I’m not sure that it is the correct thing to do here, to post a warning NOT to do business with another company where I purchased some Mics (Before I found this site)?
I’ll wait for a response from a moderator here before I go into details but I feel I was ROBBED by another place and I just want to warn folks before they pay good money to them like I did and have nothing to show for it.
Let me check with Danny on that. For the most part we try to avoid doing this except in the case of Grainger and Cabelas.
Danny said he is fine with it with a few stipulations.
Well, for the average person who is a little tech challenged such as myself and is at the mercy of people in the business who tell you they are experts and “trust me, I’ll take care of you” I would like to warn you about buying Speaker/mics for most of the consumer radios available out there such as talk about and even the GXT models from midland.
While the radios work very well in their original form even with the limited range they all have they will not, I repeat, NOT function well with any speaker/mics like the real radios such as Icon, Kenwood and other higher quality radios.
We have all witnessed the high quality sound and volume from a fireman’s radio from his speaker/mic and police set-up and that was what I was hoping to get and was TOLD I would have when I bought a pair of expensive speaker/mics for $60 each from a company called Pryme industries in Calif.
I needed the Mics for a class I was attending in the field for avalanche search and rescue a week away so I ordered them with expedited shipping (Extra $20) but what I got (The first time) was a product that keyed up the radio (a GXT1000) as soon as I plugged it into the radio.
When I called them at Pryme I was told that they personally test each mic they send out and they worked fine so most likely my radios had a problem but “Go ahead and send them back and we’ll take a look at them”
Now I missed having them for the exercise but I could use the radios anyway
So I send them back…Expedited shipping, another $20.
They never called to say they got them so I gave it a few days and called them.
They said they were not soldered correctly but they had fixed them, they “worked awesome” and would send them back “Next week”
(Mind you, I DID tell them I needed to hear these over a loud, running snowmobile motor)
I get them back, excited to be able to use them finally and plug them into the radios.
WHAT THE HECK?..
The volume coming out of the speaker was comparable to laying your MP3 player earbuds on your shoulder and trying to hear anything coming out of it. Worthless volume.
I called them again and they said “We tested them and they work perfectly but send them back and we’ll see what we can do”
I ship them back, I gave up on expedited shipping by now but still $13 to send them back.
A week and a half later I get a call from their “Tech Support” guy and he tells me that there is no amplified jack for external speakers and that’s as loud as any inexpensive consumer radio will ever be.
He even kind of laughed at me for being so stupid as to request they reimburse me for at least SOME of the wasted shipping cost.
Now…Here’s the deal, Shouldn’t an expert already know that the mics will not perform well?
Shouldn’t a company who deals in this stuff as their primary business know that all those speaker/mics they sell everyday are going to seriously disappoint every person who buys them?
Am I really to believe I am the only one who has had the misfortune of being lied to about the performance of their product and been disappointed completely about the whole experience?
I’m just trying to warn others before they spend (waste) the money on something that will not perform like the experts who are only trying to make a quick buck say it will
I spent a total of $53 and change on shipping.
I spent $120 on the mics.
They did return the $120 I spent on the mics but I was able to throw away the $53 from shipping on absolutely nothing. It’s only $53 but I have NOTHING to show for it.
I would have gotten more satisfaction just burning a $50 bill and watch the pretty flame!
Sorry for the novel!
Thanks for letting me rant.
Granted, but let’s not forget that you were trying to use consumer-level family radios for serious business use. They are not and never were designed for these activities.
Should the dealer have warned you away from a product not suitable for what you were wanting to use them for? Should the dealer have pointed out that family personal radios are not suitable (nor legal, in most cases) for business, professional or life-saving purposes?
Maybe.
But did you provide this information to them, or did you just assume that dealers would protect every single buyer from themselves?
With all due respect, let’s not start maligning a dealer because they provided a product that you wanted that is not designed for the purposes you intended them to be used for unless you can tell us that you described exactly their intended use, and they recommended this product to you.
This is why there are two levels of VHF/UHF radios: business radios and consumer radios. Family Radio Service (FRS) radios are designed to be used ONLY for personal or family use and are NOT designed for life-saving or life-threatening situations.
So if I am wrong and they recommended this product for exactly this application that exactly you described to them, I apologize.
But even the most novice user should understand there is a very good reason why some radios are called “consumer” radios, and some are called “business” radios; one of those important differences (and one of the many reasons that business radios can be two to eight times the price of consumer family radios) is the audio output jack. Very few consumer-level radios will have sufficient output to drive a speaker-mic to a very high volume level that can be heard over a running snowmobile.
(For that matter, a lot of business radios won’t have enough output for this purpose either! This is why it is common in high noise environments to wear helmet mics or separate headsets under the helmet. The average speaker-mic is just NOT designed for this application.)
I believe Jeff, administrator for this site, already mentioned that in your other thread on this same topic. All I can add is that if you are trying to emulate the speaker-mics used in law enforcement/fire fighting/rescue situations, you need to use the same quality of radio, not one designed for you and your family to stay in touch at Disneyworld.
All that being said of course, there is no question that the world of two-way radios can be complicated. Thanks to places like this forum, and technical advice from good dealers, it can be easier and easier to understand the more one does research, BUT I think we all acknowledge that two-way radios are still a long way from where they could safely be described as simple “plug-and-play.”
I know when I first started exploring the world of two-way radios, I was quickly overwhelmed by information. (To this day, I still don’t understand about 90% of what I read in technical forums … but that’s just me; I am not that swift.)
:D:D:D:D
I know this is not the answer you want, but all I can suggest is that you use this forum as a great resource for information before you spend money on products that may not perform the way that you envision them. This is a great forum, and the hosts, moderators and members do their best to keep the discussions to the appropriate level of understanding of the OP.
If you need a radio for recreational use that can be heard from inside the helmet over the sound of a running snowmobile, there are much better alternatives for your Midland radios than speaker-mics.
And if you need a radio for business or life-saving use, I would recommend that you stick with industrial-grade business-class radios. The host and the moderators would be glad to provide some of their very informed and knowledgeable recommendations.
Good luck with your radios, and please let us know if there is any other way we can help you.
Trust me when I say I told them exactly what I was going to use them for but don’t misunderstand what I was saying about my need for the mic that week for the training.
All of us Sledders use frs radios when we ride and we are all aware of their limitations regarding distance and terrain.
We are not affiliated with the county S&R teams but we do, on occasion help them with searches.
The training was for avalanche rescue that I refresh every year but that is for the possibility of being a first responder to the aftermath.
I explained prior to ordering that I had a radio that emits a tone that could be heard over the engine (To get my attention) and that I needed to park the speaker right under the side of my helmet, below my ear instead of attaching the radio on the outside of my backpack shoulder strap, in the weather.
I would then shut down the motor to talk.
He ASSURED me that these mics would fit the bill nicely.
The rest is posted above.
BTW, The only way to hear anything from these speaker/mics is to hold it to your ear tightly and even then it’s a struggle to hear.
Yes, I feel he should have warned me that they would not perform with zero amplification from the audio jack.
How was I supposed to know when I have no knowledge of radios at all (And I told him that also)
I feel he took advantage of me and I’m certain I’m NOT the only one.
They sell many of these.
I could understand your stance of defending him and the company he works for IF the speaker/mic would work at all even in a nearly silent environment but they don’t.
They are a joke. They LOOK nice but they are a joke.
Thank you for your support and understanding.
You’re welcome. We try to do our best to help everyone, and I understand perfectly because I was a total novice myself once too.
Pryme products have a reputation amongst public safety professionals for top quality products. (Calling them a “joke” may be a bit uncalled for.)
I did some searching on their website, and they do not list your radio as compatible with ANY of their professional line of products.
It sounds like one of two possible problems: there is an incompatibility between the impedances of the radio and speaker-mic combination, or the pin connector wasn’t inserted deep enough into the jack. (If the latter is the case, it would only make partial contact and would result in exactly what you describe - a very low volume level, much less than even the built-in radio speakers. I know I have done that several times, and when it is not pushed in deep enough, it basically only makes contact with one side, sometimes turning the mic into a very very tiny speaker.)
Midland makes quite a few good headsets for specifically that radio, and you wear the radio inside your suit and the headset/mic under your helmet. It works great in high noise environments - police Harley riders use them, so they MUST work fine - and I have never heard in my career of someone trying to use speaker mics in high-noise-environments like snowmobiles or motorcycles.
Even a lot of police officers who use speaker mics have gone to auxiliary earpieces. (This is why professional-level speaker-mics often come with earpiece jacks.)
As for refunding your shipping costs, it is unfortunate that you ended up with a product that didn’t work the way you envisioned, but I don’t know any retailer who would refund shipping costs.
Consumer level radios start with a big lie about range. After that I guess its just the culture that they lie about accessories too.
Its not your fault, its theirs. But we all know that is what they do. If you must have quality, you can ask people here about their experience with products, or you can buy some professional equipment. Otherwise its a gamble.
I have some Midlands that don’t do what they claim. They aren’t even as good as some radios from 10 years ago from other manufacturers. The accessories were total garbage that was broken from jump. I still have the radios. Honestly, for the price they are fine. If companies would stop the lying, we would all be happier.
That should have been all you needed to say. They told you they would work. The fault is on their end. It seems to me that there was no defect in the microphone… the microphone was flat-out designed for another radio. You were misled. Any reputable dealer would realize that mike plugs may look the same… but are wired different.
I tested and reviewed a series of microphones/headsets that are/were? sold here. I didn’t see any mention of them on the commerce site. They are very good accessories. The speaker mike is solid and seriously commercial grade. I still use it with my eXRS radios.