A pager, also known as a beeper or bleeper, is a wireless telecommunications device that receives and displays alphanumeric or voice messages. One-way pagers can only receive messages, while response pagers and two-way pagers can also acknowledge, reply to, and originate messages using an internal transmitter.
Terrestrial Trunked Radio, a European standard for a trunked radio system, is a professional mobile radio and two-way transceiver specification. TETRA was specifically designed for use by government agencies, emergency services, for public safety networks, rail transport staff for train radios, transport services and the military. TETRA is the European version of trunked radio, similar to Project 25.
A walkie-talkie, more formally known as a handheld transceiver (HT) or handheld radio, is a hand-held, portable, two-way radio transceiver. Its development during the Second World War has been variously credited to Donald Hings, radio engineer Alfred J. Gross, Henryk Magnuski and engineering teams at Motorola. First used for infantry, similar designs were created for field artillery and tank units, and after the war, walkie-talkies spread to public safety and eventually commercial and jobsite work.
Yaesu is a Japanese brand of amateur radio equipment, founded as Yaesu Musen Co., Ltd. in 1959 by a Japanese radio amateur Sako Hasegawa in Yaesu, Japan, a district of Tokyo.
Project 25 is a suite of standards for interoperable digital two-way radio products. P25 was developed by public safety professionals in North America and has gained acceptance for public safety, security, public service, and commercial applications worldwide. P25 radios are a direct replacement for analog UHF radios, adding the ability to transfer data as well as voice for more natural implementations of encryption and text messaging. P25 radios are commonly implemented by dispatch organizations, such as police, fire, ambulance and emergency rescue service, using vehicle-mounted radios combined with repeaters and handheld walkie-talkie use.
Icom Inc. is a Japanese manufacturer of radio transmitting and receiving equipment, founded in 1954 by Tokuzo Inoue with the company's original name being "Inoue". Its products now include equipment for radio amateurs, pilots, maritime applications, land mobile professional applications, and radio scanner enthusiasts.
Kenwood is a Japanese brand of consumer electronics. It has been owned by JVCKenwood since October 2011, when Kenwood Corporation merged with JVC. Kenwood manufactures audio equipment such as AM/FM stereo receivers, cassette tape decks/recorders, amateur radio (ham) equipment, radios, cellular phones, speakers, and other consumer electronics.
A signaller, signalman, colloquially referred to as a radioman or signaleer in the armed forces is a specialist soldier, sailor or airman responsible for military communications. Signallers, a.k.a. Combat Signallers or signalmen or women, are commonly employed as radio or telephone operators, relaying messages for field commanders at the front line, through a chain of command which includes field headquarters. Messages are transmitted and received via a communications infrastructure comprising fixed and mobile installations.
D-STAR is a digital voice and data protocol specification for amateur radio. The system was developed in the late 1990s by the Japan Amateur Radio League and uses minimum-shift keying in its packet-based standard. There are other digital modes that have been adapted for use by amateurs, but D-STAR was the first that was designed specifically for amateur radio.
NXDN stands for Next Generation Digital Narrowband, and is an open standard for public land mobile radio systems; that is, systems of two-way radios (transceivers) for bidirectional person-to-person voice communication. It was developed jointly by Icom Incorporated and Kenwood Corporation as an advanced digital system using FSK modulation that supports encrypted transmission and data as well as voice transmission. Like other land mobile systems, NXDN systems use the VHF and UHF frequency bands. It is also used as a niche mode in amateur radio.
Digital mobile radio (DMR) is a digital radio standard for voice and data transmission in non-public radio networks. It was created by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), and is designed to be low-cost and easy to use. DMR, along with P25 phase II and NXDN are the main competitor technologies in achieving 6.25 kHz equivalent bandwidth using the proprietary AMBE+2 vocoder. DMR and P25 II both use two-slot TDMA in a 12.5 kHz channel, while NXDN uses discrete 6.25 kHz channels using frequency division and TETRA uses a four-slot TDMA in a 25 kHz channel.
A personal radio service is any system that allows individuals to operate radio transmitters and receivers for personal purposes with minimal or no special license or individual authorization. Personal radio services exist around the world and typically use light-weight walkie talkie portable radios. The power output, antenna size, and technical characteristics of the equipment are set by regulations in each country. Many regions have standardized personal radio service rules to allow travelers from one country to use their equipment in another country. Examples of standardized services include PMR446 and FM Citizens Band Radio (CB) in the EU and several other countries/regions. 26–27 MHz CB radio is the oldest personal radio service and is used in nearly every country worldwide, with many countries and regions copying the United States 40-channel frequency plan. In many countries, CB radio is less popular due to the availability of other personal radio services that offer shorter antennas and better protection from noise and interference.
Gold Apollo Co., Ltd. is a Taiwanese manufacturer of wireless paging systems.
M17 is a digital radio modulation mode developed by Wojciech Kaczmarski et al. M17 is primarily designed for voice communications on the VHF amateur radio bands, and above. The project received a grant from the Amateur Radio Digital Communications in 2021 and 2022. The protocol has been integrated into several hardware and software projects. In 2021, Kaczmarski received the ARRL Technical Innovation Award for developing an open-source digital radio communication protocol, leading to further advancements in amateur radio.
The ICOM IC-705 is a multimode HF/VHF/UHF portable amateur radio transceiver. The radio has 5 watts of output when using its internal battery and 10 watts of output when using external power. With the rise in award programs such as Summits on the Air, and Parks on the Air this lightweight fully functional radio is a popular choice for people using them in the field. The IC-705 has support for a wide variety of commonly used amateur radio modes including ICOM's proprietary digital voice mode D-STAR. The IC-705 is also one of the first mainstream amateur radios to use SDR technology instead of the older superheterodyne design. Additionally the IC-705 has multiple extra features that are useful when operating in the field. Supporting the radio's D-STAR module is a GPS receiver to allow users to send their location though the D-STAR network as well as help locate nearby repeater systems. In addition to the GPS receiver the radio supports 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi which allows users to connect their computers or tablets to the IC-705 for running digital data modes such as PSK31, Winlink, and FT8. The radio has been praised for its size, easy to use menus, large easy to read screen and the quality of its build. Common criticisms of the radio include its lack of a built in antenna tuner and its price compared to other more powerful radios on the market.
The ICOM IC-7100 is a multimode HF/VHF/UHF mobile amateur radio transceiver. The IC-7100 has support for a wide variety of commonly used amateur radio modes including ICOMs proprietary digital voice mode DSTAR. Additionally the radio offers 100 watts on HF, 50 watts on VHF, and 35 watts on UHF. The IC-7100 is unique in that it has a large detachable control head with a slanted display so the transmitter can be installed elsewhere in a vehicle or home. The receiver used in the IC-7100 is a triple conversion superheterodyne and has excellent DSP and audio filters. The IC-7100 allows for connection to a computer over USB which enables the radio to be used for popular digital modes such as FT8, Winlink, and Packet Operation. Locations of nearby repeaters and sending APRS locations can be done with an optional GPS receiver attachment. Notable features that the IC-7100 lacks is an internal antenna tuner.
The ICOM IC-905 is a multimode VHF/UHF/SHF portable amateur radio transceiver. The radio has between 10 and 0.5 watts of transmitter output depending on the frequency selected. The radio was announced by ICOM on 22 August 2022 at the Tokyo Ham Radio Fair in Japan. The IC-905 has support for a wide variety of commonly used amateur radio modes including the Japan Amateur Radio League's digital voice mode DSTAR. The form factor of the control head for the IC-905 is similar to that of the IC-705 and includes its large screen and spectrum scope. With the radio unit being remotely controlled from a distance in order to reduce loss over long coax cable runs. This is an important adaptation for this radio system as losses increase with the frequency being used. The IC-905 uses a built in GPS receiver to stabilize its frequency and time base. It has been noted that the IC-905 has a wide range of frequencies but lacks the 222MHz and 902MHz amateur bands as these are only available in North America and not Japan. The unit supports up to four external antennas and has built in support for wired Ethernet, USB Type C and an SD card reader. The addition of a USB connector allows users to connect their computers to the IC-905 for running digital data modes such as PSK31, or FT8, the integration of Ethernet support will be a useful feature for mobile contesters.
On 17 and 18 September 2024, thousands of handheld pagers and hundreds of walkie-talkies intended for use by Hezbollah exploded simultaneously across Lebanon and Syria in an Israeli attack. As of 22 September 2024, 42 people had died, including at least 12 civilians. The incident was described as Hezbollah's biggest security breach since the start of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict in October 2023.
