Looking for a more current recomendation for two way training radios Not sure the value between a $30 set and a $60 set except for the $30 bucks
Just asking for personal opinions
Thanks
Amazon.com has just about the best deals around. Get either Motorola or Midland and opt for the charging cradle instead of AA batteries. You can always carry extra AA's for backups, as they work in most of the re-chargable units. Also buy a roll of neon duct tape to put on the antenna or get brightly colored cases. If you get the camo versions, you'll understand why when you have to buy a second set...
What works well for us in keeping up with the radios is a brightly colored cow ear tag.
The local coop or TSS will have them. Cheap and easy to find
Dk
We've not had good luck with the Motorola rechargeables. I have an older Motorola 5210 that takes 3 AA batteries and mine lasts nearly all season, whereas I see the others go dead every other session.
I agree with Charles, when the rechargeable ones go dead you are done. I carry spare batteries on the truck.
Look on Ebay and you can find all types very reasonable. You can replace some of the battery packs with regular batteries.
I have had the same. I think it was Angie who mentioned them a while back in the product review forum and I tried them and have transferred over. The sound is much clearer.
I have had no issues with them not lasting but they tend to disappear over time anyway. So, I started keeping a couple of my old motorola's in the truck for when I am at a trial and someone needs a radio. A little cheaper when they go into the club's equipment trailer or the birdboy's car at the end of the day.
I've had the exact opposite experience Ed. Got a pair of GTX's as a gift and they conked out after two weeks. Brought them back to Cabela's and got a new set and those lasted two months. In the meantime, I had received yet another set of GTX's as a present and those lasted about 4 months. So, out of 6 GTX's, I have ONE radio that is still operable :-x My next set will be Motorola's.
I'm done spending much money on Radios. The battery on The Midlands I bought, gave me one recharge-Done.
# 2 radio pooped out after 1 year.
Buy cheap, buy a few extra.
We were just talking about radios today. Mine keep sprouting legs an walking off so the cheeper the better. My husband has a set of Midlands he uses for hunting and he really likes them. We can't buy them here in Canada so a friend brought them across for us. With mine someone either leaves them on so they are dead when I go to use them or they go home in someones pocket never to reappear. I have Cobras using AAA batteries and one rechargable left from 4. Just bought a cheap set of Uniden but haven't charged them yet.
For me the Motorolas work OK but the low battery indicator is chirping at me pretty early in the day.
I bought 4 Midland GTX's and they've worked fine all summer and the battery life is way better. They actually can make it all day. They're rechargeables.
I'm sure you guys all know this, but if you are leaving your radios, transmitters, collars, etc. in your trucks or anywhere else in the heat the batteries are taking a real beating. I started to get much more battery life when I brought mine into the house instead of keeping them in the garage.
That is exactly how you get to a training day without radios. My question: Do they make a one way radio? My bird boy never shuts up. Easier to deal with no birds, miscues & running out of ducks than the constant chatter. My radios stay in the house & never make it to training days.
Our club bought about 8 two packs of the higher end Midland GTX's about 3 years ago. I believe they were around $80 a pair and they've surprising not grown any legs during our 4 events we hold each year and they're all still rocking the original rechargeable battery packs. Very nice radios, water proof so if it rains they don't short out and they've taken quite a bit of abuse over the last couple years. I think out of all of them we've only had one stop working entirely.
On the rechargeable batteries be sure you are not getting Ni-Cad batteries they are junk and will last a day or so.
Spend a little extra $ and get the lithium rechargeable ones they last for a few weeks.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
RetrieverTraining.Net - the RTF
1.4M posts
32.1K members
Since 2003
A forum community dedicated to retriever owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about breeding, training, health, behavior, housing, adopting, care, classifieds, and more!