Analogue v Digital - is it time to change?

Posted on October 30, 2018

Analogue communications have been around for a long time and there are still radio systems that still use this form of technology. However, it’s time to change and join the digital revolution, as many already have, and upgrade from analogue to digital radio.

So, why should you make the change? If you’ve being using analogue radios to communicate for all this time, why shouldn’t you just stick to traditional technology? Here’s why we think you should make the move to digital:

Analogue is Still Around

Analogue two-way radios utilise ageing technology, especially compared to the benefits that digital radios have over their traditional counterparts. Analogue technology is still broadly used in pretty much all industries, and can be suitable for many situations, however analogue is being left behind with little in the way of innovation and is struggling to keep pace with the features digital technology offers. Not least in the many benefits of digital is the far superior audio quality, and with radios being the prime way of communication in high-risk situations involving the military, security and public safety, the technology behind them has to be at its best.

Digital is Crisp and Clearer

Analogue signals degrade gradually over distance, while digital audio works at the same high quality right to the edge of range, then… just stops. This effectively increases the usable coverage area of a radio system. Whereas noisy audio signals are nearly unreadable, digital audio stays crisp and clear, and that’s because with digital, there’s no actual audio within the signal, just data. It’s a big improvement for those using them in noisy environments involving crowds or machinery because the digital technology is designed to only process voice sound, reducing, or even eliminating background noise.

Battery Life

Making two-way radios more user friendly with a longer battery life is a constant challenge. However, the use of two-slot simplex technology can increase a radio’s battery life between 30% and 50% compared with analogue handsets. A single call will only use one of the two available channels, so it only requires half of the radio transmitter’s capacity. The other half, which is not being used for a call remains idle. In fact, both analogue and digital radios consume about the same power in standby mode so the efficiency gain is in the channel that is idle, it’s not using power, and that’s what helps save battery life.

Digitally Secure

A digital two-way radio is easier to secure than analogue. Analogue two-way radios tend to suffer from a notable loss in voice quality when scrambled for privacy purposes.

DMR Digital

DMR is an international digital radio standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), and first ratified in 2005. Entel are a member of the DMR Mobile Radio Association and the digital range of handsets are all DMR compliant. Don’t worry about having to change all your radios at the same time, Entel DMR combine digital and analogue technology making it easier to make the transition. See the Entel DMR digital range here.