What's best to replace local cell phone usage?

FRS / GMRS Radios
1

Hello, I’m looking to get one of these 2 way radios to use locally so I don’t waste minutes on my stupid cell phone.

Are there any that let you know someone tried to “call” you like a cell phone does? My cell phone will say “2 missed calls” or whatever. I don’t plan to wear the radio- would just have it in the car, which I’m not always near when working.

I’m also looking for one with the largest area coverage.

Thanks

2

A two way radio may not be the best product for your application, because of limited range. Even though many consumer radios advertise 30 miles or so of range, this is almost never the case. With the most powerful consumer “bubble pack” radios available, the best you can expect under normal circumstances is 1-2 miles. A true 4 watt business quality radio, like the Motorola RDU4100, Kenwood TK3202, or BlackBox UHF could get you 2-3 miles, depending on terrain. Is this enough range for you?

3

Thanks for the response.

I would say some of the time it’d be sufficient. I guess I don’t understand why so many of them say 15, 25, 28, 30 miles etc if they don’t even go 5. It’d be one thing if one company was making outrageous claims, but they all are saying this.

I’ll read the links you provided sometime, maybe the answers are in there.

Do any of them do what I mentioned before- have something on the display that says someone tried to contact you?

4

It is unfortunate that all of the manufacturers have gotten wrapped up in this incredibly warped range game. I agree that it is misleading and, as a radio dealer, it is something that we have to deal with almost everytime we talk to a new customer. Properly setting expectations is a huge part of what we do.

While these claims are not completely false, they are not even close to typical and are only achievable with direct line of sight - such as from a mountaintop to a valley below.

There is a Uniden model - the GMR2889-2CK - that has a “missed call” feature. It will show a missed call icon if you receive a call but don’t respond within a certain amount of time. This will not work, however, if the radio missed the call because it was out of range.