Looking for handheld radios

S

Stompy

Joined
Apr 16, 1999
Messages
1,142
I'm looking to pick up a couple of small handheld radios along the lines of something in the Motorola series. For use outdoors in slightly mountainous terrain.

Anybody have experience with any such radios? Weight, battery life, clarity, etc. are a concern.

Thanks
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You could put nacho cheese sauce on it...
 
Stompy,
I have the Motorola 250's. In heavily wooded area I hunt I get upto a mile, maybe a little more with no trouble. They are lightweight and clear. But if you leave them on all day I think they eat batteries. So we started checking in every couple hours to save batteries. Good luck, hope this helps some.
Take care,
Chip
 
Not looking really at getting a liscense, allthough you are correct.

I camp and hike and want something that can give me at least a mile range with perfect clarity..too much to ask for?

Maybe a motorola 250, 280, or 289/290, not sure. I also play paintball with a small team and need one that can have a headset hooked up to it. I saw on the motorola website that there will be a new radio coming out soon, but they don't tell bull about it. Maybe that one would be better suited to my needs?

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You could put nacho cheese sauce on it...
 
I've got a talkabout plus and a 250. The SLK series is nice for the rechargable batteries because these things suck the juice. I've gotten a couple of days of hiking out a set of batteries, but that's still a fast drain. Be warned that the SLK comes in a AA version that's a little less expensive. I've had problems with a clear signal in the mountains while snowboarding and hills while mountain biking. However; for hiking, they are great.

Here's a link for the new Talkabout 6100. Pretty cool. I hope it's not too expensive.
http://www.gadgetcentral.com/mot_t6100_intro.htm
 
FRS radios are good at what they do, but they don't have a lot of RF output, so range typically is 1/4 to 1/2 mile in "real world" conditions.

What I'd look for in a FRS radio:
AA batteries/rechargeable capable
CTCSS tones (I don't like the digital tones)
sturdy antenna
name brand; i.e. Motorola, Kenwood, Midland
standard two pin accessory jack

Stuff to avoid
no name brands
proprietary "privacy codes"
vibration alert stuff
AAA batts

I own a couple of midlands, and a Cobra Microtalk 2, which I feel is the best FRS radio out there. They all work good together, but be careful mixing brands, as some brands don't like some other brands.

--dan

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