Walkie talkie checklist for events in Malaysia
By Jolene Wong
A practical checklist for renting radios for an event in Malaysia: how many, which teams, batteries, earpieces, coverage and handing them back.
An event has one day to get it right. Most radio trouble at events is not the radio. It is flat batteries by evening, too few channels for the teams, and crews who have never used a radio. A checklist fixes most of it.
When you book
- Count the people who must be reachable, then add a few spares.
- Group them into teams, such as stage, ushers, security and logistics, and decide which teams need their own channel.
- Pick the series: Motorola R5, TDMR DR6 or MyTetra, or Hytera S1 Pro for orders under 20 units.
- Choose the period: 1 day, 3 days, 7 days or 1 month. Count setup and teardown days too.
- Book early for big dates.
Batteries
- Work out how long your longest shift runs, from setup to the last guest leaving.
- Order spare batteries for long days. On one four-day job, the crew took one spare battery for every radio.
- Charge everything the night before, and decide where the chargers sit on site.
Earpieces
Crew near the audience or on stage should wear surveillance earpieces, so guests do not hear your radio traffic. Earpieces are charged separately at a low rate.
Coverage
Indoor halls, open fields and stadiums all behave differently. At a stadium in Bukit Jalil, the stands and roof change how the signal travels. If your venue is large or has several floors, ask me about coverage before the day, even for a short job.
On the day
- Show the crew how to use the radio: press, wait a moment, then speak.
- Label each radio with its team and channel.
- Name one person to hand out radios and collect them at the end. Each radio carries a security deposit, which depends on the series.
Send me your dates, headcount and venue, and I will check availability and suggest the setup.
