Motorola MT350R FRS Weatherproof Two-Way - 35 Mile Radio Pack - Orange

Excellent FRS/GMRS radio. Used between two cars on an FRS channel (.5 watts) over a 1600 mile trip -- worked flawlessly. Transmisisons were crystal clear, no engine noises or other interference whatsoever. Also didn't hear any other FRS users: with 7 FRS channels and essentially 121 sub channels (interference eliminator codes) it's like having over 800 channels to chose from -- and that's without getting a GMRS license from the FCC for the additional 15 frequencies that allow the radio to transmit at 1.5 watts.Range. Like all other FM radios operating on FRS, you are limited to LOS (line of sight). Yes, you can talk "through" some trees and a few walls within about a half mile, but it's not going to support communications over a hill or through a thousand meters of dense woods. When Motorola and other manufacturers suggest a range of 35 miles is possible, that's pure LOS in pristine conditions -- not situation you are likely to find yourself in on the ground.During our trip we pretty much stayed within sight of the other car, but a couple times going through Illinois (picture pancake flat farmland with few obstructions like trees, buildings, etc to compete with LOS) the other half of my two car caravan was often following over 2 miles back (once almost 5 miles behind) and we could still communicate clearly (I should note that 7 miles in these conditions didn't work -- I know they were 7 miles back because they called on their cell). The NiMH battery pack life was excellent despite being only 650mAh (the MT352R comes with 1300mAh BTW). Both radios would still read 'full' after being on for over 8 hours/day although we would only transmit when one or the other driver got bored, or tired, needed gas, or wanted to discuss where we could pull over next -- I estimate we used less than 5 minutes of transmitting time per hour. Also, we didn't use the voice activated feature (although I confirmed that works well, I set the radios up for the trip and to keep things more deliberate -- I was unsure how loud my son was going to have the car's stereo, so I had this feature turned off so you had to push to talk PTT) which I imagine saved some battery power. We did have the "Talk Confirmation" feature enabled: it gives a distinct beeping sound when you release the PTT button as an alternative to going full A-TEAM and saying "over" at the end of each transmission (which we did anyway). BTW, the instructions are excellent, although printed small enough you'll need a magnifying glass to read them all.If you have read this far, here's a cool game you can play with issuing call signs: each time you stop for gas we'd take turns making up call signs for the next part of the trip. First, you come up with one for you, then one for the other vehicle. The game is simple: you give yourself the baddest, most high-speed awesome "Jason Bourne sleeper cell meets Three Days of the Condor" sounding call sign you can think of, while issuing all other call sign in the starkest contrast possible to make your call-sign sound even badder! Example? "Okay, for the next leg of our trip, I'm "FIREHAMMER ARC-ANGEL" .....you'll be....ummmm....."Fuzzy Bunny or Pudd'n Pop" -- which do you prefer?" (or course then you issue them whatever they have not selected) "Fuzzy Bunny? Okay then, it's decided: You'll be "Pudd'n Pop" -- sorry, getting you back from me being Sweet Pea for the last 250 miles, "DRAGON CLAW".Now on radio: "Pudd'n Pop, PUDD'N POP, this is FIREHAMMER ARC-ANGEL, radio check, over."Let's roll...

First off, I know very little about walkie talkies, radios, or any of that. I basically bought these for emergency preparedness and for general communication during a storm or power outage (any instance where phones wouldn't be an option). If you're like me, you typed in "walkie talkie" into Amazon's search and got the phone book. There are a million models to choose from and I wasn't sure where to start. With regard to the Motorola brands, the more your pay generally equals more water resistance and more range. The concept of "range" on these walkie talkies is somewhat subjective though. If you live in an urban environment, you'll be lucky to get 1 mile of clear chatting, in my experience. Again, your mileage may vary. However don't buy these "35-mile" walkies thinking you're going to talk to your buddy in a neighboring town... it doesn't work that way, and non-radio people like me often don't know that.As everyone will say, ignore the 35-mile statement on the package. These radios worked in the city fairly well, within about a 1-mile radius. My brother lives roughly 1.5 miles away from me, and we were able to communicate (with him on the second floor of his house, and me in my driveway) - It should be noted there was a bit of static, and sometimes I had to ask my brother to repeat his message. It did work though. I was able to pick up my neighbor several houses down from my BASEMENT with these walkies. I don't know how, but it worked.The walkie has a "MON" button which basically scans the airwaves for chatter. This feature is pretty cool, but all it really told me is that there are surprisingly few people with walkie talkies in my area. This feature is good for finding a clear channel to communicate on. This may seem really obvious, but walkie talkies are very public devices. Even if you have a privacy channel set, if anyone tunes into the channel you are on - there is a chance they can hear you.The biggest feature I like about these walkies is that holding the "+" button for a few seconds taps into the nearest NOAA radio station. This plays emergency broadcasts, forecasts, and important emergency weather information. If there is an alert, like a tornado alert, and the walkie is on... it will alert you and automatically tune to the NOAA station. This is really handy, in my opinion, and I often leave the walkie plugged in just for that purpose.The battery life on these is probably 1.5 - 2 days with intermittent use. With frequent use, you'll need to charge these everyday like a cell phone. This thing uses the non-slim style USB prong, so keep that in mind.These walkies also have built-in LED lights. It doesn't compare to a good flashlight but it's a good feature to have if the power is off and you need to quickly see your way to a larger light source.The battery panel is locked with a phillips-style screw that you need to loosen to remove the panel. This seems like a secure way to keep the back panel on, but in reality, it just makes changing batteries a chore (or if you lithium battery dies and you need to throw in some AAs) ... I carry a mini leatherman squirt around so opening the panel wasn't a big deal.and lastly, these walkies have a ton of features that I've likely not even mentioned or touched upon. You can ring or page all walkies on a specific channel, you plug in headsets, etc... Bottom line is that there is a learning curve with this thing. You'll probably need to read the manual to figure out how to set things the way you want them. The actual process of picking a channel and talking with someone else, though, is very easy and straightforward. If that's all you want to do, you'll be up in no time.Overall I'd recommend these walkies for everyone. Even if you just buy them for the emergency radio capabilities. They basically allow you to give one to a friend/family member and have an easy way to communicate with them. I'd recommend these for any traveling expedition you undertake in which you are following someone else in a car. These are good for any sporting or outdoor camping type activity where cell phone coverage might be an issue. Even if you just want to mess around, these are pretty fun little gadgets.