Motorola T9500XLR 25-Mile 2-Way Radio Pair
by Motorola
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List Price: Our Price: $19.95 You Save: $60.04 (75%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Car Audio or Theater See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Motorola T9500XLR 25-Mile 2-Way Radio Pair
Customer Review: T9500 works
Summary: 5 Stars
They work well, are a relative bargain and are nice & small. The preferred radio for mt biking.
Customer Review: Works Great!
Summary: 5 Stars
Motorola has done it again! These radios work excellent and I wouldn't buy anything else.Customer Review: Excellent radios. Range needs clarification.
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
These are great radios. I have owned 3 different versions of Motorola TalkAbout "walkie talkies". These are easily the best. However, reviewing them is difficult. It requires some basic understanding of 2-way radios, which is actually pretty concisely detailed in the manual included with this product.
Basically, there are 2 types of radio signal for 2-way radios like this. FRS and GMRS. Both are public but GMRS requires an FCC license which may cost you $75. FRS does not have as good of a range as GMRS, which is what makes reviewing this product difficult. FRS is usually channels 1-14 and GMRS is 15-22. However, this radio has some overlap where 8 of the channels (I think 8-16) broadcast on FRS/GMRS hybrid or something. I'm not totally familiar quite yet.
With these TalkAbout radios, there are privacy channels that work to eliminate noise from other radios. Basically they work so that you don't hear other people talking on the same channel. However, if those people on the same channel do not have privacy-enabled walkies, they will be able to hear you. That shouldn't be a big deal though because it's all public airwaves anyway. Anyway, these radios have an amazing 121 privacy codes per channel. So the potential to find a quiet channel for your party is very great.
This radio also has some other great features. Of note is a feature that allows equipped Motorola radios to eliminate interference in high-activity zones like theme parks and concerts. That is a great feature, though I have not been able to test it extensively. All I know is that previous TalkAbout radios I have used have had problems with interference like this. At least it's nice to see that Motorola has attempted to tackle the problem.
Another great feature is the boost mode. The Push-to-talk button has 2 states. If you push at the bottom it uses a normal amount of power. If you put at the top, it boosts the power to increase the range at the cost of battery life. Again, it is not easy to test these features though my experience has shown that this does seem to work fairly well.
There are other less notable features like ring tones, paging, and a little tone that lets the person on the other end know that you are done with your message. This replaces saying "over" so it's convenient. There is the ability to hook up a headset and hands-free activation. So whenever you speak, it detects it and sends it over. You can also enable this feature without a headset, but I don't see that being very useful.
The batteries are rechargeable NiMH, and the package contains a docking station / charger for the devices. The battery life is decent. NiMH batteries are great though some have a short shelf life. So basically if you leave the radios sitting around for a while, don't expect them to have juice when you go to use them. You'll need to charge them as soon as you know you're going to need them for the best duration. The battery pack is basically 3 AA batteries taped and sealed together. So you can replace it with 3 AA alkaline batteries if you are in the field and do not have the ability to charge.
The devices themselves are built pretty well and the package even comes with replacement face plates of yellow color.
Ok, so onto the range. I don't know where they got that 25 mile # from, but I didn't get anything close to that in my test. On channel 4 in my suburban town in NJ, I got around 1 mile range. The boost gives you a little more, but it was clearly straining. I will need to do some more testing on the GMRS channels in order to make a definitive conclusion as to the range of these. However, the back of the box even states that you'll only get that 25 mile range in the desert or very open spaces. And that's probably with boost on GMRS channels. On FRS channels with boost in the desert you could probably get 3-5 miles. In suburbs or the city, you'll be lucky to get 1 mile on FRS channels and 3 miles on GMRS channels.
Still, despite the outrageous range claims, these are great radios and easily worth the price.
As I use and test these radios more, I will return to this review if my initial conclusions of the ranges change.
Customer Review: Not ideal for crowded resorts. Nice otherwise.
Summary: 4 Stars
I own both the TriSquare and Motorola Talkabout radios Those of you who like to take your kids outdoors or skiing, may find this of interest.
Motorola T9500XLR 25-Mile 2-Way Radio
This is a typical walkie talkie. It 22 channels in the 462 MHz range and has 2 watts of power using GMRS/FRS protocols. The "25-mile" range is the theoretical max (i.e. on the lunar surface).
The main problem with this technology is, well, other people. Imagine 1,000 people sharing 22 channels at Disney World. Motorola goes through great lengths to filter out other people. This is achieved by
(1) A special filter that blocks non-Motorola radios. A nice idea, but unfortunately 90% of walkie talkies are made by Motorola.
(2) A special privacy code which is assigned to each channel. Thus, all your Motorola radios have to be configured to the same privacy code in order to work with each other. Codes range from 1 to 121.
Nonetheless, even with filters and privacy encryption, if someone else is transmitting on your channel, there will be significant interference.
TriSquare TSX-300 eXRS 900MHz FHSS 2-Way Radio
These use a completely different technology. They transmit on 900 MHz in a 100% digital protocol. They sort of work like cell phones, without the service provider. Each radio is assigned a unique 10-digit number. No matter how crowded the ski resort, you'll always have a private channel for your family. These radios use 1 watt of power. The manufacturer does not provide distance performace, but claim that the radios have a range equal to or better than the Motorola Talkabouts.
Comparison
I took both brands with me and drove around town - a typical suburban setting with residential and commercial areas. I rated voice quality on a scale of 0 to 3 as follows:
0 no reception
1 unintelligible
2 intelligible but noisy or garbled
3 intelligible and clear
I then plotted the average rating as a function of distance. The digital eXRS technology was superior to the GMRS/FRS model. The eXRS average rating was 25% better than the Motorola Talkabout. The max distance I could get in my area (having lots of trees and buildings) was .45 miles with either radio. The Motorola box claims "2 miles in an urban setting", which is just not true in my case.
The Motorol wins in overall voice quality. When the signal is strong, the voice quality of the Motorola was quite clear, whereas the eXRS unit always had a some background white noise.
Conclusion
The TriSquare eXRS radios lack a bit in overall voice quality. However, having great voice quality in a Motorola radio is worthless if you can't get through on a crowded channel. The benefits of the eXRS radios out way the one or two shortcomings, in my opinion. I tried the TriSquare units at a ski resort. They work just as advertised. No interference from other people whatsoever.
The TriSquare comes with two vox headsets, which work fairly well. The Motorola talkabout did not come with headsets, which cost $20 a piece at Radio Shack.
Niether the Motorola Talkabout nor the TriSquare eXRS seem particularly rugged or weather resistant, so I'd rate them the same in that regard.
The NOAA weather reception on the TriSquare was pretty bad. I have two other NOAA radios, which work just fine in my area. The Talkabout had very good NOAA reception.
Customer Review: Good Pair for our Family Outings
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Primarily we use these radios on shopping malls, camping and theme parks. This pair has the most features compared to the previous 3 pairs that we have used before. You need to read the manual to really take advantage of all the features the unit offers. For the price, it is a good value.
The Pros & Features:
-It comes with NiMh battery packs. You can use ordinary alkaline or your own rechargeable "AA's" batteries. But the charging dock station will only work with the supplied battery packs. Still, it is nice to be able to use regular batteries on the road if you forget to charge the battery pack.
-The dock not only makes sure you have the radios charged and ready to use, it also makes it easier to find where they are. Before, we just throw them away in the drawers and finding them the next time we need them becomes a challenge.
-Combination GMRS/FRS channels. Upper part of the PTT (Push To Talk) button is high power/lower part is low power.
-Weather channels, just press "+" for 3 seconds.
-Attaching the removeable clip is easy. They are also easy to lose as they are pretty small. Nice feature about the clip is that it swivels. This lessen the stress on the radio when you move or sits.
-Multiple alert tones to choice from. "Vibra-Alert" is a really a welcomed feature as we often could not hear the other party calling around a noisier environment like busy shopping malls.
-privacy codes
-Hands-free communication with or without headset, accessories - you have to turn on IVOX
-Nice to have a choice between a black and yellow faceplates. Changing the faceplate is easy but a little tricky. You do not need to unscrew anything. The faceplate is just a snap on.
Room for Improvement:
-This is my 4th pair of radios, still I have not found one that can really make a good trasmission/reception even at 5 miles distance. Everybody advertise transmission up to 25 miles distance, but the only device I know that I can depend on is my cell phone.
-Sleeker design is welcome. Can the antennas be a little shorter?
-Hands-free communication is difficult. The first few words always gets cut off. Also, it is very easy to accidentally press on the PTT button while on IVOX, and that automatically cancels the hands-free back to Push-To-Talk. It takes several presses on the buttons to go back to IVOX.