Cobra HHROADTRIP 40-Channel CB Radio Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I purchased two of these units for our emergency "go" kits and regularly carry one in the truck.

I like the size and features where you have both CB and weather channels, the hot swap between services is handy as is the CB channel 9/19 hot key.The noise filter does work and gives better reception under some conditions.

Some limits I've found: The antenna designed for use with the unit in CB hand held mode limits communications to under a quarter mile line of sight in my case and the magnetic vehicle antenna will go about half a mile.I'm looking for a better mast antenna for the vehicle.

The weather channel reception is comparable with my scanner.

One thing that I didn't realize when I purchased the radios, and this would have made a difference to me, the A/C charging adapter is NOT part of the package and must be bought separately so if you want to stay off of the battery charger merry-go-round I recommend buying the charger when you buy the radio.Be aware also that the power cord provided for use in a vehicle does NOT charge the radios batterys.

What I really don't like and almost caused me to return the radios: These units use 9 - "AA" batteries, I purchased 18 rechargable batteries - about 5 bucks each, I hadn't purchased the chargers with the radios and ended up buying the biggest stand-alone battery charger I could find locally, all of the chargers I found work in paired sets and mine handles 8 at a time, so 9 is a real pain.

Tom

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Product Description:
Cobra's aptly named HH Road Trip 40-channel handheld CB radio is ready to travel anywhere you do, bringing access to 10 NOAA weather channels and a four-mile range from its 4 watts of power. The onboard SoundTracker system reduces audible noise and interference by up to 90 percent over non-SoundTracker devices. Whether you're using it for emergency backup or convenient conversation between vehicles or camps, the HH Road Trip brings you quality CB communication.
High/low power switch reduces power consumption, extending battery life during spells when high power is not required. The unit operates on nine AA batteries (alkaline or Ni-Cd; batteries not included), or runs off your vehicle battery through the supplied DC cord with cigarette-lighter plug. An included magnet-mount antenna ensures maximum range.
The Citizens Band lies between the shortwave broadcast and 10-meter Amateur radio bands and was established by law in 1949. The Class D two-way communications service was opened in 1959. FCC regulations permit only "transmissions" (one party to another) rather than "broadcasts" (to a wide audience); advertising is not allowed on CB Channels because it is considered "broadcasting." Citizens Band (CB) Radio operators are not required to obtain an FCC license to operate their CB equipment or provide station identification. Nevertheless, an operator of a CB radio station is still required to comply with the communications act and with the rules of CB Radio Operation.
What's in the Box
Handheld radio receiver, DC cord with cigarette lighter plug, magnet-mount antenna, user's manual.

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Eton FR250 Emergency Crank Radio Metallic Silver Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have a previous model of this wonderful radio & just received THIS model for father's day. It is by far the coolest, neatest, most useful item around. Radio (fm, am, shortwave) flashlight, cell phone charger (with lots of adapters), siren and red blinking lights. Best of all - the hand crank works great. Needs about 1-2 minutes of cranking for 45 minutes or more of use (roughly). I keep it in the car for camputs and for storm situations and the like. Has a slot for headphone and an optional power adapter and takes regular AA batteries but I never bother. Just crank it up amintue or so and its works great.

If you are stuck on a present idea for ANYONE, ths is THE gift to get. Fun and very useful. I also get a kick explaining to the kids how the hand crank dynamo works.

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Product Description:
With a dependable hand-crank power generator that powers the unit's AM/FM/Shortwave radio, built-in LED flashlight, cell phone charger and emergency siren, the lightweight and portable Etón FR250 is an excellent and economical choice for anyone in the market for a radio that can be relied on in emergencies or in environments where there are limited power sources.


Emergency lighting, cell phone power, and radio tuning all in one compact package. View larger.

A clear, easy-to-read radio dial. View larger.

The hand crank recharges the integrated rechargeable battery. Power When You Need It
At the heart of all of Etón's emergency radios, including the FR250, is an internal generator that recharges the internal Ni-MH battery pack and powers the radio, siren, and light. Also, by plugging your cell phone into the jack on the back of the radio (the FR250 comes with several cell phone adapters), you can use the crank to power your phone. In our test, after draining our cell phone of power, we recharged it using the FR250 enough to make a few calls. The rate of cell phone recharging will vary greatly depending on the cell phone and the state of its battery, but the FR250 can provide your compatible phone with power in a pinch.
According to the product manual, to achieve 40 to 60 minutes of uninterrupted power to the radio, you must turn the crank at a rate of two revolutions per second for 90 seconds. In our test, after our initial 90 seconds of rigorous cranking, the FR250 powered right up and was still going strong with radio reception after an hour. At the hour mark, we briefly turned the flashlight on, and that too was at full force, with no perceivable drain on radio reception. In fact, the FR250 was still going strong 75 minutes after we recharged the battery pack. The FR250 can also be powered via an AC adapter which, to our dismay, is not included, or from three AA batteries, also not included. The dynamo crank tucks itself nicely into the side of the radio and offers little resistance as you turn the handle. (Don't let the cranking requirements frighten you! While it's true that a full 90 seconds of turning the crank can be tiring and may not be for everyone, we were able to recharge the radio with less than a minute of cranking and achieved over 40 minutes of continuous power.)
Design and Controls
At slightly more than a pound in weight, and with dimensions of 6.5 x 6.00 x 2.5 inches (WxHxD), the FR250 is designed to be tucked neatly into its handy nylon carrying case and stored in an emergency box, or packed neatly for a camping trip. A white LED light is set on the front of the radio, just to the side of the analog tuner. The light is designed to help you down an unlit stairwell or enclosed hallway in a pinch, but it is not directed or strong enough to help you much in a pitch-black forest or other open area. The FR250 also includes a red flashing LED light that can be used as a distress signal. The radio and light can be operated simultaneously, though of course at the expense of power.
The FR250 includes a handy strap on the top of the radio for easy carrying, and the tuning and volume knobs are set to the side. The mechanical controls are extremely visible and easy to use. The volume control is a bit difficult to finesse, while the tuning knob, which features a smaller concentric fine-tuning control knob, is much easier. An earphone jack is set into the back, and the telescoping antenna tucks neatly behind the handle strap. The radio's 2.5-inch speaker is set directly in front and offers reasonable audio quality and excellent volume for the radio's purpose. The tuner itself is self-illuminated, though in a darkened environment it is still difficult to pick out the bands.
Tuning and Bands
The FR250 offers nine-band tuning -- AM, FM and 7 shortwave bands. As was the case with all of the Etón emergency radios we tested, our AM reception was outstanding; we were quickly able to tune into every station we searched for. Reception for FM was also very good, though there was some extra fine-tuning on some of the stations. Our shortwave reception, however, was a mixed bag. We tested in the early and late evening, searching for signals in the more heavily populated SW3 and SW4. While we found several signals during our test, honing in on them took a bit of finesse with the fine-tuning knob. And when we did find them, there was static and background noise with most of the signals.
It became clear during our testing that the FR250 is an emergency radio, with several outstanding and potentially life-saving features, including shortwave reception. Its shortwave functionality, however, is not its primary selling point. However, its emergency siren and lighting, and particularly its self charging functionality, are. So if you're in the market for an economical emergency radio, the Etón FR250 more than fits the bill.
Pros

Compact and lightweight; ideal for emergencies or travel
Clearly laid out functions and controls
Excellent internal power generator; handy cell-phone charger

Cons

Tuning dial could be better illuminated for darkened environments
Shortwave reception inconsistent
Should include an AC adapter

What's in the Box
FR250 radio, cell phone charging adapters, and nylon carrying case.

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Cobra MR HH425LI VP 15-Channel VHF/GMRS Two-Way Marine Radio Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Pros: Covers Marine VHF, GMRS and overlaps FRS. Comes with everything you could possibly need, especially Li-rechargeable, drop-in charger, AC and DC power cords, and AA battery case. Good controls, metal frame, swivel-off belt clip, easy to read display. Detachable antenna with SMA connector and wrist strap. The documentation is better tha most.

Cons: Squelch (uncoded) and coded squelches take 1 second to unlock. FRS frequencies 1-7 are fixed to GMRS power and frquencies 8-14 are not included.

This is a very complete product especially for the money. You will not have to buy any accessories except perhaps the remote mic.Especially impressive is the inclusion of an AA battery case in addition to the rechargeable battery pack. You get both AC and DC power cords.

There are several subtle things that are "right" about this product. The audio is much stronger than most handhelds. There are actual knobs, not pushbuttons, for squelch and volume controls that are easily manipulated. The controls are logically arranged. The drop-in charger has a plate that adapts it for charging the battery alone, without the radio. The RF squelch will open the tone or DCS squelches allowing accurate, single-control setting of the RF squelch threshold or opening up of the squelch for receiving weak signals. The backlight is orange and bright enough to read easily. The LCD display is easy to read from a normal viewing angle.

I have not had enough experience with the "say again" feature to determine its usefulness but it is well implemented. The audio quality is as good as the original transmission and you get 20 seconds of stored audio. Replay is counted down on the display and you can cancel playback by merely tapping the PTT.

Weather reception has several interesting alerting features including WX alert and SAME monitoring. I did not test these as of this writing, but the WX reception is excellent.

The only negatives I could find about this radio involved the squelch and the lack of FRS power levels and FRS frquencies 8-14.

The squelch open or unlock times were annoyingly long. Uncoded squelch open time on VHF marine or GMRS bands was the better part of a second. This may not seem like much until you consider the fact that most people start speaking just a fraction of a second before they key the mic. With this radio it will lead to the guaranteed loss of up to the first two seconds of audio. For those with a long "uhhhhh" before their real message, that will work. But for most others, it will result in a lot of missed calls. The unlock time for coded squelch (tone or DCS) is almost exactly one second, making performance here slightly worse.

Given the completeness of the product, the fact that a power setting for FRS compatibility and frequencies 8-14 are missing is puzzling. Still, I believe in actual use this limitation is more than easily overcome.

After testing it looks like I'm going to be getting a few more of these. You really can't beat them especially for the price.

UPDATE: With over a year of use on many of these units I can report they are still all working well. Most notably the battery HOLDS its charge seemingly forever. We know this is NOT true but I have yet to see a case of a self-discharge over even a few months of sitting on a shelf, sometimes in heat or cold extremes. Most radio batteries are notoriously bad this way, but to my great surprise, the batteries that came with the batch I got are all still performing quite beyond expectations. Good batteries seem to be a rarity these days!

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Product Description:
The Cobra MR HH425LI VP Marine Professional Series VHF/GMRS Radio keeps you in touch with what is going on around you, in virtually any environment. This rugged radio is a boatman's best friend, with plenty of range, features, and power to make sure that you stay aware of the weather you need to know about, and in touch with the people you need to talk to at the same time.
The MR-HH425LI-VP Marine radio utilizes the VHF band for clear operation on any of the three channel maps established in US, Canadian and International channels, with an adjustable one-, three- or five-watt output for short- and long-range communication. This unit also provides instant access to all 10 NOAA weather channels for 24-hour coverage of hazard and weather information, and includes alerts with an audible tone and visual alarm to notify you if threatening weather is nearby, as well as S.A.M.E. (Specific Area Message Encoding) to filter out non-local warnings. As an added safety feature, the MR-HH425LI-VP provides instant access to channels 16 and 9 for emergency situations, and has a Tri-Watch function that monitors three channels at once, those being channel 16 and two user-selected channels.
In addition to its regular VHF channels, the Cobra MR-HH425LI-VP lets you switch, at the touch of a single button, to its GMRS channels with ultra-clear UHF/FM reception, and 1815 combinations possible by combining the 15 channels with its 121 privacy codes. The GMRS also features a VOX function for voice-activated, hands-free radio transmission with five sensitivity levels, and advanced GMRS scanning that allows you to scan, in addition to regular channels, CTCSS privacy codes within a channel, DCS codes within a channel, or up to 10 memory locations in order to locate conversations.
This Cobra radio features illuminated function keys, and an illuminated, large LCD display that allows high visibility at a glance even at night. This unit also features an external microphone/speaker jack for hip or body-worn operation, a signal meter that shows the strength of the receiving and transmitting signal, a selectable key-tone beep that can be turned off for silent use, and a button/key lock that locks functions to eliminate accidental settings changes. Additionally the MR-HH425LI-VP allows the programming of unlimited channels for easy retrieval or scanning, and lets you scan either all channels, or just channels programmed in memory to find conversations in progress. This unit also comes with Cobra's exclusive Rewind-Say-Again function that lets you play back the last 20 seconds of audio to re-check what you heard, battery saver circuitry that switches on after 10 seconds with no transmissions, 10 selectable call tones to differentiate between incoming callers, a roger beep, and a patented VibrAlert that is ideal for both silent and noisy environments.
The MR-HH425LI-VP comes with a spring-loaded, swiveling belt clip that is removable and lets you secure your radio while on the go, as well as a wrist strap for easy carrying and use. This unit runs on a 1900mAh rechargeable, lithium-ion polymer battery that provides from 14 to 23.5 hours of stand-by time with no memory effect. What's more, this radio comes with a rapid-charge desktop charger that allows drop-in charging, with adapters for both home and vehicle use, and a battery tray that allows you to use six AA batteries to transmit in an emergency at full power. Constructed to be submersible for up to 30 minutes in up to one meter of water, the Cobra MR-HH425LI-VP Marine VHF Radio meets JIS7 standards, weighs only 8 ounces without its battery, measures 2.4 x 4.8 x 1.4 inches (W x H x D) without the antenna, and is backed by a manufacturer's three-year warranty.
What's in the Box
The MR-HH425LI-VP MicroTalk radio, a 1900 mAh rechargeable battery, a battery tray, a rapid-charge desktop charger with: 12-volt vehicle adapter, AC adapter, and mounting hardware, a swiveling belt clip, a wrist strap, a user's guide and warranty information.

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Motorola TalkAbout FV200AA 5-Mile 22-Channel Two-Way Radio (Pair) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)We purchased these radios for use by our children when they go out of the house.They are very easy to operate, have great reception and were inexpensive.They have allowed our children to have more freedom because they can go to the park, but we can still be in touch with them and they can reach us if there is a problem.I would recommend these to anyone.

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Product Description:
The Motorola Talkabout FV200AA GMRS/FRS Two-way Radios, which replaces the T4500 model, offers active families a simple and affordable way to stay in touch. With an improved outdoor range of up to five miles, these sleek and compact, water-resistant radios can fit in the palm of your hand or into a pocket.
The FV200AA features audible call tones that grab the attention of your family and friends before you even start talking. A talk confirmation tone will sound when the push-to-talk button is released -- signaling when the other user has stopped talking. An audible low-battery alert ensures that you'll have plenty of notice that your batteries are running low.
Note: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires that operators on General Mobile Service (GMRS) and Private Land Mobile (PLM) frequencies obtain an FCC license prior to use. To learn more, please visit the FCC web site.
What's in the Box
Two FV200 radios and user's manual.

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