What do you use, and what do you suggest for a good FRS radio? I had my eye on the Motorola Talkabout T6320 NiMH until I saw the price.

Could settle with the T6220, but not sure. Hard to tell what's the best deal on current technology.

 

I bought a cheap set, $45 for the pair, and they lasted 10 months. At which point they started to reset on their own and wouldn't pickup most transmissions.

Our second set now is the Motorola T7100R, they're a little pricey I know ($74.99 after rebate on Bestbuy.com) but I have no complaints. Plus the rechargable batteries make life so much better.

 

You can pick up a four pack for $60... 2 FRS battery op & 2 GRMS rechargeables from Motorola at Costco... I've seen them for the same price at either Super Wal-Mart or Target (forget which).

I have a basic $20 (sold solo) Motorola battery op FRS (from Wal-Mart) and it works just fine for most runs. If you tend to run in big packs on cruises, go for the GRMS -- that extra 1/2 watt makes a difference when you get spread out as I can sometimes hear folks with the GRMS, but not be heard. I've only changed the batteries once or twice a year and I go on cruises 1-2 a month. A higher watt radio would suck batteries faster though.

My first FRS was a cobra set for about $20/2 from Wal-Mart -- was a POS and returned it for the above mentioned Motorola unit.

My advice, spend your money on: WATTS & an earpiece!

 

Be careful. GMRS requires a license which costs about $80 per year. FRS is rated for 1/2 watt only, thus limiting the range to at most 2 miles.

 

Technically, yeah...

 

Technically yes, GMRS radios require a license, which per the FCC http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/per...ile/licensing/ is $80 for 5 years.

However, unless your radios are generating interference with other devices (usually only an issue of you modify the radios) or frequencies odds are the FCC won't bother with you. Your radio will work fine, and black helicopters won't swoop down on you if you use your radio without a license.

 

For the 2003 Dragon rally I bought a pair of cheap Audiovox radios from Walmart for around $60. Worked fine as long as you weren't too far from the other cars but I soon realized that I felt much safer with the radio's just turned off and in the glovebox. - No earpiece with the radio so I had to drive while operating it by hand, and nowhere to put it while driving.... hanging it off the shoulder seatbelt worked okay, but proved to be more of a distraction for me than anything else.

At the 2004 Dragon rally I took mine but ended up just turning it off and had much more fun without it.

This weekend at the Atlanta MINI sponsored Chattanooga mountain drive I decided to give it one more try.... while waiting for the group to show up I went in Walmart and bought a Cobra unit, single radio for $40 or so, that appears to be very very nice. Dual band, supposedly with a 10 mile range, weather radio and digital compass built in. Uses rechargeable AA's, which were included, as well as a recharger base to sit it in. AND it came with a handy dandy earphone/microphone - this single thing changed my whole experience with it.... I sat the radio in the door pocket and could concentrate on all the other more important things, like switching songs on my ipod or opening packets of peanuts and beef jerky.

The earpiece is a must.... a willing co-driver to act as radio-man would be great too, but until then I'll just get her to handle the jerky/nuts.

 

I'll agree with the earpiece (about $24 at Radio Shack for Motorola compatible), but I'm not touching your jerky or nuts with a ten foot pole Normalizer....

 

I picked up one of the Cobra Micro Talk at Wal-Mart. It was $39 for one and is a combination FRS/GMRS. A very heavy duty radio with all the bells and whistles including ear piece.

 

I got a pair for half price at Radio Shack, for $19.99 a pair. They have FRS and GMRS, sub-channels, weather band and a bunch of other features. Very good, durable radios that we use all the time with no problem. The next thing will be the drop-in charger base that charges both units at the same time.

 

FYI - The headsets that radioshack sell are pretty much universal. They sell two types; one for the mic and ear piece on one jack, and one where the jacks are split. Odds are one of those will fit your radio. Also, Radio Shack is typically very accommodating if you want to carefully open up the package and try it out in-store before purchase. Ask the sales person before you do this, though!

The headset also works very well. I have one, and it's great!

-Paul!

 

I ended up getting a set of Cobra units from Walmart for $50. Drop in charger, rechargeable batteries, earpiece/microphone, FRS/GRMS and the NOAA weather stuff too. Think it will work out. :smile:

 

Cobra FRS here. Bought it two years ago for $57 each. 14 Stations, 38 sub-codes, NOAA weather, folding antenna, weatherproof, microphone jacks. Works well.

How well your FRS/GMRs works depends on a lot of factors: terrain, buildings, distance, etc. At the time I bought it, it was rated over Motorola's best model. But prices have tumbled down on all FRS radios.

 

I got the bottom-of-the-line Motorola Talkabouts; they work great for car events n such. A set of alkaline batteries seem to last forever

Remember, Channel 7 sub 21 is the quasi-official MINI channel

 

That was my next question Ryephile.

 

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=2309505

That doesn't look bad. Anybody have any experience with this particular model?

 

GMRS is sort of like not having a front license plate. You're out there and they can find you easy enough, but you have to be caught to get in trouble. I've got a set and just keep to the FRS frequencies unless they're really jammed up, then I'll switch to the GMRS and take my chances.

 

Well according to WalMart, those are out of stock...

However, I had a set that looked just like those from Cobra... They lasted me 10 months, by then they developed a nasty tendency to reset on their own or just stop receiving any transmissions...

****'s sporting goods has some nice Motorola talk abouts for about $40 but their not listed on their website.

 

I just bought a new pair of Motorola FRS radios at Sam's Club. Included in the package were rechargeable batteries, a charger cradle that recharges the two radios, ear buds, and clips. All for $39.88! They are the 5-mile radius ones and work great!


Clover

 

I've gone through probably 20 motorola radios in the last 5 years (I use them for non-MINI things, and my non-MINI things are pretty tough on gear). I've had the most expensive ones, the cheapest ones, and pretty much every one in between. Reception quality, transmit quality, and longevity have all been identical on any Motorola brand radio. I have seen some other brands that have had problems (mostly stuck switches or breaking off the folding antennas), but the Motorolas all appear to be built with the same components.

In all honesty, I can't tell the difference between the expensive "top of the line" models, and the super cheap ones. I'd recommend just getting the $40 pair at Costco or Best Buy. There are more bells and whistles on the pricier ones, but aside from making sure you have all the channels and sub-channels, there is no reason to pay more unless you see a feature that you will really use (and personally, I haven't).

If you want specific comparisons, I've got 7 or 8 different models in my gear bag right now, and I can dig them out and see if I can answer any questions.