Two Words, One Answer.
shopping channel
 Motorola MR350 35-Mile Range 22-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radio (Pair) $79.99 First of all, all the distances advertised on any walkie talkie like this is based on mountain top to mountain top communication, where the valley increases the range, and no obstruction. That is where they based the 35 miles. For city use, in malls, house to house and areas with trees will be between .5 to 1 mile at most. Since I have been using Motorola Walkie talkies all my life so I knew what I was buying. I experimented with 3 different models of Walkie talkies in the mall with my wife. First we tried the 5 mile Motorola. I was on one end of the mall inside Macy's and she was on the other side in Nordstrom. She could not even hear me. We tried the 10 mile Motorola. This time she could hear me press the talk button and a few garbled words, but that was it. We could not communicate. We tried these 35 mile ones last. We were able to hear each other just fine. Not bad considering the distance and the number of obstructions. I have also tried this on the open road for car to car communication and it can reach the horizon. If you want more power, you will need to get a license and buy a 5 watt radio. This Radio has many nice features you would normally find in Professional Radios 5 times the price of this. UPDATE SEPT 25, 2009- This radio has a really nice feature I just discovered. It has the hands free iVOX capability. It will broadcast when it hears a sound. There are 3 levels of sensitivity. I tried it as a baby monitor. I left my wife and baby while they were asleep and turned on the radio to High power on one of the GMRS channels(I have an FCC license by the way, so I can use this channel). I drove about 1 mile to my brother-in-laws house. The Radio worked as a long range baby monitor! It was impressive considering that the radio was indoors and I was not line-of-site, and it reached a mile. Very amusing. I would advice getting an FCC license so that you can use the High power GMRS channels legally. With these radios, it is about 1.5 to 2 watts. If you use the FRS channels 8 to 14, all walkie talkies including this will only use 0.5 watts. Channels 1 to 7 are GMRS/FRS channels. You cannot legally use the high power PTT button if you do not have an FCC license. Channels 15 to 22 are GMRS channels where you can use the High power mode exclusive to GMRS radios. Go to the FCC website and pay the fee for a GMRS radio license, it is good for your immediate family for 5 years. It is worth it if you use it all the time. ****Update October 26, 2009**** I will now detail what I have found out about my Motorola: Pros: 1. In door range - This is the mall slayer. Go to any mall and give your kids one and you will be able to talke to them pretty much anywhere they are. 2. Audio Quality - Very clear and very loud. 3. Outdoor Range - It has almost the same range as my Icom professional radio which has 3 times the power. That is basically because outdoor range is more about antenna height rather than power. 4. Flashlight - Very useful when you go camping. You dont have to bring an extra flashlight. It is bright. Excellent for emergencies. 5. iVox - Hands free operation. Very useful as a 1 mile baby monitor. 6. Call button - I can call the other radio so that they know I am trying to call them so they can pick up the radio. 7. Emergency button - It will send an alert so that the other person knows you are in trouble. 8. Weather channels - I use it to find out the weather, specially before going Kayaking. 9. Privacy Codes - it has so many Privacy codes so you will never be disturbed by other radios. 10. QT - You can restrict the radios that you hear to only Motorolas. 11. Scan - well most other radios have this too. 12. 2 power settings - You can either transmit on .5 watts or 1.5 watts, depending on the button you press. Unless you are using FRS channels 8 to 14 which are hardcoded to use .5 watts. 13. Vibrate feature - In case you are in a noisy place, this is useful. 14. Ease of use - It does not get easier. Instructions are clear and it is intuitive. CONS: 1. I am still trying to find one.  Excalibur H632S-WC Weather Channel EZ Crank Radio Extreme $17.99 I can testify that one minute of cranking gives you more than twenty minutes of LED light and 5 minutes of cranking gives you twenty minutes of radio. It has no AM and cell charger as advertised here. But overall it is a handy gadget to be around for emergency. It is relatively small to carry.  Steve Irwin Australian Tracker Educational Toy $27.99 Nice small toy for a young outdoor adventurer. Got it at a great price, too! |
|
