Motorola CB200 Call Box

The CB200 is an analog call box: a fixed station that puts a radio call button on a wall, so a customer at a service desk, a driver at a gate or a worker at a machine can reach the radio fleet without carrying a radio.

The specification that makes it practical is the power. It runs on AA batteries at 4.0 V, and Motorola publishes a battery life of one year based on an average of seven uses per day. That means no wiring and no outlet at the mounting point, which is usually the whole reason a call box is chosen over a fixed radio.

It is a single-channel device operating on 151 to 154 MHz or 452 to 470 MHz depending on model, with channel bandwidths of 11.25 and 20 kHz on the VHF band and 12.5 and 25 kHz on UHF, the 25 kHz option being Canada only. Motorola gives range coverage of up to 130,000 square feet in retail coverage.

It measures 7.5 by 4.3 by 1.2 in and weighs 454 g (1 lb) with the standard alkaline batteries fitted.