Cheap Uniden Weather Resistant 40-Mile 22-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radios

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I bought this pair to replace my old pair of Cobra MicroTalk PR260 WXC radios (which by the way were cheapest on the market, but served great for the price of ~30$). So I had an experience and a chance to compare. Overall I can say that this Uniden 5089 radios behave far much better, but do not forget that they cost triple of the PR260s price. Uniden 5089s shewed not bad range for consumer products for about few miles in the city (this is not bad) with few hills in between and some buildings (stone, 5-7 floors) and traffic of course. When I reached the limit where Cobras lost the signal Unidens were still perfect to understand everything said by other party. Want to mention that this radios have BOOST function that increases transmitting power thus extending the range or making voice more clear, without any interference or noise in cases when standard (black) button begins transmitting with some noise due to distance or terrain. The only drawback was that pair of headsets that comes with this radios are for VOX operation and do not have button on them, you must use VOX to use them or press transmit button on the radio itself when used without VOX. This all I can say so far. I'll update my review with time when tested in other conditions.

EDITED 10.2012

Want to note that radios are performing well in the city, I have normal signal in the small center for about 0.5 km to 1 km in the city! My old cobras showed a result of 100 m in the same city conditions in comparison. But there is something I did not like the headset. Headsets are not bad actually, buy the cushions on them are too thin so the hurt your ear if worn for a long time because there are plastic edges which push to your ear and thin cushion on them is not enough. One thing more, there is no PTT button on the headphone so you can push it to talk, thus you are forced to push the talk button on the radio itself or use VOX (which is really unusable on any device I ever had, be it a radio or a cell phone).

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I bought the Uniden 3040-2CKHS hoping some of the reviews about static were wrong, but I should have saved my money.

There is a few seconds of static right after talking and sometimes just random static. Also, I am looking for a louder speaker, but the speaker is not as loud as some other radios, so it would be difficult to hear in a noisy environment, without the headset.

I use 2 way radios at work(noisy environment in the city) and on the ranch(open space in the country) so I am very familiar with these products and how they should operate. I've tried several Midland products that don't perform any better than these particular Unidens and a couple of Motorola products that have their own set of problems, like random channel changes and turning themselves off.

The best product I've found so far, is Cobra's CXR825, which do not get random static and the speaker is the loudest, even louder than the other cobra radios I've tried. The lock button keeps the Cobras from changing channel and powering off, but still allows the radios to be used.

As far as distance goes, everything on the market is going to get far less than what is stated, due to conditions and terrain. Everything I've used (with the exception of some Midlands that were usless after 1/10 of a mile), reaches about 1 mile in the city and as far as 5 miles in open areas.

I only purchase radios that state a 30 mile range or greater, because some of my co-workers who bought radios with a 16 mile or 22 mile range cannot be heard the 1/2 mile across the property at work.

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Used these radios on a cruise to stay in touch. No problems with reception. Worked great. Recommend this product if you're looking for good reception at a distance.

Honest reviews on Uniden Weather Resistant 40-Mile 22-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radios

First off, the radios are nice and do what they say they will. Easy to use, though the lock feature takes a little getting used too. Compact, clear, and come with headsets.

Range: (since everyone states its not very far, but will not say how far is not very far)

These radios state long ranges and many channels. Without an FCC licence to use the radios, you are legally limited to channels 8 thru 14, which is only 1/6th the stated range in ideal conditions...that being wide open land, no trees, hills, power lines, etc.

Range in a residential location with no overhead power lines and an old neighborhood (i.e. homes are 30ft or so apart) for my 30 mile unit on channels 8-14 (max 5 miles legally without a licence), is about 0.25 miles. So basically, you are limited to about 1/20th the range in a residential area, so even at the higher power, I would estimate the 30 mile unit will get only about 1.5 miles in a residential area.

REI has a nice discussion on 2 way radios;

http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/twoway-radios.html

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I used three days for about 5-7 hrs each day on the same battery and still no need to change batteries, (with occasional chatter but mostly standby). I charged the batteries and extra's I bought for about 24+ hrs each so maybe it payed off. I did have a couple of batteries that wouldn't charge but I fixed it by placing a small piece of duct tape on the opposite end of the battery from the connectors to give it a bit more push in the connection direction and it works perfect. So far my max range up and down the bends of a river has been about a mile which had a little noise but was still a very readable transmission. A muffled sound coming from one was resolved by shaking the water out that had gathered in the speaker grill. The overstated max range and the fact that Uniden has been good to me in the past is why I ordered these radios.