Two-Way Radios???? Need Help

“For Christmas I received a pair of 2- way radios (AudioVox, VoxBox (FR-1438)) I hear that the Motorola?s are better. My question is, the ones I have are they any good, what radio would be better? Please tell me any information that you know on this subject. I did not ask for them so I really did not look in to them, and I searched the old threads and I was not happy with the information that was provided. Need help or at lest some links to web pages that can help. Thanks

PS:
I hope every one has had a safe and happy holiday.”

“I got a friend who he and his girlfriend have 2-way radios, and they live so close to one another that they use them to communicaate. They'll also bring 'em to malls and department stores and keep track of one another when apart. They love them!”

“They are great, my family uses them a lot, mostly at mall, amusement parks, and car to car. As I have said in previous posts I haven't found may uses for them in the backcountry because of their limited range. The only time I have used them in the backcountry is while hiking with my family and parents to keep the group some-what together, but even then we have had people go out of range. Good luck and have fun with them.”

“What is the range on them inm the backcountry? My brother is always talking about wanting to get some for the trail.”

“Maybe I was not clear, but I was asking what are the best radios out there, pros and cons on the different brands, not if they are of any use in the backcountry.

The last thread on this subject was all about if they are of any use. That is why I just want pros and cons on the brands.

Thanks again for any information.”

“Don't know much about brands, but I know the Motorola's have a 2 mile range. If the ones you have are blue tooth, then they pobably pretty good.”

“Two miles across moderately flat land is about standard for hand held radios. To find out how good the Audio Vox are see how far they communicate. Hills, trees, buildings and atmospheric conditions can affect results.

I don't know why hand held radios would have blue tooth communications. Blue tooth is only good for about 30 feet.”

“Ive got a pair of older r.s. radios 1 mile on open terrain. They are good for about half of that in hill country, but still come in handy. Oh by the way from one mountain top to another a little better than one mile.!!”

“Tea - You insolent little sh!t. First you ask for peoples advise, then you get all rude and pissy because they didn't give the right info...THEN, you have the audacity to say thanks for any info. Look it up yourself you little punk.

Happy Holidays!”

“Oh velly velly solly give rong anser. all rados mad in nipon by krazy oun eyde chinaman all same ol junk.....!!!!!!!”

“Well fine, the Audio Vox radios are crap. With the price of the radios all falling around $40-$80 why not just buy the best name in the market for $60. You never see a Firefighter carrying an Audio Vox he carries a Motorola, why because they are the best.

So my advice for you is to slap the person(s) whom gave this lame present to you.

There is that what you asked for, sorry to inconvenience you with "any information that you know on this subject". I thought it odd that you would want to rehash yet another topic that was run into the ground, because you have never done that before, right?”

“damn, you people get all jacked out of shape over anything.”

“Bac pac,
Are you sure about blue tooth? I thought it was the latest FM technology and had a huge range.”

“Ice Tea - do some research, that's what the internet is for. I would start out at gearreview.com.”

“Yeah! Everybody stop asking questions around here. Buncha lazy info moochers! From now on, Nobody asks any more questions. After all, Why should we believe each others oppinion when we can get a totally biassed oppinion from the companies that put the crap out.

How was that switchback (jerk)?”

“deathmarch,

Bluetooth is essentially a replacement for cable. It is high speed communication for local devices. The power is minimal, because at the high frequencies required for reasonable data transfer would cause too much interference with other electronic devices.

The idea behind bluetooth is that electronic devices can communicate with each other without being connected. You can load your phone book into your cell phone just by moving it near your computer. The applications are really endless, but it is not for long range communication.”

“that was pretty good dude. Needs more sarcasm though.”

“I ask questions, because I value MOST of the trail talk contributor?s opinions. After all that is what trail talk is about (gear, hiking, camping and all other out-door activities).”

“I wasn't implying that Ice Tea (or anyone) not ask questions here. I am just saying that from the responses so far, it seems that there aren't any experts on this subject. Many other websites provide a lot of info (not from the manufacturers) that is very useful. It's not like the question can't be answered, just because no one here knows the answer.”

“m-nutz
I was being sarcastic because of switchback's behavior to Ice Tea. If you've found a link to such a web site then please post it here.”

“The trouble with the inexpensive models in places like mall and amusement parks is everybody else has the same idea and about a zillion conversations are all stepping on each other. Digital is better but price goes up accordingly.

Out in the woodscombine the radios with a signal mirror to find each other, not just hear each other.”

“The signal mirror, GREAT piece of equipment (not many people know Morse -.-. --- -.. . (Code), but if I am hiking with my troop (they are the laziest peaces of sh!t that has ever walked on the trail) I am always in the front navigating and I would like to contact either my Scout Master, or my SPL (senior patrol leader). What am I saying, they want to contact me and say to slow down, and take a break every 5 feet. I would use the radios to communicate to my friend (a fellow hiker (he goes at a decent pace) in the far back and tell him to get the guys in the back moving and other stuff.

I am not kidding when I say they walk so slowly. We did the NJ portion of "long path" along the Hudson River from Fort Lee to Alpine (13 miles day packs), it was flat almost all they way, it took them and hour to hike one mile. I was so embarrassed to be seen hiking at such a slow pace. I don't know am I asking to much from them? I think not.

M-Nuts,
Just post the web site and I will go there.”

“Don't you have some kind of curfew?”

“he already did it's www.gearreview.com”

“I would have never thought to use them at the mall. That's a pretty interesting idea.”

“






”

“I hate when my HTML doesn't work properly. It looked good in the editor.”

“Ice Tea: Soon as you get to use and know your radio inside out, you'll know what you like and dislike about it, and be more able to differentiate between brands and models enough to know which is better for whatever reason(s)...THEN how 'bout getting back with us with your conclusions/recommendations!”

“larock, thanks
Bacpac, I have the week off from school, I don't have any curfew and I rally leave my house at night, so I kill time posting, and reading.”

“I have two sets, both different kinds. 2-GE's and 2 Northwest Bell's. I use them on longer Backpack trips when we split up in groups. There were several times I didn't have them and wished we did.

They also work great in car caravans.

Here are some reviews of different kinds:

FRS Radio's”

“thanks for that web site, when I searched motarola, all i got were sites in spanish, I can speek it but i cant read it.”

“Ya need to learn how to spell it too! "Motorola" :)”

“Thanks for the link Griz. Lotsa good info there.”

“Try this site http://www.gmrsweb.com/gmrs.html this was the first site to pop up after my Alta Vista search. Looks like good info.”

“Thank you for all your help. I decided that I was not going to find a better buy, so I opened them up and tried them out. I love them. Next time I go hiking, I will bring them along and tell how well they work on the trails, and if I think the suck, I will post them on E-bay.

Bottom line:
I have opened them and I can't return them. Thanks for all your information.”

“Tomorrow night I am flying to Disney world and staying there for 5 days, I will be back on the fist of the year. I am going to bring my radios and test them out in the parks, I think that will be a good test. Happy new year to all.”

“Have a good time Tea.”

“be careful!

eat your vegetables!

wear a sweater!

be nice to others!

kick mickey in da nutz!

and look both ways before you cross the street!”

“I've used 2-way radios a lot while up snow skiing. The cheaper models have alot of static and interference; also, you hear a lot of other people trying to contact their families on the same 3 channels. The new Motorola models have several channels (36 I think) and an additional code, so you don't have to listen to the rest of the world. Also, they carry a signal of around a mile or two, without all the background noise. I've actually used it instead of my CB for cross country driving. If you've already got a different brand and are staying close to each other, its okay, but if you're up at the ski slopes with everyone and their dog on the same wave length its a PITA.”

“There are 14 Channels (or frequencies) for FRS radios. Some include "subchannels" to help filter out someone on the same channel. There are either 32 or 36 "subchannels," I cannot remember offhand.

I use the Motorolas, mainly for alpine skiing. I cannot comment specifically on the other brands because I have not used them. I've found the Motorolas are extremely reliable and nearly bombproof. The handiest accessory is the speaker-mic. It lets you improve battery life by keeping the unit in a pocket where it's warmer and you can use it without having to fish it out of you pocket each time you need to communicate.”

“Just had to laugh at a HAM that was driving between 15-25 MPH in a 30 zone ahead of me after lunch.
This geek had an antenna mounted on the back of his Grand Marque (Sp?) that required guy wires to keep it up.”

“Took 6 YEARS to get somebody to dig up this thread....Go Kevin, GO!”

“Thank You...Thank You Very Much.....
I'm here every Monday.......
;-)”

“at least its a lot easier to become a ham these days - no code requirement just a written test”

“At first I was mad at the dude because his speed was varying between 15-25 MPH.
He was making me brake ever few seconds.

Then I decided there was no future in being mad at him, so I would make fun of him instead. ;-)”

“Whats the best ear phone mics you use?”

“Tomato cans always worked best for me. How 'bout you, Pops?”

“Looking at these now.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0032938228602a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all_NYR&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ne=2510&nyr=1&Ntk=Products&QueryText=walkie+talkies&sort=all&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=5483&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1


http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0025098226548a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all_NYR&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ne=2510&nyr=1&Ntk=Products&QueryText=walkie+talkies&sort=all&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=5483&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1”

“Fridge - you are the ultimate gear junkie my man!

(i just have a cheapo pair from radio shack, but they work fairly well so long as your reasonably close to your partner - say half a mile or so).”

“Roam I have 4 36 mile Walkie Talkies....We will have them in Alaska.....Solar panels will keep batteries charged.
We used them and they work very well there. Plan is to have the last person on the train carry one ....one some where near the middle and 2 up front picking our route.
I also have carry pouches with them to fasten easily to your shoulder straps.

Yo Nimblefoot...I see your as old as your information. Rub that ole bald head and squeeze your butt.”