Systems can range from in-building coverage only to wide area coverage trunking systems capable of reaching multiple states. Generally portables will only give these falsely advertised claims when they are out in the open, such as in a field, or hill to hill, where obstructions are minimized. A base station can be added at any time to a system. They pick up the weaker signals from portables and mobiles and re-transmit them at a higher transmitter power simultaneously for better communications range. While portables are generally less expensive than a base station, in most cases they do not fit the application properly.
Portable radios operate from batteries, and also are lower power then a mobile or base.
In a wide area coverage type system, portables are meant to supplement the operation of mobile units, not replace them. No, we do not. These are a proprietary system, and in most cases across the country, there isn't any competition to these type of systems, so once you buy them, you are locked into that company for Air-time, Service, and Equipment. These systems also have a higher per month cost associated with them. In one year alone, just in the different cost of airtime alone, you could save the cost of a TRUE dispatch radio system.