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What to Look ForMar 11 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
Popular Products in 2 Way Radios
The Bottom Line Consider your needs before you buy. None of the equipment is "bad," but it can only be "good" relative to your requirements.
The advent of the Family Radio Service and GRMS has opened a whole new possibility for reliable short-range communications, and depending on your needs they may just fill the bill --or they may not. Understand that ANY means of radio communication can save lives, exchange information and simply be fun, so that is endorsement enough. Most of these radios operate on frequencies just above the 70 cm Amateur Bands...somewhere around 462-467 Mhz. The major players all produce satisfactory equipment with similar standards so, for the price conscious, dollars can be saved if you know what to look for. First look at the specifications; the more watts of power out, the further your signal will travel. Beginners note that 700mw (milliwatts) is LESS than 1w (watt). More watts, more power, more distance. The manufacturer's range claims are not fraudulent or specious, but they can be misleading unless you are in clear country, the ideal conditions for distance communications. Don't expect a two mile range in heavy terrain, you won't get it...sometimes you won't get 200 yards. But for inner-mall talking with your kids and family members, most of them are ok. I've also used them on fly fishing trips where we have seldom been more than a quarter mile from camp and they were fine. The physical casing of the radio can be an issue depending on whether the radio is for the wife's purse, or for us butch fishermen and hunters whose equipment is subject to jostling and knocking around. In the outback hunting, fishing and rockclimbing venues, don't rule out Citizens Band Walkie-Talkies-- the units are usually less expensive and just as well made. In remote areas interference is highly unlikely, and the squelch can be set just high enough to allow only your immediate user groups participation in more populated areas. The subjects of intermodulation, transmit/receive audio, etc. can for the moment be set aside inasmuchas these questions are of little concern to the casual hobbiest. The "rubber ducky" antenna that comes with these radios is the LEAST efficient antenna. But there are extensible "gain" antennas that can be had, even though they are a little bit clunky in active environments. If you are going to be in difficult terrain, or say you want to transmit from car to car, 440 Mhz antennas are available from many sources, Radio Shack notably, and with a simple adaptor you can connect your FRS rig to a magnetic mount antenna on the roof of your vehicles. A few years ago when we were experimenting with these low-power radios, we purchased a simple mast and tripod from Radio Shack and put up a small ground plain vertical antenna (maybe it was a Ringo Ranger) at our base camp at an elevation of about 16 feet above ground--that installation VASTLY improved the quality of our audio and the distance of the communication. The advent of the Family Radio Service and GRMS has opened a whole new possibility for reliable short-range communications, and depending on your needs they may just fill the bill --or they may not. Understand that ANY means of radio communication can save lives, exchange information and simply be fun, so that is endorsement enough. Most of these radios operate on frequencies just above the 70 cm Amateur Bands...somewhere around 462-467 Mhz. The major players all produce satisfactory equipment with similar standards so, for the price conscious, dollars can be saved if you know what to look for. First look at the specifications; the more watts of power out, the further your signal will travel. Beginners note that 700mw (milliwatts) is LESS than 1w (watt). More watts, more power, more distance. The manufacturer's range claims are not fraudulent or specious, but they can be misleading unless you are in clear country, the ideal conditions for distance communications. Don't expect a two mile range in heavy terrain, you won't get it...sometimes you won't get 200 yards. But for inner-mall talking with your kids and family members, most of them are ok. I've also used them on fly fishing trips where we have seldom been more than a quarter mile from camp and they were fine. The physical casing of the radio can be an issue depending on whether the radio is for the wife's purse, or for us butch fishermen and hunters whose equipment is subject to jostling and knocking around. In the outback hunting, fishing and rockclimbing venues, don't rule out Citizens Band Walkie-Talkies-- the units are usually less expensive and just as well made. In remote areas interference is highly unlikely, and the squelch can be set just high enough to allow only your immediate user groups participation in more populated areas. The subjects of intermodulation, transmit/receive audio, etc. can for the moment be set aside inasmuchas these questions are of little concern to the casual hobbiest. The "rubber ducky" antenna that comes with these radios is the LEAST efficient antenna. But there are extensible "gain" antennas that can be had, even though they are a little bit clunky in active environments. If you are going to be in difficult terrain, or say you want to transmit from car to car, 440 Mhz antennas are available from many sources, Radio Shack notably, and with a simple adaptor you can connect your FRS rig to a magnetic mount antenna on the roof of your vehicles. A few years ago when we were experimenting with these low-power radios, we purchased a simple mast and tripod from Radio Shack and put up a small ground plain vertical antenna (maybe it was a Ringo Ranger) at our base camp at an elevation of about 16 feet above ground--that installation VASTLY improved the quality of our audio and the distance of the communication. The advent of the Family Radio Service and GRMS has opened a whole new possibility for reliable short-range communications, and depending on your needs they may just fill the bill --or they may not. Understand that ANY means of radio communication can save lives, exchange information and simply be fun, so that is endorsement enough. Most of these radios operate on frequencies just above the 70 cm Amateur Bands...somewhere around 462-467 Mhz. The major players all produce satisfactory equipment with similar standards so, for the price conscious, dollars can be saved if you know what to look for. First look at the specifications; the more watts of power out, the further your signal will travel. Beginners note that 700mw (milliwatts) is LESS than 1w (watt). More watts, more power, more distance. The manufacturer's range claims are not fraudulent or specious, but they can be misleading unless you are in clear country, the ideal conditions for distance communications. Don't expect a two mile range in heavy terrain, you won't get it...sometimes you won't get 200 yards. But for inner-mall talking with your kids and family members, most of them are ok. I've also used them on fly fishing trips where we have seldom been more than a quarter mile from camp and they were fine. The physical casing of the radio can be an issue depending on whether the radio is for the wife's purse, or for us butch fishermen and hunters whose equipment is subject to jostling and knocking around. In the outback hunting, fishing and rockclimbing venues, don't rule out Citizens Band Walkie-Talkies-- the units are usually less expensive and just as well made. In remote areas interference is highly unlikely, and the squelch can be set just high enough to allow only your immediate user groups participation in more populated areas. The subjects of intermodulation, transmit/receive audio, etc. can for the moment be set aside inasmuchas these questions are of little concern to the casual hobbiest. The "rubber ducky" antenna that comes with these radios is the LEAST efficient antenna. But there are extensible "gain" antennas that can be had, even though they are a little bit clunky in active environments. If you are going to be in difficult terrain, or say you want to transmit from car to car, 440 Mhz antennas are available from many sources, Radio Shack notably, and with a simple adaptor you can connect your FRS rig to a magnetic mount antenna on the roof of your vehicles. A few years ago when we were experimenting with these low-power radios, we purchased a simple mast and tripod from Radio Shack and put up a small ground plain vertical antenna (maybe it was a Ringo Ranger) at our base camp at an elevation of about 16 feet above ground--that installation VASTLY improved the quality of our audio and the distance of the communication.  |
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