mustad

Hi,

I'm looking to get a new pair of two way radios. I've been looking at the Midland radios that are capable of reaching 14 miles line of sight. Does anybody have any experience with these radios? Are there other companies I should be looking at?

Thanks,

liquidorange

these type radios are a funny creature. if your dealing with any hills or alot of obstruction it doesnt seem to matter if there 100 mile radios. ive bought quite a few of these over the years. motorola seems to be more pricey and a little more well built but for the difference in price i dont know if its worth it. i like midland alot. something to look for is if as they take regular batteries just in case you forgot to charge up the night before. most stores have a 30 day return so give it a try.

Champlain Islander

I got a pair for Christmas and I think they work OK. I have an oldpair of the Motorola Talkabout Distance which were 5 mile radios. They had an effective range of 1 to2 miles under most circumstances. They were large and I didn't have an ear bud for them. The new ones have a better range, are smallerand are 4 watts I believe so they should be better and they have an ear bud and mike for those who want them. I haven't tested them for range yet but I will try it out and let you know.

mobow

I have them and love them. The range is misleading, though. It all depends on the terrain. I love the weather radio but I wish it had weather alert, too.

mustad

Thanks for the feedback guys. I have owned two different set of Motorolas in the past. They've worked pretty well as long as whoever you are talking to was pretty close, but I was never impressed with their range.

These Midlands that I'm looking at come with 5 watts. They claim 14 miles, but as always that's line of sight. All the other radios I've owned claimed 5 miles of coverage, but worked maybe up to a mile. So, I'm thinking that I have a good chance of getting maybe 3-4 miles with these Midlands. Let me know if you think this is a fair expectation.

The other thing is the packaging they come in. They pack the same product in three different ways (all come with the same functionality except as it pertains to power sources). The cheapest packaging comes with the battery pack and charger. They don't say whether this radio will work off of AA batteries. Do you really think they redesigned their product to only work off their battery packs? The middle model runs off AA batteries only and does not come with neither a battery pack nor the charger. The most expensive model comes with the battery pack and charger and states that it runs off AA batteries as well. I'm a little fishy that the cheapest model in the most expensive model are the same thing, but who knows. The difference in price is $ 70; $ 85; and $ 104, respectively. They also seem to OEM a radio to Cabelas. Cabelas has branded it as the "Bubba" Radio Two-Pack. I think it may be the same product as the middle end packaging, but the only difference is Cabelas doesn't advertise any weather functionality, which I think could come in handy (and it doesn't come in camo). They package this at $ 70.

So, I'm tending to purchase the middle end product for $ 85, mainly to get the weather functionality. Let me know what you think. I'm thinking the battery pack would be a waste of time and money... better off just buying an extra stock of AA's.

Cheers,

Champlain Islander

My radios are the 5 watt 14 mile range not the 4 like I said earlier. The pack I got includes 2 camo radios, a 2 radio ac charger, a dc car charger, ear budswith mikes and can run on either battery packs or AA. I like the dual power set up because in most cases I will use them with the packs and re-charge at night. The AA batterys will come in handy when I will be hunting in remote areas without power. I do lots of myNew Englandhunting in the mountainous areasof northern Vt, NH and Maine. The extended range shouold be better and give me more than the motorola radios did. Most of the time my hunting party is within a 5 mile range (we are trackers). Often the Motorola 5 mile radios would cut out at around 2 miles so the new ones will hopefully be just about right.

mustad

Thanks CI,

Unfortunately for you, from everything I've heard; I'm not even the 5 watt would give you enough coverage to talk with hunting partners of yours if you are both trying to track some decent bucks in Vermont these days. Hopefully, it won't take too long for the deer population to recover though.

Thanks again for the input.

Cheers,

hardcorehunter

I bought a pair of cobrason clearance at wally world. They work quite well and have a compass and weather radio in them too. A buddy and I found them handy when we were bear hunting in Canada as cell phones didn't work in the area. They also have a vibrate feature which is nice so game isn't spooked. These are actually CB's.

huntingson

My hunting buddies and I all bought the Gharmin Rhino 120's a couple years back and they are the best electronic piece of gear I have ever had. We used them in the Ungava caribou hunting and their 5 mile range was actually an understatement I thought. The GPS addition is great for marking where you shot from, and where the animal fell if you have to make a couple of trips to get them out. It also gives you a safety factor because if you get hurt you can key in the radio and your buddies can see where you are and come help you. Worth every penny IMO.

drhntr178

Midland has just came out with an upgrade of their 14mile GXT550's. The new GXT650's claim a 18 mile range(perfect conditions). I have owned the midlands for the past three years, the 450's, 550's and now the 650's. All have been great radios, with each model's range definitely increasing in the woods. The 650's also have nature sounds (gobbling, deer bleat, geese, ducks,) as call tones instead of that stupid music.