Have you researched walkie-talkies in the past couple years and have a recommendation?

I have some little 12-year old Motorola FRS "Talkabout" radios I purchased over a decade ago. They've been terrific for roadtrips to communicate between cars. We also use them for camping and paddling. They're delightfully simple so can be handed out to anyone to use.

Have liked that they take three "AA" batteries with a runtime of 14 hours (which I've found to be a good approximation).

Have been looking at these. But they are significantly larger than what I've been using and they are rechargeable. I'm fond of the flexibility of "AA" batteries.

http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-MT352R-Gi..._pr_product_top

I wish these new ones really had a range of 36 miles but I gather that bears no relation to normal use.



.

Yes, yes I have.

• FRS radios may be used in the United States without a license but are limited to devices with poor fixed antennas and low power output (500 mW)
• GMRS radios can use better antennas and far more power (1000 mW is common in handhelds with a 50 W maximum for the service) but require a license
• GMRS licenses are easy to acquire without an exam but they're not cheap ($85 for five years)
• You may legally use one GMRS license for you and your immediate family
• My experience has been that FRS radios can get about a mile of range under ideal conditions, with FRS/GMRS hybrid radios getting perhaps two miles
• GMRS only radios can have significantly better range and power
• Amateur radio handhelds can have much better range and are very versatile, but require a license exam
• With a repeater, an amateur radio handheld can have a 20+ mile range or even around the world if the repeater uses IRLP
• The weak link of any handheld radio is its batteries
• A great radio is worthless if its rechargeable battery goes dead and can't be economically replaced
• I've lost the use of some great radios when their batteries went bad and couldn't be replaced economically
• Using a handheld radio that takes AA or AAA batteries means that you can use easily replaced rechargeables or primaries without worry that the radio's lifespan will be limited to its battery pack
• Motorola makes great handheld radios
• Consumer radio range claims are unadulterated hype

The big thing I learned about FRS & GMRS radios is that reception distance is essentially line-of-sight ... or at least that's a good way to think of it.

Just like if you wanted to see a long way, the best thing you can do to increase your FRS/GMRS range is to maximize the antenna height.

chaosmegnet knows his stuff.

we use them around the ranch. we're very remote but even then the best we can do, without line-of-sight, is just a mile or two.

i recently "upgraded" to the "water-proof" Midland GXT1000VP4 36-Mile FRS/GMRS after i destroyed the last set in the rain because they weren't waterproof.

amazon has 'em for under $60/set: http://www.amazon.com/Midland-GXT1000VP4-36-Mile-50-Channel-Two-Way/dp/B001WMFYH4

chaos,
Do the GMRS only handsets have better antennas than the FRS/GMRS hybrid radios? IIRC the FRS/GMRS hybrid radios allow more power on the GMRS channels while the FRS channels are limited to 1/2 Watt. But on a hybrid radio they share the same antenna so they would both have an antenna limitation.

Would going to a pure GMRS radio give you more power and a better antenna? The Icom IC-F21GM (pdf download) looks like a good radio. I wonder if it has the antenna limitation...

Antenna is removable, but uses a nonstandard connector. See review here

http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/4647

Looks interesting, but I have not found the operating manual yet.

Nomad.

Found manual

http://www.icomamerica.com/en/downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?Document=54

There are a couple of really good websites that I used when purchasing my FRS/GMRS radio sets.
http://www.twowayradioforum.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=4
http://www.buytwowayradios.com/Products/frs-gmrs-radios.aspx
The mods/owners of the 1st site are pretty knowledgeable regarding the equipment and regulations. The owner does his own real world tests of equipment which are far more useful than reading simple manufacturer's stats. They are the ones who clued me into the regulations that you have in the US which are much different than our regs in Canada. Correct me if I am wrong but you are limited to 1/2 watt on both FRS/GMRS if you don't have a radio licence. But because of the prevalence of "bubble wrap" consumer radios that are more powerful than that, most people who buy the higher power radios are ignorant of the requirement to get their license. Up here, we are limited to 2 watt effective radiated power (at the antenna) which are still pretty power radios. Note: A lot of handhelds claim to have a 5 watt power but that is not necessarily the energy you get at the antenna.

In any case, the effective range is limited by the ERP and line of sight. The range stated on the package in no way relates to the real world and is the closest thing to false advertising as I see. You might get that range if you are calling from mountain top to mountain top but nothing in between. He used the example of 2 6' tall people standing on watercraft -- the line of sight is about 6 miles because of the curvature of the earth so it is impossible to get the 36 mile range that the manufacturer claims!

The set I bought a few years ago are Cobra Li-7020 with a 1.78w ERP and between vehicles I have used them successfully up to 2 miles which beat my brothers el cheapos by 4x! I got them because of the lithium batteries provide 22+ hours and the energy necessary for higher power communications. At the time they were one of the best handhelds sets out there. Other people prefer to have AA battery models, "to each their own".

Those are some interesting Motorolas, Dagny. Don't recall the last time I've seen full-size 6AAA FRS/GMRS units. Not an issue for vehicle use.

As a rule of thumb, height is worth ten times antenna, which is worth ten times output power.

GMRS only units may have a better antenna or an antenna connector that permits a better antenna. They also may have more output power. Hybrid units must use a fixed antenna (to be type-accepted for FRS, a lousy fixed antenna is a requirement). I haven't seen a hybrid unit with more than one watt of output on GMRS.

So in other words, a pure GMRS radio could have a great antenna on it and five Watts of output in a handheld format, which would result in much better range performance in most terrain.

Typically you're seeing output power of the transmitter. ERP is a function of output power and the antenna.

Disclaimer: I am an amateur radio and GMRS licensee, but I am not an attorney and I don't play one on the Internet.

In the US, you're limited to 500 mW on FRS, and not permitted to transmit at all on GMRS-only channels without a license.