2-way radios

K

KyCoyoteHunter

New member
any one have any recomendations on a good 2 way radio? I purchased a pair of Cobras from wal-mart for 72 after they would not reach further than 3/4 a mile.

any body have any suggestions on what type to get
Thanks
 
Anything from the Motorola family of FRS radios will do fine. I think mine are the 6220s and they are great. I started out with a pair of origional talkabout 250s and even those worked good. They have really come down in price over the years. And they are now selling them by the pairs.

Remember that terrain will always dictate the reach out capability of the radios.
 
I bought a set of Motorola FRS radios this year. They are supposed to offer a 10 mile range over water or flat terrain. I left one with my wife here at home and got in the truck and drove stopping occasionally to see if we could communicate. We lost reliable communication at 4 1/2 miles. Now, my house is on a ridgetop and I stopped on a ridge at the last place we could talk to each other. But there is plenty of rough terrain in between and we talked through all the ups and downs on the county highway. I bought them for here on the farm and deer hunting to keep track of my 71 year old Dad in the big timber. We're seldom more than a mile from each other and this should keep us in touch. Two years ago he took a wrong turn and ended up semi-lost in some real rough country. To top it off, he killed a deer there and wasn't quite sure if he could return and find it. This should help rein in the old man. He's too stubborn to sit on the same stand as me.
 
Hi, One vote for Motorola FRS also. We started with FR-60's and still use them. Have used them in a few side by side comparison even with motorola commercial radios. The FR-60 even beat those. Have used a few other brands Midland, Uniden, Radio Shack. Motorola is best. To me it also seems better and cheaper to get radios that take 3 AA batteries. A good earbud with a flexible ear loop and PTT mic keep things quiet and private. Get 1-10 miles of real range.
 
ky coyote hunter nearly every one around here use vhf marine radios handhelds with nicad rechargable batteries will last all day with a lot of radio traffic, they will reach a couple miles in tick cover also we all have vhf base units in our trucks that will reach 10/15 miles.when we are hunting with hounds comm. is a big deal.
 
Hi, Just a word of caution. We were going to try vhf marine until we saw on the evening news where the FCC tracked down some non marine users in our area and fined them heavily. We were told vhf should cut brush. So our next step was to buy commercial vhf motorola 2 watt nicad. They performed good. Then on a hunt in fairly open rolling ground one person brought several motorola fr-60 .5 watt. We tried them side by side to the vhf. The fr-60 blew them away even at the closest ranges just over a hilltop 3-400 yds. We sold the vhf's. I inquired at the local Motorola dealer about this and got a quick answer in greek to me. So in general they said something like this. Vhf signals are strong point to point and will bend a little. Uhf signals bounce around and seem to get better coverage and surprise people when a .5 watt frs radio sends and recieves an emergency call 100 miles away(true story). We just recently bought a bunch of motorola uhf 2 watts on the advice of an electronics friend, but have not tested them yet. So it seems that type of radio and area of use(terrain) has some bearing on performance.
 
I recieved a pair of Motorola T5100 Talkabout radios as a Christmas gift back in December of 2001. They cost less than $40 for the pair. They are the BEST radios I have ever owned. I have used them as far away as 3 miles. We usually use them in a range of up to 2 miles. They are a great product.
 
Tripod,
Our hunting group uses Marine band radios as well for hound hunting. I know the FCC probably wouldn't like it too much that many people are using the marine radios on land use. But until we get fined we'll keep using them, not the best mindset, but thats the way we are gonna do it. The marine radios use VHF radio waves, 156 mhz and they get out better than an ordinary BD radio. Especaiily without all the noise and skip. Normal range for a mobile is 10-15 like Coydogn said, and the handhelds are about 5 miles. (5 watt handheld)
Well see ya later, MOyotehunter
 
MOyotehunter, We were about to buy the marine radios when this bust aired on the news. Well it did as intended and spooked us. But if we already had them, we would probably do like you and claim complete ignorance if ever caught. Glad you're getting moneys worth. We're happy with ours but can see where extra few miles could help with running dogs. Hounds, baiting, and trapping were outlawed here some years back but are now being allowed in certain cases and in problem areas now.
 
Been using a mix of Cobra, Midland, and Motorola handheld FRS/GMRS radios with the military for squad level chatter. They all work about equal. They all have a difficult time when used in vehicles and trying to talk from a lead to rear convoy vehicle. In open terrain they all work well. As soon as you add in buildings, vehicles, thick vegetation they all start to diminish in range very quick.

On a personal note I've been very happy with the customer service at Cobra.
 
Hey, I know, you all could get your Amateur Radio license and talk with up to 200 watts of power legally. I know that much power is not practical out in the field while hunting but you could use a Ham radio HT unit that puts out 5-6 watts. I use mine that way and I can program any frequency that I want into it readily. The range on my ham radio is 8 miles (Loud and Clear) in the roughest terrain and even over hills. If anyone is interested in Amateur radio, you can go to www.qrz.com and scroll down on the lower left side and then click on "Practice Tests,". Take the "Technician" test as many times as you want until you can pass each test everytime you take it, then schedule a test with a VEC in your area and go take it. Then you can put a VHF/UHF dual band radio in your truck and talk over a 100 miles, and it's all legal. These power limits have been set aside by the FCC itself and the higher license class you go up in, the more power you can use, up to 1500 Watts of power for World Wide communications. I think anyone who has the slightest interest in talking on a quality radio would love the Amateur Radio World.

Just my $.02 worth.
 
I have a friend that had a bell south radio and i was not too impressed with it. Speaker kind of sucked and the thing just seemed to be put together very cheap.
 
Another vote for Motorolas. I use the cheap talkabouts for calling with a buddy. We use VOX and headsets on vibrate mode. Works great. Tried the Cobras but they sucked bad. Maybe they are better now, but my cheap motorola pair from Costco works great and they are thre years old already.

If you look close, you can see the boom mike under my chin.

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My buds and I use the littlest ones we can buy. With the headsets, you never hear anything until a bud talks to you and nothing else can hear him talking to you. I've found that the push to talk mikes with earbuds work best for us, they don't run down the batteries so fast as the voice activated ones.
 
I wanted to tell you guys about the new Midland radios.

I used them in Utah and they are awesome, I've never used a radio that can actually do what it says it can in the mountains.

The range on these things is increadable, while we were hunting on top of the Wasach Range we were talking to our host who was over 10 miles away in his kitchen!

For me the test of any radio is when your in the mountains, one guy on one ridge and your on another or in a valley and you can communicate. I was two ridges over in a canyon and they still worked great!

I bought mine on Ebay for $77.00. It came as a set with the battery packs, a charger, and the hands free ear set. Cabelas wants $89.00 for the radios and $28.00 for the batteries and charger.

Buy a set if your in the market, they are great!

Here is a description from the Cabelas web site:

Midland GXT 450 VPI Radio Pack
Finest in-the-field communication
Featuring the same 4-watt power and incredible10-mile range of the GXT 400, the 450 twin pack puts it all together in two Mossy Oak® Break-Up™ camouflaged units. Vibrator alert for silent warning of incoming calls. Auto squelch and auto battery save. Features 22 channels with 38 privacy codes. NOAA weather radio. Operates on four AA batteries. Includes two mic headsets for hands-free operation. Measures 6.37"H x 2.25"W x 1.13"D. Three-year warranty. Per pair. And to ensure your radios are charged and ready to go, take a look at the AVP3 Battery/Charger Kit.

Steve

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I have a set of the Garmin 120 radio/GPS... THey suck. The GPS is decent but i have been in sight 400 yrds and not been able to hear good. They offer a combo FRS/Gmrs system and neither way works right. When they do work I can see right where my partner is on the screen and go to them. I've only heard good things about motorola
 
I have been doing a search on the net for the Midland GXT 450.So far,I have found the VP1 set for $64.99.The VP4 set,which includes two rechargable battery packs and double charger for $74.99.When I have more time I will continue looking for a better price.
Best Buy has the Motorola T6500R on sale,on line,for $49.99 and the mic headsets are an optional $24.99.
Kyotikid
 


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