FRS walkie talkies

[Stormin Mormon]

I've got a Micro talk. Runs on four AAA cells. Do you use nicads, or just put in new batteries every morning?

My Motorolas run on three AA cells, I think they last a bit longer.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

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I have a pair of nice little 22 channel Cobra Micro Talk GMRS/FRS radios that work very well. Me and JH do a lot of telecom and data wiring and the radios come in handy when you're 300' away from your co-conspirator trying to sort out or find cables. We've been trying to find a young guy maybe 50 years old or so to help us pull wire up in ceilings where it's difficult for us to climb around. ^_^

TDD

[Lloyd E. Sponenburgh]

I also have some Cobras. They run for nearly a week on 'listen', and with intermittant talking (say 10 minutes a day) keep up on regular alkalines for about three days.

LLoyd

[bob haller]

use rechargable batterys, and consider just using cell phones with unlimited talk package.

less stuff to carry, and cell phones tend to be smaller and weigh less than FRS

[Stormin Mormon]

Are those the ones with four AAA cells?

The one time I was doing wire pulling and other work at a volunteer job, set of AAA made it through one shift, and only part way through the next day. Of course, I was on third floor of VERY tall floors, and my batteries were in the van. Now, I always carry the second set with me.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

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I also have some Cobras. They run for nearly a week on 'listen', and with intermittant talking (say 10 minutes a day) keep up on regular alkalines for about three days.

LLoyd

[gfretwell]

I have some of these but we only use them on vacation and not really that often. If you are using them every day, get rechargeable batteries. Best is a unit with a base station and a built in charger. My walkie talkies have the contacts for it but I didn't buy the charger base.

[news]

The AA cells have much higher capacity than the AAA cells. See the Duracell spec sheets here:

You'll also get much longer battery life from a radio that uses a physical click-on/off switch than one that uses a touch-on/off switch. The touch switch typically draws a small but continuous crrent from the batteries

I like the Uniden EcoTrek FRS420 and FRS440 radios that have a click-on/off switch on the volume control, use three AA cells, and have a clip that hangs well from a belt loop. After a number of years, on of the FRS420's has a problem with low audio output, but I've had them so long I no longer remember when I bought them.

Along the way, I've used Cobra and Midland FRS radios that were smalller and lighter, but used AAA cells so required more frequent battery changes. One of them came with rechargeable batteries, but only their rechargeable batteries could be used with the stad charger

- their batteries were large enough to trip the internal charging switch, but normal size rechargeables didn't because they are the same size as standard batteries.

[Stormin Mormon]

I was just reading article on batteries, Dad tore the article out of a magazine for me. For digital cameras, NiMH last a lot longer than alkalines. That might be the case with FRS walkies, I'm not sure.

On my old job when my boss kept turning off the FRS, I finally gave up and used cell phone for all my cellar to attic comms.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

use rechargable batterys, and consider just using cell phones with unlimited talk package.

less stuff to carry, and cell phones tend to be smaller and weigh less than FRS

[Bob La Londe]

I've been using radios for wire pulling and jobsite coordination for about

20 years. I have had two sets of Cobra radios and I was not impressed with the quality of either set. My current set are FRS with GMRS from Midland and they are pretty tough. Have been using them long enough I don't recall when I bought them exactly. I just am not impressed with Cobra, from CB days to current they were always after the "cheap" market niche.

The toughest set of radios I had were Motorola 800mhz trunk radios, but I sold them when cellular became so affordable. On jobsites now we usually just use our cell phones unless we know we will ahead of time we will be on them constantly.

In my opinion the only reason I would buy Cobra anything is if I knew for a fact my guys would lose them down the sewer.

[Richard]

I have several sets of hand held radios.

The littlest marine VHF are Cobras. The batteries have been upgraded to NiMH, and they run a lot longer. They are mainly used by "crew" to talk to the "ship". That way I can monitor the on-board VHF (loud enough for me to hear easily. If they go overboard it's not big loss.

They were cheap, true. But they've rune for 4 years now. Except the one that jumped ship one day. Haven't heard from it in a while now...

MY personal VHF is also a cheapie , rebranded by West Marine. I have it because it's waterproof (10 10 feet) and floats. So I take it with me when I'm sailing on other boats.

The rest are FRS, which we use now and then around the house, or between cars when traveling. I consider them to be disposable so no big deal if something happens to them.

All except the Coleman. It's pretty cool, so I keep it for me.

[gregz]

If you run FRS channels they will last longer. Licensed high power GMRS channels use more power, and of course requires license.

Greg

[The Daring Dufas]

The Motorola and GE commercial hand-helds were designed so cops could club you over the head with them then call for the ambulance. ^_^

TDD

[Michael A. Terrell]

I had a small police department ask me to fix a GE (PE66?) handheld that fell off the top of a cruiser during a hot pursuit. The potmetal case was so full of cracks that the entire radio could be twisted. There was no way that piece of junk could be fixed. There were no new cases, and no spare space inside to repair the thing. Most of the antennas had lost the rubber covers from their being used as handles.

[The Daring Dufas]

I was working on a lot of commercial and police radios back in the 70's and the damn things were Steam Punk in nature, big and clunky compared to what we have today but they were fairly tough like the old Western Electric telephones that you could beat down a burglar with then call the cops. ^_^

TDD

[Stormin Mormon]

I've noticed that the nicad packs tend to have contacts on the side of the pack, for the drop in charger. Loose nicads or NiMH work, but need a separate charger.

Yes, AA have two or three times the capacity as AAA cells.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

The AA cells have much higher capacity than the AAA cells. See the Duracell spec sheets here:

You'll also get much longer battery life from a radio that uses a physical click-on/off switch than one that uses a touch-on/off switch. The touch switch typically draws a small but continuous crrent from the batteries

I like the Uniden EcoTrek FRS420 and FRS440 radios that have a click-on/off switch on the volume control, use three AA cells, and have a clip that hangs well from a belt loop. After a number of years, on of the FRS420's has a problem with low audio output, but I've had them so long I no longer remember when I bought them.

Along the way, I've used Cobra and Midland FRS radios that were smalller and lighter, but used AAA cells so required more frequent battery changes. One of them came with rechargeable batteries, but only their rechargeable batteries could be used with the stad charger

- their batteries were large enough to trip the internal charging switch, but normal size rechargeables didn't because they are the same size as standard batteries.

[Stormin Mormon]

Thanks for the real world report. I'd been using Motorola FR-50, and had good results with them. They don't have the squelch codes, so once in a while I get some cross talk from some other units.

The one time they failed me, I was on a roof, and leaning into a HVAC unit to check things. My man on the ground tried to reach me. He was maybe 100 yards or more away. The squelch opened, but I didn't get any voice. Figured it was some other unit at a distance. I finally got back to the roof edge, and he radioed to ask why I didn't reply. Oops. I should have leaned out of the unit and radioed "was that you?"

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

I've been using radios for wire pulling and jobsite coordination for about

20 years. I have had two sets of Cobra radios and I was not impressed with the quality of either set. My current set are FRS with GMRS from Midland and they are pretty tough. Have been using them long enough I don't recall when I bought them exactly. I just am not impressed with Cobra, from CB days to current they were always after the "cheap" market niche.

The toughest set of radios I had were Motorola 800mhz trunk radios, but I sold them when cellular became so affordable. On jobsites now we usually just use our cell phones unless we know we will ahead of time we will be on them constantly.

In my opinion the only reason I would buy Cobra anything is if I knew for a fact my guys would lose them down the sewer.

[Percival P. Cassidy]

Keep in mind that NiCd and NiMH cells have a lower voltage than alkaline cells even when they are fully charged, so you start out at a disadvantage. They will likely need to be recharged far more often than alkalines would need to be replaced -- and there is a limit to the number of times they can be recharged.

Perce

[Stormin Mormon]

Oddly enough, NiMH last longer than alkalines in digital cameras. Charging flash is a high demand application. Transmitting on FRS is also a high current draw. I'm not sure, but NiMH might last longer in walkie talkies.

In any case, a night in the charge stand is cheaper than a set of replacement alkalines.

Rechargables self discharge, so a walkie kept in the back pack for occasional camping trips needs alkalines, cause NiMH would be dead by then.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

Perce

[Michael A. Terrell]

All that steel blocks the signal, and causes dead spots wherever the signal is close to 180° out of phase.

[bob haller]

I used to use RCA tac 100s for jobsite work. they were made near me in medowlands pa.....

not as durable as older models but lighter.....

the RCAs were commercial receivers, took them once with some friends to the henry ford museum and greenfield village. this before cell phones......

people gave us wierd looks and a couple asked if we were security.....

now the odd person not carrying a cell phone is a rarity.........

[Jim Wilkins]

Rechargeables start at a lower voltage but hold it longer.

jsw