Motorola Two-Way Radio's

[teddy12b]

What's your favorite Motorola two-way radio?  Does anybody have a preference any way or the other?

I used to have a couple for hiking and general outdoor use but they got soaked in water and I may be replacing them.  My old set were 5-mile range radios.  Now they have two way radios that have a 25 mile range.

I've used my old 5-mile radios in wide open desert without any obstructions and they didn't work at 5 miles, so I'm hoping that the 25 mile radios would at least have a 5 mile range as that would be plenty for me.

Anyone have any experience with the 25 mile range Motorola's?

[Graybeard]

We have three of them. Two are what I best recall as being called Talkabout's or some such with a supposed five mile range. The other is a less powerful one that I reviewed on a loan from Motorola and liked so well I bought one. It has a whole passel of features like a thermometer, altimeter I think and I have long forgotten what all. I've not used any of them in several years now.

But in east Texas at the Reed Ranch we got about an honest three miles from them in the rolling wooded country there. So long as there were no hills between us things worked well. I've used them here in Bama in hilly country and not been able to communicate at less than 1/2 mile. Once several of us had them and three of us were talking. I could hear one of the other two and both of them could hear me but couldn't communicate with both. Just the way the land lay I guess.

I have no experience with the newer ones but I don't think water should have bothered your radios. It might but I kinda doubt it.

[teddy12b]

Well the water that got to my radio's, got to everything I had with me at the time and everything got submerged for hours.

I'm going to buy a pair of these and see how well they work.

[victorcharlie]

There are a lot of bear hunters in East TN using a VHF marine radio.  No license required and much better range, especially in the mountains.

[teddy12b]

Well, I went and bought the Motorola's.  I'm really really really hoping that they work out well.  I'll test them some night and make a post about how they work.  I'd probably never use these any farther out than 5 miles so hopefully they should be able to do at least that.

[Graybeard]

There are a lot of bear hunters in East TN using a VHF marine radio.  No license required and much better range, especially in the mountains.

Also highly illegal to use other than on water I believe.

teddy12b did you ever even try the old ones to see if they were ruined or did you just assume they were?

[teddy12b]

I tested them out years ago and from what I remember one could send and not receive and the other could receive and not send. 

To better explain the water that got one those radios.  My platoon was guarding an entry point on the Kuwait/Iraq border when that 100 year storm came through.  We had our gear cached in a pits dug out about 40' long 15' wide and 6' deep.  Our gear was secured there behind us but when that storm came through we were on guard and those pits almost completely filled with water.

That's the readers digest version of how that night went, but basically those radios were completely submerged for a long time.  I wouldn't expect any electronics to work after something like that.  I've still got them, but more for the memeories.  I'll check them out again just for giggles.

[sk330lc]

Do all Two-way radios Have to be registered with the FCC??  Or is there a range that they don't or a particular radio wave that doesn't ?    I received a pair of Midland 25 Mile Radios for my Birth day.They have to be registered with the FCC. That's why I'm Asking.   What does one have to do to register them and does it cost very much to do so??

Thanks for any and all help.

[Siskiyou]

Most of the radio's come with FRS and GMRS channels.  FRS(Family Radio Service) use does not require a license.  GMRS use requires a license and instructions should have come with your packing material.

[teddy12b]

I think they are supposed to be registered, but in I really doubt that half of the people who own them do.  There are millions of these radios and trying register each one would be a lost cause.  I don't think you have to worry about it.  I'm not going to register my 25 mile radios.  I still haven't gotten a good chance to test them either, how do yours work?

[sk330lc]

I exchanged the radios for a close range set of Motorola's . They seem to work great.  Most of My hunting is done with in a Mile or so of the house .They should serve my needs well.  All the other places we hunt Cellphones work well, that and the hunting group is never over a Mille from each other.  Thanks for the help

[teddy12b]

A little late, but the radio's did work.  I couldn't find my old one so I gave my two 25 mile radios to the other guys.  They were at least 5 miles apart through extremely thick bush/woods.  They actually worked.  Not perfectly, but it was sure better than nothing and it gave a first time bear hunter some confidence while he was waiting in the dark for someone to come pick him up.

[SHOOTALL]

GB is correct about the marine band radios !
remember to violate FCC law is federal and in most cases a felony !

[horsepower]

With all the ramifications that a felony carries with it, it seems the prudent thing would be to stay with family frequency or follow the letter of the law.  We have the lower power motorola's and they work great to 2.5 around here which is a long way anymore here in the midwest.  It be nearly impossible to get farther than that apart if two folks were hunting the same parcel of land in my areas.  I have used them on a 160,000 acre wilderness area not all that far from me and we do often get out of contact but usually finding high ground will at least get you enough of a signal to know your partner is attempting to contact you for some reason.