motorola (after selling off their TV business, their Semi-conductor business, and their Cellular handset business) that is a leading manufacturer of what most of us know as "the 2-way radio business".

Lenovo will have the rights to use the RED Motorola logo as shown above.  Motorola MOBILITY uses a BLUE logo.

BTW, our February eNewsletter is now available by clicking here!

FastTalk-II Wireless School Intercom saves money and improves safety!

We recently attempted to add a wireless PA extension to a wired school PA system. Ordinarily, this would involve nothing more that a simple two wire connection. What we found was an operating console that looked like it was capable of piloting an astronaut to Mars.  It had it's own equipment room!  When we tried to contact the vendor, it took a week to get a return call and their response was that they would have to do the "connection" at a cost that would have exceeded the cost of our entire unit!

We received another call from a school that was looking at replacing an existing wired PA system.  The cost was in the general range of a Lamborghini!  That's when we made the decision to come up with a good wireless system that would be less expensive to buy, easier and less expensive to maintain, and provide more flexibility and enhanced classroom safety. It is called the FastTalk-II wireless PA system!

The basic system can provide both individual and group messaging to over 150 classrooms as well as auditoriums, gyms, lunchrooms, outdoor activity areas, and even temporary remote classrooms.  The price is right - just $1,090 for the office unit and $169 per classroom.  For more information on the FastTalk-II system, just click here or give us a call at 800.489.2611. BTW, this system works very well in convention centers, healthcare facilities logistic centers, manufacturing plants, hospitals, and other facilities where large numbers of people are involved.

We introduced some other interesting new products during January that you may find to be interesting as well.  Additional information is available by clicking here!  If you don't see what you want, drop us an email to ServingU@falcondirect.com.  Tell us what you need.  If it's wireless, we should have your solution!