Hello, I am considering getting a new cell phone for my office (I am the Constable) that has PTT and can be used as a portable radio . Meaning I want to be able to use the PTT to transmit and receive on my cell phone. We are using a P25 system and I am looking to bluetooth up my phone to a vehicle radio, I am currently looking at the Motorola Motorola Solutions LEX L11, but I am VERY new to all this. I am trying to eliminate using BOTH a portable and a cell. My current comm gear is all Kenwood (county issue) ..
suggestions as to how to make this happen?

I suspect that if it can be done reliably (which I doubt) since it would defeat the purpose of using P25 radios, it will be pretty expensive, and in the end, not worth the trouble. If nothing else you'll have to have your phone on continuous charge and speaker in order to have it 'live' all the time in case someone calls you on their actual radio.

Of course, it may be as easy as buying the right software but, really, what's the drawback of just using the county equipment instead of yours? Just get a handheld that has the right channels on it

quote:

Motorola Solutions LEX L11

No experience, but I'd be wary of anything that still boasts "Android 7.1". Newest is 12, that hardware probably doesn't support it. Eventually, at will get left behind, and sooner rather than later.

A smartphone/radio might be right for work-specific use (IE, custom apps), but I doubt it will be a good solution as a personal cell / work radio.

That said, this is a question for your radio hardware provider. No use buying something they can't work with.

I have the handheld, it is nice, but it is redundant to have both on me, not to mention the portable is just one more peice of gear to slow me down. I am looking to make my cell do a LOT more for me. it is giong to replece my BWC, upload auto to the cloud, be my hotspot , all that

https://www.kenwood.com/usa/com/lmr/nx-5700_5800/

here is the vehicle radio I have coming in. I may try to synch ot with that also

https://www.firstnet.com/devic...lutions-lex-l11.html

here is the cell I am considering

I think something to consider is your county repeater system versus your counties coverage by cell networks. If you can tap the repeaters from all over the county, that could be a benefit if the cell phone providers don’t or can’t cover 100% of your county.

The next thing to consider is what happens in a no shit tornado strikes emergency, taking down Comms or Cell towers. Who is going to respond quick enough to get your county supported Comms or private sector supported Cell back working again?

I'm a bit confused. Do you want to just use your cellphone as an extension of your mobile using bluetooth? meaning that it only works in very close proximity to the mobile. Or do you want your cell phone to be more like a portable radio.
The former really doesn't take much work but range will truly be very limited and some combinations of radio and phone don't get along very well. we do that with backup headsets on our firetrucks and you'll be lucky for 50ft. There are some companies making bluetooth range extenders but I have no experience. We were once offered a demo system that suggested they could do 900ft even in the awful RF environment at a fire, but we didn't pursue it.
If the latter you really need something like Zello hooked to another radio somewhere else and then you can use the cell phone like a portable. We use this to extend the range of our radio system outside its licensed area and it works pretty well.
But sadly if you want real reliability and range you just need to get a P25 portable or an invehicle .

On our 800mhz system, which replaced our P25 system, I could talk state-wide (and cross border when the correct switches were pressed in Dispatch) with my handset - even in places I could not get cell coverage.

SR Bull and fellas. Yes at a minimum i would like my cell ,via bluetooth, to double as my portable..imagine this is a basic as pairing my phone with the portable, but in a perfect world, I would like to be able to go farther than 50 feet, if I can hit my portable via Bluetooth, it stands to reason I should be able to synch and do the same with my vehicle radio???