Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game tw0-way hand held walkie talkies? (radio)

Which do you prefer? Midland-Cobra-Uniden-Motorola. Not interested in the rechargable kind. Must be able to use batteries. Also wondering if the Midlands can talk with a guy that has a Motorola? etc etc

Thanks

We use Cobra radios and they seem to work well.Some channels do overlap the various brands,so it is possible to mix them.

I have used a ton of radios in my business in South Africa.

Spend the money and get yourself a set of Icom radios. The FRS cheapy radios are never gonna do what you want or expect of them. All the advertising crap about 5 mile range is a joke. Maybe under flawless conditions without any obstructions they will stretch that far.

The Icom's will make five miles easy, and I've used them to 17 airmiles from a hunting camp under flawless conditions to the dining room of my home.

As far as rechargeable or not I think that the battery packs I use have a replaceable tray for AA batteries. I will only use rechargeable packs, never AA's. I use them so much that I would have to buy batteries by the case load.

When fully charged over night they will last two days or maybe a bit more depending upon how much you talk. I feel sorry for the people spending the amount of money they have on those FRS radios with the BS claims that are made about the range. I've used my Motorola FRS frequency radios in the same places that the ICOM's. They would not communicate even close in range. I can double or even tripple the range with the ICOM radios. This would be about 6-7 miles with the ICOM in thick bush, the Motorola might make it with lots of static to 1.5 or 2 miles maximum.

Not much more annoying then barely being able to hear the guy trying to tell you something with the radios breaking up or all the static you get.

Thy these guys, the Icoms are military grade Iraq approved and make the simple consumer grade FRS radios look like the "toys" they are.

http://www.discounttwo-wayradio.com/customkititems.asp?kc=F21-04-DTC

I use only Motorola radios. Just the FRS style. These, of course, are not the type of radio that JJHACK is talking about. They work pretty well less than two miles.

Walk into the store and buy without a license, fairly cheap.

The icoms (UHF 4 watt max 440-470 MHz) seem to be nearly GRMS radios (UHF 450-470 MHz band upto 50 watts peak) The Icoms have some real nice fetures plus an endorsement from the US military which is worth a lot if you ask me. Some of the new GMRS radios �claim� 26 miles with �their Hi power setting/channels� on a perfect day over the water <shrug> I believe they max at 5 watts. I think the old handheld GMRS was maxed at 2 watts, but I can�t remember. I may try a couple of the Midland 26 mile jobbies (2 for $60) I purchased the Motorola Talk About Distance Plus GMRS radios back in like 99� 10 channels and 2 watts and it was a big sucker compared to today�s radios. I still use them. I can�t talk more then a couplethree miles out in the hills in WVa they still do the job. I think the best I ever got was near to 7.

Still the main thing with UHF it's still line of sight and atmospheric conditions, it really depends on where you are located and those who are receiving you are located.

I do have a 25 watt GMRS mobile that works great, but it�s hard to carry my truck with me when I go hunting.

I have used Cobra, Midland, and Motorola. I prefer the motorola's. Midland will try to offer you more features to sell you but it's pointless stuff. They all work OK , it's more a personal preference thing.

You can't use them while hunting in most states, and it is unethical to do so, anyway, so what is the intended use, and how far from the next radio do you expect to be? 2 miles is probably way farther than most parties would be separated, unless you are hunting by boat in the North or by truck in Africa.

A 2 mile distance is a walk in the park in the western states, I can see 150 miles into canada and look at the mountians there standing on one mountain and looking at another. I'm thinking 2 miles is not really scratching the surface of function here!

Mostly depends on where you live and the conditions you hunt in I suppose? As far as illegal, your mind is in the gutter! It's perfectly legal to call for help, whehter it be an animal down, tracking a wounded animal, or maybe even needing medical or survival help for yourself or someone with you. Maybe even gas for the truck, the possibilities are endless. The legal issue is not even on the radar when needing a radio here.

I have zero cell phone coverage here but I can speak to my wife 10 miles away or more in the evening from my hunting camp.

Why not just go home at night if it's only ten miles away? Becuase its a 7 hour hike in packing all your stuff on your back or on stock. This ain't disneyland!

I like the Garmin RINO with GPS built in, choice of FRS or GMRS. More money than many, but works well for me.

Woulda liked the Icom or one built into a gps. But I ended up with some 5 watt Midlands. 26 miles depending on terrain. NOAA weather chanels etc. We'll see how they hold up.

JJACK,
No one has a problem with using walkie-talkies to call for help or call for help hauling out game.

But while you are hunting, you need to have them off - it's not ethical, in my book. Of course, many here don't know what ethical is. They think if the law doesn't forbid it, it's ethical. The next notch is to dismiss the laws, too.

I'll buy those for you if you can get half the claimed distance under hunting conditions in Western Wa.

Get in the truck drive 5 miles from your house, and call your wife or kids, you've got about zero chance they will hear you. These Wild claims of distance are completely insane! I know, I've tried most all of them before buying mine. Even two miles..... not a guess, but reading the odometer on your truck. At Bass Proshops in Las Vegas I did this with several radios and the counter person working there. Not a single one worked more then 2 miles and most struggled with static and breakup at less then that! Even though the package claimed 5 watts and 20 mile range. They may work to 20 miles from a treeless hill top to a desert location with some luck of signal bounce.

I really think that they claim this range based on recieving a transmission only, not transmitting. You can recieve all kinds of chat from many miles away, but the people you hear on these radios cannot hear you if you call back.

I've struggled with Radios in my business for many years. Even the ICOM's have significant limitations in heavy woods and mountians. But they are a long shot better then the consumer products I've used. They also don't give you a line of false expectations in the product advertising.

The credibility of these consumer products goes right in the dumper when they make claims that are outright lies about the range they can achieve.

26 miles, That is impossible under real world conditions without a repeater!

amen!

2Seventy

26 miles is not too far for a military or law-enforcement quality handheld. I developed some design and test systems for the engineers at a mobile radio / telephone company, and they would test models in the mountains of Virginia, going handheld to handheld from Lynchburg to Roanoke.

Would hand held CB radios be a better choice?

No, handheld CB's do not have the power required to transmitt long distances.

�Most� mobile military radios use VHF FM band at lower frequencies (30 � 88 MHz (VHF is 30 � 300MHz range Wavelength: 10 m to 1 m )) UHF ( 300 MHz � 3 GHz Wavelength: 1 m to 100 mm ) radios offer better signal penetration in urban areas (concrete, metal, etc) where as VHF radios are better at getting around rocks and vegetation. Atmospheric moisture or Atmospheric absorption will reduce the strength of radio signals over distances and UHF is generally more degraded by moisture than lower bands such as VHF.

Of course the best would be HF ( 3MHz � 30 MHz Wavelength: 100 m to 10 m ) with a high output because HF can bounce off the ionosphere. Interestingly CB radios work off of 27Mhz, although intended for short distances (low power) we have all heard of a CB�er talking 1000�s of miles when the conditions are right.

Of course the longer the Wavelength the longer the antenna needs to be. What has this to do with anything in this thread, nothing. Just brought up memories of the old days �10-4 Good Buddy� <grin>

WHat model of ICOM's are being used? I have a bunch of Motorola's that as far as I am concerned they are going to be the kids toys. Bought a new set this year in the hopes they would work well enough for my partner and I to check in with each other while in Montana snce they claimed a 25 mile range and I was hoping that they would work for at least a couple, no dice. We hunt some pretty thick steep drainage's and once we are into different ones we can't talk. So it is time to spend a few bucks and pick up some decent radios. Been looking at ICOM's website and also Amazon.com and lots of options just wondering what is good since I have no idea of what constitutes a good radio other than been able to use it when needed.

That what I was telling you folks, these consumer grade radios are not gonna cut it. The advertising they present you with is a joke. What adds to the proboem is that some people will really think they are getting 3-5-8 miles but it's a guess becuase they never actually measaued it with a GPS or even the Odometer of the car.

Once you get an honest 3-4 miles apart you have eliminated just about all but the better radios. 90% will be left behind at about 1.5-2 miles!

Gotta agree with the Motorola's I have. I have a pair of the best ones Motorola makes, and my son and I can not communicate when we are 1/2 mile apart in flat terrain with lots of trees between us. They are useless.
JJ,
I copied your post about the Icom's, and will get a pair for next hunting season.

Thanks for the lead. My son and I have been complaining about the Motorola's for two years now, so the time has come to upgrade.

Don