Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

2 way radios

[ QUOTE ]
Motorola is what I have. I like them and they are pretty clear. But it's totally up to your preferences.

[/ QUOTE ]

I second the Motorolas, I've had the same pair for years and they are still going.
 
I've got the Motorola T6500's and they work good most of the time. If I'm deep in a ravine I have trouble communicating at distances beyond 1/4 mile though.
 
Motorola has a new unit, the Talkabout T9550 which is to have a range of 25 miles. My Garmin Rhino 130's serve us well but no where close to that kind of range.
 
i use the garmin 120 and it works good for me plus you get the gps with it and if you link it up wit others in your hunting group you can see them on your screen so thats pretty cool....
 
Yup, the Garmins are nice, especially if your hunting with youth or someone that roams more then you'd prefer. The only problem is the cost and risk of loss in the woods. That is what caught my eye with the Motorola's is the much lower cost. I could lend it to a hunting partner and wouldn't feel so bad if he lost it.

If your planning to hunt out west you can download more detailed maps containing logging roads, trails, etc.. We take them skiing for fun to compare total vertical and high speeds at the end of the day. Had a chance to try it out on trails a couple of weeks ago when we were skiing and spent a day snowmobiling. They now have the color displays in the 530's.
 
the garmins are expessive but i got mine at schells on clearance it was a display model it was 249 normal price but they had it at 150 and that was last year so you might find one even cheaper since its an older model
 
All these radios are considered "line of sight". Anything between them, trees, hills, valleys, etc. will lower the range. It doesn't matter if it's a 10 mile radio or a 25, if one is in a valley, the range is diminished greatly. The distances the manufacturers claim is based off a formula they use. In reality, the consumer will never get the range advertised.
Also don't forget, that if using GMRS channels you need a FCC licence to be legal. It's 80 bucks for 5 years and good for 6 radios per household.
 
I have the Midlands, wouldn't recommend them but hey I got them at a bargain as they have a 10 mile range and picked them up for 19.99 on a closeout. They are really clear up to a few miles away, but unless you are in a straight line you aren't getting that 10 mile range. The one thing that I dislike about the midlands I have is that there is no way to keep them from beeping when pushing the talk button or even to turn this effect on/off or the noise down. Annoying to say the least.
 
We have about every brand possible out in Wyoming and none of them work for crap out there. You are better off just using cell phones. We switched to Nextel and they worked from Wyoming over the Tetons into Idaho.
 
I have a set of Midland GXT 450's with a listed range of 12 miles. I've had them about 3 years and I like them. Actual ranges depend on terrain. The property I hunt is about 2,500 acres in more or less a 2 1/2 mile by 2 1/2 mile square with a lot of roll, creeks and timber. We get good reception on the whole property.

My rule of thumb is take the listed range and divide it by 3 to get a real world estimate. I paid about $95 3 years ago. A friend got the newer model last year with an 18 mile range for $70. Both those prices included rechargable bateries and mics.

They do have a weather radio built in to them which is great.

The link below is for the newer model with out the batteries. My buddy got his new on ebay. There is a set on there now for about $80 including shipping and the the rechargables and chargers.

Midland GXT 650
 
i would not go with midland b/c i have had my pair of 7 milers for about 3 years now and have only used them very sparingly maybe have 30 minutes on them and the speaker on my one already went out on it. other than that they worked real well when they were in working condition.
 
[ QUOTE ]
All these radios are considered "line of sight". Anything between them, trees, hills, valleys, etc. will lower the range. It doesn't matter if it's a 10 mile radio or a 25, if one is in a valley, the range is diminished greatly. The distances the manufacturers claim is based off a formula they use. In reality, the consumer will never get the range advertised.
Also don't forget, that if using GMRS channels you need a FCC licence to be legal. It's 80 bucks for 5 years and good for 6 radios per household.

[/ QUOTE ]

Shovel,

Can you explain the whole GMRS channels and FCC thing to me? Layman's terms if you could. ha, ha

Thanks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom