The MURS radios we ordered came today (July 16, 2008), and here are photos of the unboxing. The radios are made by Columbia, a consumer brand I'm comfortable with. The package shows a price of $80, and we paid $30 through Amazon (a private vendor). I have been able to program them to a channel with privacy code enabled and lock them without having read the manual. We have no experience with them yet for distance and reliability. According to the test report submitted to the FCC for certification of this radio, the antenna is not removable and the two power settings yield 0.5W and 0.22W ERP.
FAIL: We took the radios to Burning Man, and carried them around a week. Our use was for emergencies only, so we needed them only the last day it turns out, when a couple needed help. The transmit button locked itself on, and the radio would not stop transmitting. The power button would not work with the push to talk button down, so the only way to turn the radio off was to remove the batteries. Another try gave the same result - PTT would not release, radio would not turn off, so remove the batteries. Burning Man is a harsh, dusty environment, so this may not be a fair test in your situation, but it's where we need to have them work.
FAIL: We took the radios to Burning Man, and carried them around a week. Our use was for emergencies only, so we needed them only the last day it turns out, when a couple needed help. The transmit button locked itself on, and the radio would not stop transmitting. The power button would not work with the push to talk button down, so the only way to turn the radio off was to remove the batteries. Another try gave the same result - PTT would not release, radio would not turn off, so remove the batteries. Burning Man is a harsh, dusty environment, so this may not be a fair test in your situation, but it's where we need to have them work.
The radio is comfortably large, fitting the hand nicely. The gray part sticking up at the top is the cover for the mic-earpiece jacks. Note that the base is rounded - it won't stand up on the base, which is aggravating.
The horizontal button near my finger is the CALL button - it transmits a deedle-deedle to all radios on the frequency. The two vertical yellow buttons are the UP and DOWN button; when it receive, they control volume. The gray button on top near my thumb is the MODE button - pressing it cycles through the various modes, then you use the UP or DOWN button to make selections within a MODE (select channels, for example, or CTCSS tones). The second gray button toggles VOX, the third gray button locks/unlocks the radio, and the bottom gray button toggles WX from NOAA.
The horizontal button near my finger is the CALL button - it transmits a deedle-deedle to all radios on the frequency. The two vertical yellow buttons are the UP and DOWN button; when it receive, they control volume. The gray button on top near my thumb is the MODE button - pressing it cycles through the various modes, then you use the UP or DOWN button to make selections within a MODE (select channels, for example, or CTCSS tones). The second gray button toggles VOX, the third gray button locks/unlocks the radio, and the bottom gray button toggles WX from NOAA.
The radio is comfortably large, fitting the hand nicely. The gray part sticking up at the top is the cover for the mic-earpiece jacks. Note that the base is rounded - it won't stand up on the base, which is aggravating.
The horizontal button near my finger is the CALL button - it transmits a deedle-deedle to all radios on the frequency. The two vertical yellow buttons are the UP and DOWN button; when it receive, they control volume. The gray button on top near my thumb is the MODE button - pressing it cycles through the various modes, then you use the UP or DOWN button to make selections within a MODE (select channels, for example, or CTCSS tones). The second gray button toggles VOX, the third gray button locks/unlocks the radio, and the bottom gray button toggles WX from NOAA.
The horizontal button near my finger is the CALL button - it transmits a deedle-deedle to all radios on the frequency. The two vertical yellow buttons are the UP and DOWN button; when it receive, they control volume. The gray button on top near my thumb is the MODE button - pressing it cycles through the various modes, then you use the UP or DOWN button to make selections within a MODE (select channels, for example, or CTCSS tones). The second gray button toggles VOX, the third gray button locks/unlocks the radio, and the bottom gray button toggles WX from NOAA.
Camera: If (H) |
More details: exif |
Original size: 2848px x 2136px |
Current: 800px x 600px |
Keywords: handsize
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