Midland vs Motorola radios

I have an older set of Midland radios (GXT-400), which said a 10 mile range. We were Grouse hunting and we would lose contact within a mile. Of course we are in the woods.

I am looking at getting new ones hoping for a little more range. If I could get 1.5 to 2 miles max of range in the woods I would be very happy.

I see some out there saying up to 34 miles now. I would assume that if those say 34 miles and my current ones say 10 miles, I should get some more distance out of them then I do now.

I was looking at them at the store and the salesman had indicated that he has Motorlas (18mile range), and they work very well.

With the new radios out. What are you guys currently using and what recommendations do you have. They would be strictly used for keeping in contact within the woods Grouse/Deer Hunting.

I get a kick out of all that advertising stuff. They play on the fact that most people are ignorant to how radio communications work.

The frs/gmrs radios you are all speaking of are UHF. About the worst you can have for trying to talk in the woods. Things like pine needles actually absorb the signals. The lower power allowed by law really keeps the range down. Although power does not set the range. It will have some effect on how loud your signal will be within the range. So what is the range? Well it is line of sight. Line of sight basically is 2xsq rt of the height. Some other variables will come into play as well. Such as curve of the earth, enviorment, obstructions, etc. Frs/gmrs raidos are nothing but toys. Good only for short range talking. Also you do need to buy a license to legally use them. Not many do though.

Some may beg to differ. Yet I will tell you this. I went nuts with them at one time. Breaking the law even further of course. I bought high power true 5 watt motorola commerical handhelds. Rarely could we get better than 1 mile from them if lucky. Then I also had 25 watt mobile radios in the truck and house. Could get about 10 miles out of them. Mobile to mobile. Mobile to handheld could get about 3 miles if lucky. Very few of you will try this costly way of doing it.

So what is the best to use. Well what does law enforcement and such use. FM VHF!!! Now there is only a few ways to legally use this. One is to get your ham license. A cheap 2M radio is around $75 for a handheld, and $150 for a mobile. Next would be to get your own channel from the FCC. Which will cost you about $500 for the channel and then the equipment. There are a few ways to do it against the law, but I will not be an advocate of that!

So what is the range with the VHF. Well the same laws of physics still apply. Since I run a private VHF channel mostly I can tell you this. handheld to handheld. we can get 1-2miles on avg. handheld to mobile(truck) up to 5miles or more but 3 on avg. Truck to truck we can get as much as 50miles at times, but 10-15 is average. Same goes base to truck. Now if you go ham and use the repeaters, well in theory could go cross country I suppose.

Hope this helps someone out there. As I have been through it all myself. From the can and string. to CB, to the GMRS, and VHF. In the coming year we are getting our own channel so no sharing will be needed. Ham is to much of a pain since we may have clients that need to use a radio as well. Although FRS/GMRS is a cheaper way to go. Heck can get watches with it for $20. Great Xmas gift for the kids!!

Steve

Have to agree with the fellow that said they are all junk. I have bought several different motoralas and midlands. None of them are any good in the woods. If you get a mile you are lucky. I haven't. When they say they get up to 35 miles they must have tried them on the moon with no obstacles in between.

I've used a bunch of different ones, and in my opinion, they are all JUNK.

I just purchased a new set. I got a set of Midland GXT785VP3 radios for 54.59 with a $10 rebate (expires 10/30/09) off of newegg.com. We'll see how they compare to my old GXT400s.

While searching around I found a cool website which compares radios. It is twowayradioforum.com. There is a guy who product tests various models. They didn't have a review on this particular model but similar 700 series models. I guess I couldn't pass up the set for $45.

The reviews for similar models were putting person to person (urban area) at over a mile, so we will see.

All those radios suck. Like mentioned earlier, the actual vs. advertised are way off.

One factor you can control is battery. The battery should be fully charged or very fresh.

The other thing, is that only some channels are rated to go that far. Check your owners manual. I think mine is only like the first 8, without sub channels or something like that. Plus turn the distance on and power save off.

I have an old old pair of motorola 2 mile rated, the old blue ones, with only a few channels and subs, and they work much better then any of the new ones I've tried and own (currently Midland). So higher mile rating doesn't always translate to actual further.