I’m looking at replacing some very old motorolas. they still work well enough… but thinking they are getting long in the tooth.
I need:
radio should work well in cold (down to 10 deg f). I can’t get our party to all use ear buds… so the radios stay in outer pockets… and will get cold. i know this is tough, and is a function of the batteries… but i figured I’d mention it.
radio has to use aa batteries. no electricity in deer camp, so i bring a supply of rechargeable ni-mh. if they crap out, I resort to standard aa’s
radio’s panic button must be disable-able. when in pockets, the call / panic button gets bumped, and everyone elses’ radios blare the call. I need a way to turn that button off… .or it has to not be there. (i superglue the buttons on my motorolas…but that only works for a season or two before the button gets bumped hard, and allows it to work again).
one thing that would be nice too is if I can get ear buds with a more robust cable. the current ones for my radios are maybe 1- 1.5 mm in diameter, and they are just too wimpy for use while hunting. If i could find a heavier setup (that possibly also works as an antenna for the radio), that would be good.
They are mil-spec and can handle the cold. They also have the ability to use AA batteries if you need to (with optional AA adapter tray). There is also no panic type call button. These are no frills, tough radios that you can use with a GMRS license.
They are lower priced, but still a good all-purpose radio. They also have a key-lock feature to disable many of the buttons. We also carry a lot of accessories for these as well: http://www.buytwowayradios.com/Products/Accessories/Midland-Accessories.aspx They will not be as durable as the Icoms, and the batteries do not last as long.
Also, if you are buying more than one or two radios, give us a call, we may have some other options for you. Toll Free: 1-800-584-1445
I’ve since read more and more about certain motorolas, etc., I understand most of them can kill the acknowledgement beep. And that the external call button can be killed.
The midland doesn’t mention being able to kill the SOS feature…but a five second push is required to activate, and most problems we have are momentary bumps of buttons… so I don’t think it would be an issue.
Is the range of the Midland comparable to other radios of similar feature sets, etc.? Any real downside to them compared to the various talkabouts?
Most of the GMRS radios are very similar in quality. I would look over the features to see if one brand or radio has something you like. Another thing to look at is what comes with the radio, and what accessories are available.
For outdoor use, the Midlands are nice since they are pretty rugged (for a non-commercial) radio, as well as being water resistant. They designed a bit more for outdoor enthusiast. They are easier to use with gloves on, etc… Less “fiddly” if you will.
Motorola makes good radios, but a lot of people do not care for all the camo.
Range wise, all of the 5 watt GMRS radios by Midland and Motorola get about the same range. Cobra may have a bit more usable range, but is not the first radio I would recommend for hunting. Too many small buttons. Same with TriSquare.
I’ve thought about the rinos… but I’d want to get the ones that are on par with my vista hcx… and that’s big bucks.
I’m going to study from the gxt1000… and then walk down the product line to see what the lowest model in the tree is that has all the features i want/need. I would hope as a transmit/receive device… they’re about the same…only the doodads change.
