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The Best Two-Way Radio Reviews and Ratings
Important Features to consider when Buying :
The Reviews
Garmin Rino 130 GPS and Two-Way Radio
The the most feature-rich device in the Rino family, Garmin's Rino 130 combination 2-way FRS/GMRS radio and GPS receiver comes fully loaded with an electronic compass, a barometric sensor, a weather receiver for 7 NOAA weather channels, and 24 MB of internal memory for downloading and storing MapSource detail--including data from products like U.S. Topo 24K, U.S. Topo, Recreational Lakes, BlueChart, and MetroGuide (MapSource products sold separately).
The Rino 130 is also outfitted with a marine-point database and a basemap of North and South America. The database includes nautical navaids for North and South America. The Americas Highway basemap includes the United States, Alaska, Canada, Mexico, and Central and South America, and covers an area from W180 to W30 Longitude and S60 to N75 Latitude. Also included is a high-level worldwide map with political boundaries and major cities. Among many other included elements are oceans, rivers, and lakes (greater than 30 square miles), principal cities and many smaller cities and towns, major interstates and principal highways, and political boundaries (state and international borders).
Integration has its advantages: the Rino 130 sends and receives GPS locations using FRS channels and shows them on the map. The GPS device is a 12-channel, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver. WAAS, which stands for Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), is the global-positioning-system of choice for mariners. The handheld's built-in electronic compass give a heading while you're standing still, and its barometric altimeter provides accurate elevation and pressure readings to help you identify and analyze weather conditions.
The Rino 130 also provides two-way radio communication with a transmission range of up to two miles using FRS channels and up to five miles with GMRS (be aware that use of GMRS requires an FCC license). The integration of two-way radio and GPS lets you transmit your position with a simple button press, so others can easily navigate to your position. The Rino 130 also has a polling feature so you can manually request GPS location information from other Rino units.
You get 14 FRS channels, 8 GMRS channels, and 8 GMRS repeater channels, as well as 38 sub-audible squelch codes per transmission channel for semi-private radio communications.
The unit's ergonomic design grants single-handed operation, with its Call, Page mode, and Press-To-Talk (PTT) buttons mounted on the side, Power/Backlighting button on top, Volume and Zoom buttons on front, and a Thumb Stick positioned in the center. The thumb stick allows channel selection and volume adjustment in FRS/GMRS mode, as well as quick map panning, enter, and selection functions in GPS mode.
Other features include a backlit display (160 x 160 pixels), external voice activation (VOX), waterproof construction to IPX-7 standards (immersible in one meter of water for up to 30 minutes), storage for up to 500 waypoints with graphic identification and 20 reversible routes, 10,000 trackpoints and up to 20 saved tracks to retrace your path or a companion's path via the location-reporting feature, trip computer with speed tracking, sunrise/sunset read out, trip time, and trip distance, and multiple grid formats including MGRS and Loran TD. The Rino 130 even sends and receives short text notes for quiet communication.
The Rino 130 has a battery life of 14 hours (typical use) on 3 AA alkaline batteries (not included).
Motorola T6300 AA 2-Way Radio
Finally, a product for those of us who like to lag behind on hikes
and snowshoe outings. Thanks to the Motorola TalkAbout T6300, we
felt securely in contact with rest of our weekend expedition group,
instead of stressing about missing the car ride home.
The TalkAbout T6300 is a power-packed two-way radio, providing the
full FRS spectrum--14 channels and 38 privacy codes--plus some high-end
features such as a clock with alarm and stopwatch. And that led
to our first problem--trying to figure out what all the bells and
whistles did. Don't make the mistake that we did and attempt to
set things up in the field. This is one gadget that really does
require a glance at the instruction manual.
The T6300 comes with five modes--two-way, time, stopwatch, weather,
and settings--and countless choices to make within those modes.
Changing the settings wasn't exactly intuitive or quick. Finding
and entering settings also involved a "key sequence" of
no fewer than six strokes--not suited for actions on the fly. Another
annoyance was the flimsy back battery cover with its plastic spring
that just didn't want to stay closed. Luckily, the batteries stayed
secure in their slots with or without the door.
Once we got past the menu system, the TalkAbout T6300 provided an impressive suite of communication options, including voice activation and scramble settings to reduce eavesdropping by others. One especially useful option in the back country was the weather-alert function, which cut into our transmissions with broadcast emergency weather bulletins. Other cool options include a scan mode that searches for active channels, an alarm with a vibrate mode, and an automatic shut-off setting to save battery power. Motorola states that the T6300 gets 35 hours of battery life out of three AA batteries.
The TalkAbout T6300's range is advertised at two miles, but obstacles like trees, buildings, and mountains cut into that significantly. Even so, this radio is a great tool for outdoors enthusiasts. And the stylish design--with a contoured shape for easy gripping--makes it clear this is not your grandfather's walkie-talkie
