An occasionally funny review of some GMRS radios. If you're in the
market you may find this information useful.
Steve
Team Tierra Buena
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The New York Times
May 8, 2003
Two-Way Radios Reviewed By DAVID POGUE
Of all the phrases in English, "up to" is among the most powerful.
Thanks to its implied disclaimer, "up to" provides ironclad truth
protection in almost any kind of statement. You can tell your friends
that you type up to 120 words a minute, that you can bench-press up to
500 pounds, and that you earn up to $2 million a year. Legally, you're
covered.
Few industries capitalize on this linguistic loophole with more gusto
than the walkie-talkie business. Of course, their manufacturers would go
bald in horror to hear the term walkie-talkies; the proper term for
these grown-up products is two-way radios. In the coming weeks, you'll
be able to buy these radios in enhanced editions that purport to offer a
range of seven miles - or rather, "up to" seven miles.
I was eager to try out the Audiovox GMRS-7001, Cobra PR 4000 WX
Microtalk and Midland G-225, whose product descriptions boldly declare,
"For up to 7 mile range." I found it peculiar, though, that Motorola, a
pioneer in this category, had nothing to offer in the new seven-mile
category.
The reason, according to a Motorola spokesman, is that there is no such
thing. He pointedly observed that there haven't been any regulatory or
technological breakthroughs since the debut of "five mile" radios. He
went so far as to claim that Motorola's own "up to five miles" radio,
the T7200, would offer better range than its rivals' "up to seven miles"
models.
Some of Motorola's competitors very much doubted it. As a Cobra
spokesman joshingly put it, "Liar, liar, pants on fire."
Now, it's easy to appreciate the benefits of two-way radios, even the
older, cheaper "two mile" models. They're ideal for communicating car to
car on road trips, checking in with offspring playing down the street,
and coordinating family movements in malls, theme parks and sports
stadiums. Of course, they're also valuable tools for hikers, campers and
skiers. In short, they're ideal for people who don't need two-way
communication often enough to justify the expense of two cellphones and
their monthly fees - or for people in places where the deer and the
antelope roam, but cellphones still don't.
But a range of seven miles would send these radios into a whole new
realm of usefulness. It would permit communication not just across the
block or the mall, but even across town. When you discover that the
video store is out of the movie you want, you could place a quick radio
call home to discuss a second choice. Coordinating after-school pickups
and errand runs would be infinitely simpler. And as for real estate
agents, sales-force personnel and pizza delivery vans - well, you get
the idea.
Each of the four contestants in this radio roundup has a stubby antenna
and a backlighted screen that identifies the current transmission
channel (of the 22 available). Except for the Midland, each has a
built-in weather radio. A set of AA or AAA batteries lasts 12 to 20
hours, depending on the battery type (alkaline or rechargeable) and
other variables. Each radio also offers subcodes: thin frequency slices
of each channel that help prevent crosstalk from other radio owners in
your area.
Over the years, the government has created standards for two kinds of
consumer radios. First came the Family Radio Service, or F.R.S., a
low-power (half-watt) mode for very short distances. The higher-powered
General Mobile Radio Service (G.M.R.S.) provides better range but uses
up the battery faster. The Cobra, Audiovox, Midland and Motorola are all
dual-class radios, offering both F.R.S. and G.M.R.S. channels.
You're supposed to obtain an F.C.C. license before you use a G.M.R.S.
radio, which involves completing a form available at
www.fcc.gov/formpage.html and paying a $75 fee. The radio makers
acknowledge, however, that this requirement may be the most universally
ignored regulation since the invention of jaywalking.
The Midland and Audiovox radios could be twins wearing different
outfits. Each is very inexpensive ($60 per two-pack for the Midland,
$100 a pair for the Audiovox), and feels it. Each is also tiny, no
bigger than a bar of Ivory. Both are far hissier than their more
expensive rivals, and don't have as much range (more on this in a
moment).
Note, too, that each of these bargain units has a design flaw or two.
The Midland's Monitor button, which is designed to produce continuous
static so that you can adjust the volume, is where the Push-to-Talk
button ought to be. And the Audiovox radio is too easily turned on by
other gear in the same luggage. (At one point during a vacation, it
turned itself on unexpectedly at 3 a.m. and treated me to the loud
voices of a couple of drug dealers inside my backpack.) The Cobra ($120
for a pair) is a far more substantial, navy-and-black radio that feels
like a sculptured oval brick. The Push to Talk button requires a
surprising amount of force, making you wonder if it shouldn't be
relabeled the Strain-to-Talk button.
But surprisingly, the Cobra is the only model in this roundup to include
such obvious outdoorsy tools as an alarm clock, a stopwatch and a
digital compass. It even has a vibrating alert, presumably so that your
fellow hikers can page you without waking up the grizzly bear next to
you.
Finally, Motorola's T7200 ($130 for one) is a heavier, more rugged radio
that accommodates either four AA batteries or a rechargeable battery
pack (included). It comes with interchangeable faceplates for the
fashion-conscious hiker - sunshine yellow, camouflage green and dark
green. But the real beauty of this radio is its sound quality, which
stands head, shoulders and torso above its rivals. Only you can decide
if this far superior sound is worth paying a price that's double the
Cobra's and four times the Midland's.
All of that is great, but the real question is, how's the range?
Now, the manufacturers admit that they get seven miles only in ideal
conditions, when there are no trees, houses or anything else in between
the two radios being tested - in other words, on the moon. But they also
say that you should still get three miles of range even in terrible
conditions - for example, from inside cars.
All I can figure out is that the radio makers and I live in parallel
universes. In my suburban tests, these "seven mile" radios began
introducing heavy static and lost syllables at nine-tenths of a mile
apart, and lost all contact at 1.1 miles. On the highway (but out of the
car), the Midland and Audiovox gave up the ghost at 1.5 miles, and the
beefier radios lost touch at 1.7.
Before releasing the services of my good-natured testing partner ("Geek
Freak to Mama Bird: Can you hear me now?"), I gave the radios a final
test that should have been an easy lob: communicating directly across
open water. In this case, the miniradios managed 2.5 miles, and the
Cobra and Motorola models finally lost all staticky contact at 3.3. The
manufacturers call these freakishly poor results. They chalked it up to
the kinds of environmental factors that can affect range: humidity,
wires, vegetation, buildings, clouds, hills, airplanes and even
sunspots. (Now there's a high-tech corporate excuse you don't hear every
day.)Don't get the impression that these radios are worthless. True,
that "seven mile" business may be the greatest bit of marketing
hyperbole since P. T. Barnum. But even with only a mile of range that
you can count on (on land, anyway), they're still great for malls, theme
parks, ski slopes, hikes, car caravans, and other short-range
situations.
The two-watt Motorola offers uniformly richer, cleaner sound at
distances greater than most of its three-watt rivals, but it's by far
the most expensive. The Cobra lets thicker static creep in as the
distance increases, but ultimately remains intelligible slightly longer
than even the Motorola. It also offers many more features and costs less
than half as much. As for the Audiovox and Midland - well, sometimes
you get a pair of what you pay for.
No matter which brand you choose, after you buy a pair, you should test
whether the range will be good enough for your purposes and then return
them if the answer is no. (You certainly wouldn't be alone.) And you
never know. As the manufacturers would surely tell you, up to 95 percent
of their customers find happiness with these radios up to 99 percent of
the time.
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