I was given 4 of them.
2 Uniden rechargable with 1 charging base and 2 Cobra non rechargable. They also came with 2 motorola head sets that work with either pair and a small canvas bag to keep everything together in. One of the Cobras has a small bit of corrosion on a couple of the battery contacts that doesn’t look too bad from a simple surface exam. Seems like it will be easy enough to clean.
But now that I’ve got them, I don’t know what to do with them. I don’t really have any use for them.
Any hand held two way radio enthusiasts here?
You might not be able to answer this question, but are they FRS or GMRS radios? There are other types such as MURS, but I don’t believe Cobra and niden make those.
FRS is Family Radio Service . This is a low power unlicensed service for short range use.
GMRS is General Mobile Radio Service and requires a license from the FCC to operate legally.
Some radios can do both and as long as you stick to the FRS frequencies you’ll not be in trouble.
They do both frs and gmrs and yeah, when I looked at the owners manuals, they explained what the two were and how they used different power levels etc.
Didn’t really see anything about fcc licences, but I wasn’t looking for that either. They both have around a 7 mile range, depending on terrain on the gmrs channels and 3 on the frs
According to wikipedia,
“On September 30, 2019, it became unlawful in the USA to import, manufacture, sell, or offer to sell radio equipment capable of operating under both GMRS and FRS.”, interesting
Mostly obsolete due to smart phones, however has some applications. I recently used them for a camping trip away from cell service, but then again actually used them 1 time during the 3 nights. Also they worked well on ski trips and also on hiking trips. Also I still see them common in work environments.
Sadly - I don’t think you’re going to find them particularly useful these days unless you go somewhere that has no cell service.
I’ve had a few different models in the past and similar to @kanicbird, we used them mostly for skiing when our kids were young and they had no cell phones. We also have a cottage that is off-grid, about 15km from cell service. We used them there for boating and hiking a little, in case someone got lost.
The sad reality is that they really don’t. Which is one of the reason they utility is limited. That number is an absolute best case scenario using “line-of-sight” (completely unobstructed view between them) i.e.: you’re on very high cliff on the shore and the other person on boat 7 miles away.
My Motorola’s had “25 mile range”!!! but we struggled to get reception when our kids were one hill over at the ski hill. Similarly, we were hiking along the bottom of a narrow gorge and we couldn’t get reception 1/4 mile apart.
Still, it doesn’t hurt to carry them as an emergency backup, but you have to be realistic about their use.
At least twice a year we go fishing and camping in an area of northern Minnesota that has zero cell service. We use those radios to communicate with and they work fairly well.
Combat sports like airsoft and paintballers might be interested in them, especially with the headsets. They can be fun for multivehicle roadtrips. Event staff and volunteers could make use of them, things like farmers markets, swap meets, little league sports and car shows.
What everybody said, cell phones etc. This is why I don’t have a good use for them. The last time I actually legitimately used radios like these was one time,while in the army, during turn in phase of a training exercise at the NTC at Ft Irwin. I think I accepted them on childish impulse…“Oooooo! WALKIE TALKIES, HOW COOL!!” Lol
And yeah, the actual range is never as advertised, well, 3 miles actually was in the range of use, that ine time, in the army
Smart phones even killed off Nextel, which was a sort of hybrid walkie-talkie and cell phone. Worked well once you had it sorted out - you could do group pages and impromptu conference calls over enormous distances. In theory, I think you could do a nationwide paging, as long as everyone was in range of a Nextel tower.
I remember around 25 years ago when FRS became popular, the two most common sounds at amusement parks would be the things going “Ga-LEEP” and people trying to get everyone in their group on a quiet channel “Dad! Go to channel four!”
Really now, the only practical use for FRS is if you’re in an area with poor cell reception or want to set up “one touch” communications for people who might not be technologically savvy.
Some folks, including me, use them at our gun range for communication between firing line and target pits at 600 yards. Depending on carrier, cell service is poor though improving.
We have a set for camping where there’s no or only unreliable cell service (most places we stay), river drift trips in 2 boats, and they have been handy for trips in two vehicles. I also have a higher power radio in my emergency kit for Cascadia 'quake preparedness. I plan to get a license, but if it hits before that, there is an emergency exception anyway. I’m thinking about getting a second one of those to keep in my car, since there’s around a one in five chance that I will be far from home when a natural disaster strikes.
I’m not surprised about that. Our set has both, and I’ve had to look up which channels we are allowed to be on. I’m sure lots of people never realize, or quickly forget, that they aren’t allowed to be on some of the channels if they don’t have a license.
Well, fortunately for me, should the need ever arise for the use of these radios, if they are in good working order at that time, and I give a damn about FCC regs in a situation of that type, both sets indicate when broadcasting at full power (which is gmrc) or reduced power which is frc. So that reduces that worry
Oh, and jtur88, oh hell no, I’m already afraid of the current government, from my local all the way up to the federal. I ain’t about to draw their attention right now
Perhaps part of the issue is that in an emergency, the feds don’t want random unlicensed people trying to talk to the police, firefighters, rescue services, military, etc. directly. And, of course, uncertified radios are not certified not to cause interference.
FCC regs allow unlicensed individuals to utilize any means to summon help in an emergency. If you have a radio capable to operating on your local Sheriff’s radio frequency you may legally use it in an emergency situation. Of course the court may at a later date determine it wasn’t an emergency, so there’s that.
I’m an amateur radio operator and some of my radios can operate on those frequencies. I’m involved in my local Sheriff’s dept and have a DSN, so I can, but seldom do, use their frequency.
