Best Portable FRS Two-Way Radios
Includes Rechargeable Batteries, Dual Desktop Charger, Headsets and 12 volt Vehicle Adapter, Pair Packed. The GXT1000 meets the JIS4 Standard of exposure to water for 30 minutes and features the Maximum Power allowed for GMRS Handheld Radios for up to a 36-Mile Range. In addition to important weather announcements, All Hazards Alert means the GXT1000VP4 will receive other emergency announcements such as Child Abduction (Amber Alert), Nuclear Power Plant Warnings, Biological Hazard, Fire, and Landslide Warnings. The GXT1000VP4 features a Vibrating Alert for silent notification and 9 Level E Vox for Hands Free operation. Additional features are 142 Privacy Codes, Scan of the 50 Channels, Hi/Med/Low Power Settings, 10 Call Alerts, Keypad Lock, and Battery Save Circuit. Features include privacy codes, direct/group calling, NOAA weather radio/alert/scan, silent operation, whisper function, SOS siren, and plenty more. Midland Radio Corporation is an international industry leader in wireless communications with affiliates in Italy, Bulgaria, Germany, Poland, Russia, Spain, and the United Kingdom, as well as representation in Latin America. Also, as a leading manufacturer of Land Mobile Radios, Midland supplies professional grade analog and digital (P25 Technology) Portables, Mobiles and Base Stations/Repeaters for government entities such as forestry, public safety, and other commercial users. Known in the '70s primarily for CB radios and household electronics, Midland has grown with the times by producing innovative new communications products and by actively promoting public emergency preparedness. Midland has manufactured quality Two-Way Radios for the last 50 years and is a market leader in several individual categories. 50 Channels with Up to 36-Mile range communication in open areas with little or no obstruction,120V Charger.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"One of the features that was very important to me and set Midland apart from most of the other radios was their Group call feature. When I got the radios, I noticed as I setup them up the same as my original 4 that the Group call feature was missing."
"I live out in the country and needed a way to communicate with the wife and children.. Up on arrival we charged the units for a complete 24-30 hrs."
"These work well for limited distance, about 1 to 2 miles.I haven.t tried them at a greater distance, but I'm happy with the clear reception, and especially for the price through Amazon. The print is hard to read, and the Quick Reference Chart is almost impossible to read without a magnifying glass."
"I'll use these in my RV to instruct the driver when parking and docking. Will also use them in the campground when I head down to the lake to fish."
"Do your homework.... you won't get 36+ mile range on any GMRS radio in real-world conditions."
"They're not left in dirty toolbags or dropped on job sites. To their credit, they had me send them the radio and they replaced it. I paid shipping to them, but they paid shipping back to me. It IS broadcasting something because it gives out a very unusual feedback signal on my computer speakers but not the same feedback as every other radio we have. It seems like it's just decided to operate on a totally different frequency. FREQUENCY INFORMATION FOR THOSE THAT WANTED TO KNOW: For those that are curious about frequencies and channels, I figure I'll save you the hassle of looking it up and figuring it out. The following chart shows the Radio channel (the number on the on-screen LCD) along with the actual frequency of that channel, the common name for that channel (so you can set another standard radio to match it) and the broadcast power of the channels. Looking at the chart below, keep in mind the following things. Channel Freq Actual Ch Power. 1 462.5625 FRS1/GMRS 9 500mw. 2 462.5875 FRS2/GMRS 10 500mw. 3 462.6125 FRS3/GMRS 11 500mw. 4 462.6375 FRS4/GMRS 12 500mw. 5 462.6625 FRS5/GMRS 13 500mw. 6 462.6875 FRS6/GMRS 14 500mw. 7 462.7125 FRS7/GMRS 15 500mw. 8 467.5625 FRS8 500mw. 9 467.5875 FRS9 500mw. 10 467.6125 FRS10 500mw. 11 467.6375 FRS11 500mw. 12 467.6625 FRS12 500mw. 13 467.6875 FRS13 500mw. 14 467.7125 FRS14 500mw. 15 462.5500 GMRS 1 5w. 16 462.5750 GMRS 2 5w. 17 462.6000 GMRS 3 5w. 18 462.6250 GMRS 4 5w. 19 462.6500 GMRS 5 5w. 20 462.6750 GMRS 6 5w. 21 462.7000 GMRS 7 5w. 22 462.7250 GMRS 8 5w. 23 462.5625 GMRS 1 5w. 24 462.6125 GMRS 3 5w. 25 462.6625 GMRS 5 5w. 26 462.7125 GMRS 7 5w. 27 462.5500 GMRS 15 5w. 28 462.6000 GMRS 17 5w. 29 462.6500 GMRS 19 5w. 30 462.7000 GMRS 21 5w. 31 462.5875 GMRS 2 5w. 32 462.6375 GMRS 4 5w. 33 462.6875 GMRS 6 5w. 34 467.5625 FRS 8 5w. 35 467.6125 FRS 10 5w. 36 467.6625 FRS 12 5w. 37 467.7125 FRS 14 5w. 38 462.5750 GMRS 16 5w. 39 462.6250 GMRS 18 5w. 40 462.6750 GMRS 20 5w. 41 462.7250 GMRS 22 5w. 42 462.5625 GMRS 1 5w. 43 462.6125 GMRS 3 5w. 44 462.6625 GMRS 5 5w. 45 462.7125 GMRS 7 5w. 46 462.5500 GMRS 15 5w. 47 462.6000 GMRS 17 5w. 48 462.6500 GMRS 19 5w. 49 462.7000 GMRS 21 5w. 50 462.5875 GMRS 2 5w. Actual Power Experience: I live in the country. The radio is designed to recharge a rechargable ni-mh using it's "chg" jack (located under the mic cover on the right side.)."
Much like its little brothers (the BF-F8+ and the UV-5R) the BF-F8HP maintains full cross accessory compatibility with all previous UV-5R accessories. SPECIFICATIONS: Color: Black. Model: New BAOFENG BF-F8HP. Battery: 2000mAh, 7.4v, Li-ion. Frequency Range: 65-108MHz (FM Receive only) 136-174MHz and 400-520MHz (TX/RX). Antenna: High Gain Dual Band Antenna 7" Antenna. Mode of operation: Simple or semi-duplex. Transmitter Output power: 8W/5W / 1W (Max 8W). Modulation Mode: 16k F3E / 11k F3E. Maximum deviation: 5kHz(Wide) / <2.5kHz(Narrow) CTCSS/DCS deviation: 0.5+/-0.1kHz(Wide) / 0.3+/-0.1kHz(Narrow). Intermediation distortion: Upgrades from our Previous Generation UV-5R: Twice the Output Power (8 watts up from 4 watts output), New Hardened Durable Radio Shell, 30% Larger Battery, V-85 High Gain Antenna (Twice the Antenna Performance), USA Support + In-depth User Guide Included. The BF-F8HP was designed in the USA and because not everyone is a radio-expert we really wanted to focus on providing an easier user experience!
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Saving to memory is a two step process, this should be one but once I thought about it, it keeps you from transmitting accidentally out of band. Just to test it, I turned the power to low and hit a repeater about 12 miles away on the other side of a big Texas hill."
"Once you've selected your inputs you can then select the repeaters you want access to. VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: If you decide to import repeaters from, let's say 2 meters and the 70 cm bands, each time you access these bands for an area they will be listed 1 through however many that's. Start by unchecking all the boxes from the "Import" tab then find the repeater(s) you want and and then double click in the number field of the "To" tab and change the number in sequence starting from the number after the last number saved in your previous frequency band i.e. 10 for 2 meters, so this set for 70 cm will begin with 11 and so on. From here you will then need to secure the programming to your radio and then click on the "Radio" tab at the top of the page then select "Upload To Radio", the software will then prompt you to do a few things with your radio, it basically comes down to you powering on your radio, ensuring your radio is not tuned to an active frequency, and then it asks you to remove the antenna. Just a few more steps, Go back to CHIRP and save your imported data by selecting "File" at the top left corner of the page and click "Save" if you want to keep the file named as is or click "Save as" and name the file yourself. One more quick note if you want to make any changes afterwards reconnect your radio to the programming cable and your PC, select the "Radio" tab and then select Download from radio and go from there. If you get the programming cable and download the CHIRP software and follow these instructions you will be good to go to in getting started with access to repeaters and listening to traffic."
"This is a pretty good radio, and my second purchase of the same model number . This is far better than the 6 or so high end FRS/GMRS radio I have tried, and at 2 meters it is powerful enough to hit a local repeater. I had the radio back repaired in 10 days. They fit in my pocket, if you upgrade the rubber duck antenna they receive almost as good as my FT-2900, I will say that they are not the best and most powerful radio I have, but they are certainly the best radio for the money."
The BaoFeng UV-5R is a compact hand held transceiver providing 4 watts in the frequency range of 136-174 MHz and 400-480 MHz. Frequency Range: 65-108 MHz (Only commercial FM radio reception) VHF: 136-174 MHz(Rx/Tx).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Great radio for short distance broadcasts (3-5 miles in a SHTF situation), good radio for a new ham who wants to learn ham speak."
"It just depends on the repeater, but the longer antenna really just helps to clean up the signal."
"If you need a better radio or want to branch out into more than the two VHF frequencies they offer, the investment was minimal and the radio can be passed on to hew ham radio licensees."
"It broadcasts and receives on a large swath of channels though care needs to be taken as it is technically illegal to transmit using it without a radio operators license."
"I did purchase one high end programming cable to use for all my radios the cables that come with some of these just don't work well."
"Programming was simple (at least to me, as I was signal in the Army) any way, the radio has proven to have great battery life, decent range and compatabile with several systems."
"Entry Level radio. I got this primarily for scanning the few police frequencies in my area."
"The volume is extremely high meaning that you can not turn it down."
Best Portable CB Radios
This model is based on the 29 LTD Classic platform, with added features: The new weather receiver with scan automatically advances to the next clear channel when driving cross-country ensuring the driver is always getting the latest weather alerts and warnings. The 29 LX also includes all 40 channel scan and memory channel programming, Instant channel 9 and 19, audible key tones, channel frequency readout for CB and weather channels, 4 watts AM RF power output, the maximum amount of power allowed by law; Talk Back controls allowing drivers to adjust the desired amount of modulation talk-back. 29 LX Features Selectable 4-Color LCD Display With Dimmer Choose from four easy-to-read display colors for viewing operating channel frequency and other data: red, blue, green and amber. 10 NOAA Weather Channels With Emergency Alert The 29 LX provides instant access to 10 National Weather Channels, 24 hours a day, in all 50 states. Memory Channel With Scan Feature Store up to 10 of your most frequently used channels for quick access, and scan through all of them as needed. Instant Channel 9 and 19 Instant access to emergency channel 9 and information channel 19. 10 NOAA Weather channels with automatic scanning and alerts keep you informed of current conditions and any severe weather situations that exist. Other features include a PA (Public Address) mode, antenna warning indicator, delta tune, RF gain, talk back, channel memory, dynamite, instant channel 9/19 and more. Radio Check Diagnostic Provides information on critical CB aspects such as battery voltage, RF power and antenna condition. Receive signals can also be monitored through PA. Multi-Color display offers information on all radio functions, can be set to one of four colors, and can be dimmed for night driving.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Let me start out by saying that my knowledge of CB's is extremely limited and Everything I've learned, is from reading as much as I can in these last 3 months. Lastly, I mounted an external speaker above my head and ran a long 3.5mm audio cable through the head liner, down the A-pillar and under the carpet to the radio. Before I even ran all the power wires for the radio. When I gave it to him he couldnt believe I was able to hit him back so clearly because we were about about 20 miles apart (straight shot, not driving distance) I ended up talking with him and a few other guys who were all in the 15-20 mile range all running home base stations with towers and big power and they all complemented how well I sounded. I remembers what my last channel I was on and every other feature that I've custom set...Everythin BUT the clock. It's not a huge deal to me since I have a clock about 1 foot above the radio anyway but just thought it was worth noting."
"This was labeled new but when tuned up I noticed that one resistor had been burnt and been replaced."
"Excellent... radio check feature is superb."
"Cobra 29 LX 40-Channel CB Radio with Instant Access 10 NOAA Weather Stations and Selectable 4 Color Display. Awesome CB great value works great definitely recommend...!!"
"My hubby drives a dump truck."
"I love this radio, but I only wish they put ssb into it."
"I set my radio to alert me of any weather messages just in case I'm driving into something and every Wednesday around noon on multiple channels from 11-12 that damn thing keeps going off and scares the crap oit of me."
"Great quality, many great features to include the SWR meter built right in so you can tune your radio to your antenna without requiring any additional equipment."
Best Marine Two-Way Radios
PTT (Push To Talk) Function. keypad Lock / Channel Lock: If you are worried that your kids may change the channel when they are playing with the walkie talkies, you can set the channel lock. VOX function: When this function is activated , voice activated transmission is perfomed without pressing the PTT button. CTCSS/DCS: With CTCSS / DCS you will not receive the signals from other users, if you set the same channel and same CTCSS, you can link up more than 2 walkie talikes, which can bring great fun for the whole family. CTCSS / DCS and Bonus: With CTCSS / DCS you will not receive the signals from other users, if you set the same channel and same CTCSS, you can link up more than 2 walkie talikes, which can bring great fun for the whole family. Swiftion walkie talkies for kids: Perfect for kids birthday gifts, a great way to show your kids love.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The box includes two units, the charging cable, the lithium ion batteries and charger."
"I bought with the recharging battery set there are no instructions on how to charge."
"He is only 1 and a half but very smart and he loves talking on the phone so I thought these would help that situation."
"I bought these for my little nieces who are too young for cell phones but we still like to have contact with them when they go to the park or play outside."
"Easy to use, love the little flashlight."
"These are awesome."
"Kids loved them."
"got these for my grandson and they work great i never expected something that worked so awesome we were two miles away and i could talk to the grandson that was flat land but still it was miles and rechargeable batterys thats great too two thumbs up."
Best Two-Way Radio Accessories
Add bonus items: Premium Memory Foam Ear Tips and Aluminum Climbing Hook for EVA case. Package Includes: Hussar Magicbuds Bluetooth Headphones S, M, L Ear Tips Micro USB Charging Cable Zippered Carry Case User Manual Cord Management Clip Premium Memory Foam Ear Tips Aluminum Climbing Hook. BLUETOOTH V4.1 and UNIVERSAL CONNECTIVITY: We give you the power of Bluetooth V4.1 technology for seamless syncing to your favorite wireless devices, including iPhone, iPad, Android cell Phones, Windows Phones, and more up to 10 meters 33 feet.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"After getting an Amazon gift card for Christmas, I decided not to spend the $200 on a pair of the wireless Beats and instead opted for the Hussar wireless earbuds instead. In addition, the headphones look great on the ear and are very light compared to some other wireless headphones I have tried in the past which is especially useful when I am doing strength training that involves a lot of up and down movements."
"PROs. Over-the-ear hooks: There are a lot of Bluetooth earbuds available on Amazon that sound great, but don’t always stay in your ear while you’re running or working out. I did a quick test by running in place, doing jumping jacks, and doing push-ups, and the earbuds stayed in my ear without an issue. Built-in mic: If you receive an incoming call while using these earbuds, you can answer it thanks to the built-in microphone.Bluetooth 4.1: In additional to improved sound quality, Bluetooth 4.1 also has improved battery life for both your phone and the earbuds (as long as your phone is Bluetooth 4.1 compatible as well). You will still get quality phone calls and music at the same time it will provide the ability for you to be alert for outside sounds that you would hear if you are not wearing a headset."
"These are fantastic."
"For headphones that quality wise are similar to my wireless powerbeats, strongly recommend."
"I can't say enough good things about these headphones."
"I really like these headphones!"