It has been shown that radio communication in almost all sectors will pay for itself in increased productivity. The ability to ask and answer a question that may otherwise “hold up the show” at the push of a button keeps that show moving on down the road. Communication at a site and even between sites can be clipped to the lapel of your PPE.

The ability to instantly communicate is an integral part of any safety program. Radio communication as a structured part of that safety program may assist with COR, lower your long term cost of doing business, and better ensure that all go home at the end of the shift.

What Type of Radio Should You Use?

There are portable (hand held), mobile (usually vehicle mounted), and base station (fixed) radios. There are also three commonly used frequency ranges suitable for different applications. The frequency range best for a task will depend on the location and the nature of the site.

• 800 MHz – 800 MHz is the shortest of the commonly used radio waves. This gives it the ability to penetrate structures. It is also most commonly used in a trunked radio system. A trunked radio system is a bank of repeaters set up in a series allowing many users to use the system simultaneously without experiencing the system to be busy and therefore unable to communicate. Through the use of unique access codes programmed into the radios each group of users is kept separate and their conversations private. Sundance Radio maintains a powerful trunked system based on the top of Banker’s Hall in downtown Calgary affording coverage to our customers from Airdrie to Okotoks and equidistant east and west. This system is also ideally suited to communication in very tall structures; while a radio may only be able to communicate approximately 12-15 stories in a building downtown, a portable radios signal can easily escape the taller structures and be repeated by our system to be received by another radio across town or 45 floors up.
• UHF (ultrahigh frequency) – UHF operates between 400 and 470 MHz. While most 800 MHz portables are only 2-3 watts, UHF portable are 4-5 watts. This gives a UHF portable the ability to penetrate on average 12-15 floors without being repeated (the signal goes directly from one radio to all other radios on the same frequency). UHF is ideally suited to smaller sites (lessthan10-12 stories) and can operate as an independent system or group of radios without the need to be repeated.
• VHF (very high frequency) – VHF operates between 136 and 174 MHz and is the longest of the three commonly used radio waves. This, watt for watt, also generally gives it the longest unrepeated range. VHF is the standard in Canada for communication in the transportation and resource sectors and is quickly surpassing CB (citizens band) as the standard in North America. VHF is ideally suited to job sites where distance, not structure that needs to be penetrated, is the major communication hurdle, and more often than not rural in location.

Why Choose Sundance Radio?

Since 2005 Sundance Radio has been representing Kenwood radios in the greater Calgary area. For the same time we have operated an 800 MHz trunked radio system that has recently relocated to the top of Banker’s Hall giving our customers far greater coverage than before; greater in fact than other private systems in the city. Sundance Radio has extensive experience in all marketplace radio applications; from oil and gas to construction and manufacturing, from government and nonprofit to private sector.

With the advent of digital, Sundance Radio has gained considerable experience with the networking of larger digital systems and achieved several firsts in the transfer of radio born digital data into different industry specific software suites. Additionally, with the increased focus on safety in all sectors today, we have gained considerable experience in the field of Intrinsic Safety. Kenwood has the highest rated portable with the greatest power output on the market. Allow us to guide you through the process of choosing the right product for your application.

Sundance Radio is a Certified Kenwood Warranty Facility. We have the ability to service most major brands of radios and manage many existing radio fleets with an eye to optimizing an existing fleet through migration of the equipment to maximize the benefit to the customer. Don’t throw out what you have, make it work better for you.

Not only do we service what we sell, we also have a considerable inventory available for short or long term rental. Rental is a great option for one of a kind or infrequent jobs as well as seasonal applications. Additionally, the rental of the equipment can be immediately billed to the cost of the job as opposed to being depreciated as a capital investment over time. Rental rates begin as low as $55 per month with additional pricing for week and long weekend periods.

At Sundance Radio our size (or lack thereof) is our greatest strength. With a lower yet more unique and specialized sales volume you will usually get the same person, already familiar with your needs, when you call. For this reason we are also always ready to visit on site to tailor a solution to any given issue you may have. The site visit is our way of introducing ourselves to the end user, ensuring the equipment is familiar to that end user to increase your productivity, and is at no cost to you. Please do not hesitate to use us as a resource.

For an evaluation of your need and suggestions for the best solution,
please contact Grant Carlson @ 403.301.2700.