Help with 2 way radio's

Help with 2 way radio\'s

Hi all
i need some advice on which are the best to buy for the money $ COBRA @ MIDLAND @ MOTOROLA @ UNIDEN
I tried a search but with no luck /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif

Many Thanks

Re: Help with 2 way radio\'s

How much $? FRS/GMRS? Some run on 4AAA. I like the one that take 3AA.

Re: Help with 2 way radio\'s

Hi TheBeam
about $60.00 for a pair of FRS/GMRS looking at Amazon,com prices
up-to now I've only seen the 4AAA Ones
just found out that i can use them on my bike if i can get them with VOX /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif & a as baby-phone

Which ones take 3AAA
Thanks

Re: Help with 2 way radio\'s

I've got to tell you, that it is worth spending some extra money on these. I have had them all from the bubble pack ones to UHF programmables.

Here is what I know:
1. If you just want to talk around a field, no obstructions, just get the moto radios. You want the ones with all the squelch codes and you do not need the GMRS channels (you need a license for GMRS). These are the lowest power devices (500mW rings a bell), the shortest range, the crummiest audio etc... Best to consider these basically toys. They are all now built in the consumer factories in China - consumer quality.

2. If you need more distance invest in better GMRS capable radios. They have more power, but more importantly they have a better antenna. You will get about twice the distance of the FRS units in the same terrain. They come in both 1W and 2W versions. Typically, doubling the power only gets you 1.4X the range. I have had the Moto talkabouts (best of all of them), the Unidens (audio is crummy and buttons can get changed while in your pocket or harness).

3. If you are serious about radios, go to eBay and buy some used UHF equipment that covers the range of 460-470Mhz. My choice is Kenwood since you can get the programming sw and cable for cheap on ebay too. You can program your radio up to be FRS or GMRS capable. These units have the best receivers, best antennas, and they are all but indestructible. These radios are weather proof, have the best audio, come with lots of excellent options like good quality speaker mikes, rapid chargers, industrial strength batteries, service etc..

The first solution will be ~$50. The second about $100-200 depending on the quality. The third solution is about $250 and, if you use these frequently (IMHO) the overall cheapest. Options #1 and #2 will be hard to get replacement chargers, replacement parts etc.. when the units are out of production (which is soon). For example, if you lose the charger or it dies, it may cost you more than the radio to replace it.

As an example, we were skiing with a large bunch of people this year at Steamboat. Most had the bubble pack moto radios. My wife and I had our Kenwood UHF radios (4W). We could easily talk all the way from the summit of Steamboat to the base parking lot and farther. The people standing right along side, and with a group at mid mountain could not talk from top to bottom, and the group mid mountain could talk with some difficulty. However, they couldn't necessarily hear us. We talked static free, no problem.

We have them programmed to the GMRS freqs (we are licensed) and have them set to 4W. The radios that we use are the Kenwood TK-372 (32 Channel) , 378 and the 2W TK-3101 (16 channel).

Another good consumer but better than the bubble pack units is the TK3131 from Kenwood. You can get them for about $130 or so on the internet. The best part about these is that they come with a rapid charger, they support all the 38 squelch codes, PLUS quite a number of digital codes. This means you can pretty much have a private conversation or no interference since I don't know of any other consumer FRS or GMRS radios that support Digital squelch codes.

Since many commercial radio systems are being replaced by cellular or nextel, you can get great used UHF equipment for cheap. This stuff is infinitly better than new off the shelf FRS or GMRS hardware in general - much of it mil spec - for about the same money.

Hope this helps. PM me if you need more information.

J

Re: Help with 2 way radio\'s

I have a pair of uniden gmrs 520
they were 20 bucks a pair at best buy

very basic with 5 gmrs channels

they work pretty good if you loose them you are only out 20 bucks

what is the advantage of gmrs ?

Re: Help with 2 way radio\'s

wow Thanks for taking the time to post that long message /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif JohnJ80
Thats just the information i was after,
the Kenwood TK-3131 looks good & not too expensive + vox
& I'll have a look for the Moto talkabouts
but now you have set me off on the Kenwood /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
it looks like you get what you pay for in the long run,

Thanks again /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

markdi i think its just that you can talk over longer distance
ie:FRS (Family Radio Service).up-to 1 to 2 miles
GMRS(General Mobile Radio Service) 2 + miles

Re: Help with 2 way radio\'s

I have some of these , I bought them at Sams Club. (Note the price difference).

I noticed you are in the UK. I'm not sure if you're supposed to be on these frequencies or not. It won't bother me. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re: Help with 2 way radio\'s

Thats over half price /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Yes you are right we are not suppose to use these frequencies over here /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif But ever one dose, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif ebay's full of them & i can get some TALKABOUT T5950 there for about the same price as sam club with a lot of luck,

So with all this great & helpful info from you all i think its going to be the TALKABOUT T5950 which will be best for me

Thank you all for your help & knowledge /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif

Re: Help with 2 way radio\'s

FRS is limited, if I recall, to 500mW and an antenna that is not removable (so you get a cheap one).

GMRS is limited to 50W (although probably not more than 5W in a portable/handheld). You must be licensed to use a GMRS radio although many people buy them and don't get licensed.

There are fewer radios with GMRS channels on them and most of the toy radios (bubble pack ones) don't have GMRS channels. So, if you are on GMRS - even in my experience skiing on a large mountain with a lot of people with radios, you probably won't hear anyone else. Using the digital squelch codes, it would be a big surprise if you heard anyone else at all.

The GMRS license is worth it just to properly use the higher power and better antenna radios. In my experience it is very much you get what you pay for in these things. I have a whole boneyard of old GMRS radios (consumer grade) that just didn't hold up with the rough use and weather that we get skiing and using them outdoors and around boats. Some of they die if you drop them - consumer grade junk. Not so with the UHF stuff that is commercial grade.

One of the big reasons we have them is safety (not a problem if you only use them at the mall).

Incidentally, you can purchase a TK378 on ebay for about $149 each with charger. This unit can be programmed from the keypad on front with directions. You can also get a TK3101 for about $125 if you keep your eyes open (ebay).
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=56988&item=3828839540&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

This is programmed for GMRS freqs and you can change the squelch code with the controls on the radio for any of the 16 channels. You can also program it for any other UHF freq around the GMRS freqs. You can also program it with digital codes.

FYI, you won't get 5 miles out of the talkabouts. I have used the older ones (I have two sets since retired) which I think were better radios (quasi commercial) than the ones out now and they never got that kind of distance even over water. 2-3 was about the best. Most of the people in my previous post (about Steamboat) had Moto talkabouts.

J

Re: Help with 2 way radio\'s

I have some Talkabout T5720 (I think) that work great. Many in my unit bought some sort of the GMRS or FRs (mostly the ocmbos) for use as squad or team radios when we were doing our trainup before leaving the states. The Motorolas seemed to work the best, the Unidens were junk. The 5720 can be used with either three alakaline double A's, or with a rechargeable battery pack (just 3 NiCad AA's in shrink wrap with the charging terminals). The set I bought had the two radios, two battery packs, and the charger which can charge the batteries either in or out of the radio. My buddy (we actually split the cost of the radios) bought an extra charger/battery set so we'd both have a charger and a spare battery.
The AAA radios are nice because they are smaller, but the battery life is much shorter from my experience with them.

Re: Help with 2 way radio\'s

I went with some Motorolla Talk abouts FRS. Good (not great) quality and can get a mile over fairly open terrain. We had some cheaper ones initially. I'd get at least the Motos to start.
Then again you can get your ham ticket and go a long way with repeaters /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif You can start in the $200-300 range, but it can be like flashlights /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re: Help with 2 way radio\'s

I have a set of the Cobra FRS and am very happy with them. I have tested them out for distance and have gotten 5+ miles of clear communcations from mountain top to a radio inside our house. We were amazed. Clear day and no obstructions.

With obstructions, the distance and clarity drops drastically.

---------------
"Our civilization is not Christian. It does not come from the skies. It is not a result of "inspiration." It is the child of invention, of discovery, of applied knowledge -- that is to say, of science." -Robert Green Ingersoll

Re: Help with 2 way radio\'s

I worked at a retail store for a while and we needed some portable FRS radios to communicate with other managers across the store. We used a few radios from different manufacturers, Motorola, Cobra and Audiovox. The radios needed to work in an interference saturated environment
what with 100's of electronics running at the same time. Out of all the radios we used the Audiovox radios had the best performance. I'd rate the Motorola Talk About radios at the very bottom.

I was so impressed with the Audiovox radios that I purchased some for personal use. The range is good and varies anywhere between 300' in heavy foliage areas to a little over a mile over open terrain (e.g. highway).

Depending on how much you're looking to spend you might want to consider a "professional grade" radio. I'm using the Yaesu VX-7R for Ham radio. It puts out 5 Watts and I can easily hit a repeater at the 2 watt power setting from 8 miles away.

Re: Help with 2 way radio\'s

Height is way more important than power in UHF that is why you got the distance on the mountaintop down. The next most important thing is the antenna.

You won't get 5 miles probably even over water and certainly not if there are any trees around (you can easily drop to less than a mile). Our talkabouts won't go 4 miles over the water.

On that same mountain if there was a small ridgeline in the way, you'd have been out of luck.

j

Re: Help with 2 way radio\'s

like flashlight i aways like to find the best one's /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
this could work out expensive, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif
but it's better to be safe than sorry
Thank you all for your help /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif

Re: Help with 2 way radio\'s

All depends on what you want and need - ie. application.

I noticed the other day, that the moto branded frs radios cheapies are really manufactured under license from moto but are probably not designed or mfg by them. if you read the fine print at the bottom of the package, you can see this.

on the higher end units, then it is a moto design and they should be pretty good. But there you will be paying much more money anyhow. Moto is not a low cost mfg company.

I personally wouldn't waste my money on the cheapies. They are going to be sub consumer grade electronics made in some high volume toy factory in china. The components will be cut rate, temp range will be poor etc...

I did buy some extended range Uniden units at home depot ($59 for two) that cover GMRS channels too. They work great in the house, have decent distance, but you can't hear them well in outdoors where I like them LOUD. Worse yet the mics are very sensitive to wind noise. So, that was a waste.

My older moto GMRS radios are still good and they work although they are not as durable by a long was as my Kenwood gear. I would still be using them if I hadn't had the chargers fail or get lost. Replacing them is almost as much as a new radio. So, what's the point in that?

This website
http://www.popularwireless.com/gmrs.html

while it hasn't been updated in a while has some good equipment reviews and good info on GMRS.

J

Re: Help with 2 way radio\'s

Thanks J

sorry for not getting back to you sooner but I've been reading your link,
That's a really good link /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.giflots of useful info for me,

Re: Help with 2 way radio\'s

Glad to help.

I've become a radio-aholic (GMRS) in the last couple of months. I got tired of the junk toys out there. We need ours to work well because of the marine enviroment we work in and the rescue work we do. Too, you can't replace them with cell phones. Cell phones are really hard to hear on a windy boat and and you can't hear them ring outside well either.

We live on a river with steep banks. So, we use the radios for communication down to the dock since running up and down a 54 step staircase just isn't all that convenient. I also just bought a mobile (like for a car mount) UHF radio (45W output) and put a real antenna up on the house, mounted the radio over the desk in the kitchen. We can cover about a 10 mile radius from the house so that is how we talk to our boats when someone is out of the river.

The ski area that we are ski patrollers at uses UHF radios too. So, we programmed one channel up for the ski area and the rest to GMRS freqs. We give the kids a TK3131 or one of our older moto radios to run around the ski area with and we scan between that GMRS channel and our ski patrol channel. You can't do any of that with the toy stuff that is out there.

Then when we go out west skiing for fun, we take the radios and have great coverage. Because we have one channel programmed with the digitial squelch codes, of which no bubble pack radio has support for, we can talk to each other in a big crowd of radios on any channel we want without any interference.

I paid $125 for each of the 3131's, I paid $149 for a TK-378 (does not have dig squelch codes) and $270 each for two TK-372 (32 channel) brand new. The TK-860 mobile I bought on ebay for about $170.

We also use them for when we go for family bike rides since its difficult to yell back and forth. We also use them when the kids want to ride their bikes while we walk the dog on a long walk, The kids can explore (little kids 10 and 12 yrs old) and be somewhat independent, but we are just a radio call away.

I've got a little more into it than most folks but then again, I'm never buying a new one for one that broke either. We use them every day - literally.

Works great.

J

Re: Help with 2 way radio\'s

Let me add to my previous post. I was impressed enough with the higher end Motorola GMRS radios, that the ones that my buddy and I bought with the intent of using them in potentially life and death combat situations that we bought a pair for use as squad radios. We used them during our trainup (getting ready to deploy to the Middle East, mostly Iraq, but a couple other places) in Wester nad Eastern Washington. They didn't like being soaked in the rain, but worked fine after drying out. I doubt there are too many radios of any type that can hadle being out in the rain, including some downpours for 12 hours. They held up to the freezing cold and snow in Eastern Washington fine though.
You're supposed to get a license (free) from the FCC to use the GMRS freqs, and even if your radio has them at all, but we didn't really think there'd be too many regulators/inspectors in a war zone /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re: Help with 2 way radio\'s

GMRS licenses cost $75 last time I looked.