pilotpat's Full Review: Motorola Talkabout® T6220 (14 Channels) Two W...
UPDATE!!!Motorola currently offers a $10/radio rebate (up to 6 radios). Office Max, Cabelas, and others are selling it for $19.99 or less, which brings your price to $10!!!
NOTICEPrevious reviews for this product by other users appear to be on the T6200, a similar FRS device with fewer features.
INTRODUCTION
I got an awesome deal on the Motorola T6220 at the DFW Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World (See my review on the nearby Embassy Suites DFW/Outdoor World) - $19.99 (marked down from $39.99), minus their 15% military discount, so I bought two for the upcoming hunting season. I see that Office Max is selling them for $19.98 currently. Just today, as the update says, I found a $10/radio rebate, which will bring my price down to under $10 a piece!!!
OUT OF THE BOX
The blister pack has very few items: the radio handset, a belt clip, the user guide/registration postcard, and a sticker for the back of the radio that explains the complex display. Available accessories include pouches, faceplates, Voice Activated (VOX) headset, a NiMH battery pack, and a recharger plug and/or recharging cradle for that battery pack. Those accessories aren't cheap, by the way. As a matter of fact, the VOX headset, which was not on sale, was on the next rack for $5 more than the radio!
USER'S GUIDE
The user's guide is clear and informative. One part that was less than clear was the description of the different radio frequencies and anti-interference codes and how they related to the older 7/7 FRS systems. However, for basic use and setup, the user's guide was straightforward and I had the two sets up and working quickly.
CONSTRUCTION
The radios are much smaller than the original FRS's. The shells are hard ABS plastic, with rubber buttons. The short antenna is relatively thick, but slightly flexible, and doesn't appear to be fragile, nor has it given me any problems. The set is advertised as "water resistant" but not immersable - though it's been dry here, and I haven't tested either (inadvertently or intentionally).
The bottom of the unit houses the speaker, while the top holds a small (about .5" tall by .75" wide). Set between the two are eight buttons, which despite their size (the largest being the Push to Talk or PTT button) somehow still are easy to actuate. The top of the case has a slot in which to slip a lanyard.
The microphone is hidden behind the scan button, and sometimes my thumb covers it when using my right hand to operate the radio, but that never seems to cause problems with transmissions.
Flipping the unit over allows you to access the battery compartment, which holds either the NiMH pack or 3 AA alkaline batteries. The users guide states to expect about 12 and 35 hours battery life, respectively, based on 90% standby time, and 5% each Transmit and Receive. It notes that "Battery life will be reduced if you regularly use Hands-Free (VOX) accessories, Weather, or Scan. I don't have a NiMH pack, but the AA time seems to be about right.
FEATURES
Oh, there's a lot packed into here. You get to the different functions by pressing the menu button - each press advances you to the next choice.
1. Channel Selection - you have a choice of 14 UHF channels in the FRS frequency range (462-468MHz)
2. Interference Eliminator Code selection. For each channel, you can select 38 different Anti-Interference codes (or 0 to turn this off and listen to all transmissions on the selected frequency).
3. Eavesdrop Reducer - gives you 3 codes (or an "off" selection) which scramble your voice to all except those who have the same code selected. Not "secure," but an extra dose of privacy.
4. Call tone - Gives you 10 different ringing options.
5. Ring/Vibe - lets you select no alert, ring, vibe, or ring/vibrate. The alert activates if a signal is recieved and there has been no activity (Transmit or Receive) for 30 seconds. The vibe function is a bit noisy compared to most cell phones, but quiet enough. I find this a very useful option when hunting - my buddy and I have a system where if we need to talk, we just key the transmitter momentarily, which sets off the vibe alert. If the other guy can talk, he then initiates conversation. If not, we don't speak so as not to spook the animals.
6. Sensitivity levels - 3 levels of microphone/VOX sensitivity
7. Auto power off - lets you select 1-8 hours of delay before the unit shuts itself off (or to deselect this feature entirely)
8. "QuieT6000" - A somewhat complicated mode which keeps you from getting interrupted by any radios other than T6000 series.
9. Battery type - selects Alkaline or NiMH pack.
Pressing and holding the weather button (to the right of the display) brings you to weather mode, which gives you a selection of 8 Weather channels, as well as the ability to select Weather Alert notification, which will activate the radio automatically if it receives a Weather Alert.
Tired yet? The other buttons allow you also to scan all the channels continuously or send a "call" to all users on your channel/code. The "call," by the way, is a ringing tone transmitted in the same manner as voice, which will transmit over the other radios even if they have "vibe only" selected as their alerts. You also can check signal strength, lock the buttons, select a limited menu mode, and turn the tones on/off - but you'll need to do those a few times before you remember how without the manual open.
OPERATION
Once you've got the thing set up, operation is at the PhD level - Push here Dummy. If you have it set to ring/vibrate, any time someone calls on that channel/code combination (whether it's someone you know or not), the set will alert you, otherwise it will just turn the speaker on. Once it alerts you, the alert will stay off until there haven't been any transmissions or receptions for 30 seconds.
Range is "up to 2 miles." Pretty much, if you can see the other person, you can converse with them. The range is highly subject to surroundings. Heavy woods or the "urban jungle" reduce the range significantly, although I just returned from a hunting trip in which my buddy and I were able to communicate clearly from about a half mile away in spite of heavy woods with damp foliage and rolling terrain. Even being in a car seems to reduce the range significantly, which I understand is caused by the "Gaussian Cage" phenomenon - I'm not an Elec Engineer, so don't trust me on this second-hand info, but it sounds cool.
OVERALL
I'm pretty impressed with the incredible features stacked into this at this price. The sets seem quality, and have a 1 yr warranty to boot. The sound quality is pretty good, and the added privacy of the scrambler is nice as well.
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