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two-way radio recommendations |
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jonoMT
Optics Master Extraordinaire Joined: November/13/2008 Location: Montana Status: Offline Points: 4853 |
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Posted: December/19/2010 at 10:33 |
Sometimes when hunting with friends, we'll bring some two-way radios to stay in touch. I absolutely have to stress that they're never used to track animals or guide another hunter. We've just used them to provide a "where-you-at" service, as well as when someone has downed an animal and needs help getting it out, and as a potential emergency device. I used to have a decent set of Motorolas but got trout blood all over one and that pretty much killed it. So I replaced those with some from Radioshack.
As we discovered this season, the Radioshack two-ways just weren't very good. I don't expect any radio to transmit very far, but these were far worse than the old Motorolas. I also hate that if you turn them off, you lose your keypad lock. It's far too easy to switch channels. So, as they say, I need to get a pair...something with the cojones to be useful in most situations out to 1-2 miles. For now, I've narrowed it down to the Motorola MR350 and the Midland GXT1000VP. They're about the same price and same advertised (BS) range. Anyone used them or have other recommendations? |
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tahqua
MODERATOR Have You Driven A Ford Lately? Joined: March/27/2006 Location: Michigan, USA Status: Online Points: 9043 |
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I have the Motorola radios and they are reliable. I mostly use them for ice fishing to catch reports from fellow http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=38. They are great for anytime someone has information to share. I would trust them for emergency use, too.
I have a tale to share. A friend of mine also has the Motorola two-way radios. He was up in a tree stand on his property when a small buck was near by. He forgot his grunt call and called his son who was in another stand. His son started grunting through the radio and the buck actually started coming into my buddies stand. He left his radio on and after a few moments, "Did it work" came over his radio. Needless to say, the buck high tailed it out of there. |
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Doug
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Dale Clifford
Optics Jedi Knight Joined: July/04/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 5087 |
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Also use motorola fm's for hunting. Emergency use, to warn when other hunters are in the area for safety reasons, unexpected terrain changes. bad weather etc.
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tman1965
Optics Master Joined: July/20/2010 Location: South Georgia Status: Offline Points: 1456 |
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We use motorola's too. we have tested them out to 3 miles and they worked fine.
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pyro6999
Optics Retard OT TITAN Joined: December/22/2006 Location: North Dakota Status: Offline Points: 22034 |
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fire dept. uses motorola and we use them at work too. good stff.
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They call me "Boots"
375H&H Mag: Yeah, it kills stuff "extra dead" 343 we will never forget God Bless Chris Ledoux "good ride cowboy" |
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jonoMT
Optics Master Extraordinaire Joined: November/13/2008 Location: Montana Status: Offline Points: 4853 |
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Thanks for the responses. I think that's what I'll go back to. The old Motorolas I had were good out to a mile or more inside a windy river canyon and they were earlier (GMRS-enabled) radios with only a max range of 7 miles. The Radioshacks I have, even with fresh alkaline batteries, hardly worked over half a mile in relatively open terrain...granted, no line of sight, but you figure they should be okay for 1/36th of their advertised 18 mile range.
Edited by jonoMT - December/19/2010 at 21:13 |
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mike650
Optics God Joined: May/14/2006 Location: West of Rockies Status: Offline Points: 14569 |
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Another vote for Motorola!!
For many reasons (most already mentioned) we're on them a lot while hunting. We use the older basic model with no bells or whistles, their compact and work very well. Both mine are like the one's below but in camo and I'll replace 'em with another set of updated Motorola's someday. You can spend more and get one with GPS like the Garmin Rino which work's well too. My buddy's friend had a serious snow mobile accident and they called for help, gave 911 emergency the GPS coordinates from the Rino, and a chopper was immediately sent out to retrieve him. The guy owes his life to that radio. Below is the one I have. Edited by mike650 - December/19/2010 at 21:55 |
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“A hunt based only on trophies taken falls far short of what the ultimate goal should be.” – Fred Bear
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supertool73
Optics God Superstool Joined: January/03/2008 Status: Offline Points: 11814 |
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My dad and I use Standard Horizon. The ones we have are water proof and you can get nice PPT and ear buds with them.
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lucytuma
Optics Jedi Knight Joined: November/25/2007 Location: Wisconsin Status: Offline Points: 5389 |
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I've used a few different brands at work and in the field, I really haven't found one to be better than the other. It would be interesting to find an article where they were actually tested.
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"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." - Thomas Jefferson
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jonoMT
Optics Master Extraordinaire Joined: November/13/2008 Location: Montana Status: Offline Points: 4853 |
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Those ones Mike has pictured are just about the same model I used to have. The GPS/radio combo isn't a bad idea, but I more often carry a GPS than a radio. It's also sometimes the case that a set of radios will have some features that only work with that brand and model. I had a Garmin 60CSx, which is very similar to the Rhino, but sold it and got a Delorme PN-60, which supports background aerial imagery...nice when you hunt in areas with patches of deadfall/new growth or boulder fields to avoid.
RE: Standard Horizon. I thought VHF radios were only legal for nautical use??? |
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Rancid Coolaid
MODERATOR Joined: January/19/2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 9318 |
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Motorolas here too.
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