Family Radio Question

[alley]

Can someone help me? I am looking for a set of the family radios, have already tried the BellSouth brand but returned because they didn't pick up very far at all, I read on a previous post about the motorolla's 250 was mentioned. All I have seen is the FR60 and a T6200 or something like that , how do I know if it is the 250? Also does it make a difference if the batteries are AA or AAA? Also I have seen other brands, does anyone know anything about the other brands, other than BellSouth?

 

[DisneyMom92]

We bought a new set, I think it is the Motorola 6200, but might have been 6300. It was the only Motorola with vibra alert. After much research, we decided the main features we wanted were channels and subchannels, AA batteries rather than AAA and vibra alert. Shopping for them, it became clear that Motorola was the premier name in FRS. We eventually bought them from Overstock.com because there was a coupon (my sister bought one and I bought the other, which gave us a coupon on both) available from Flamingoworld.com, I believe.

We are also owners of a cheap Jansen set that has channels and subchannels and have had good luck with them, other than the fact that they eat batteries (AAAs) and my dh lost the battery cover when he attached it to his belt. The Motorolas work fine with them, even tho we had been told that Motorola didn't work with all brands. There is a conversion chart in the user manual for brands that use different number configuration for their subchannel.

I was told that AA battery-type FRS have a longer range and longer battery life than those that use AAA batteries. The user manual says rechargable batters have about 1/3 the live of disposable ones.

I haven't used them at a theme park yet, but they work great in the neighborhood, through trees and buildings without a problem. They are relatively simple to use, even my 8 yo doesn't have any problem with them. The Jansen ones I had to carry the manual with me every time I used them.

Hope this helps.

 

[alley]

Thank you so much for the wonderful info. We have just started shopping around for these and found so much to chose from. Your help has cleared up alot of our questions. inkbounc

 

[Andrew015]

Me and my brother invested in a pair of ICOM's. This brand of radio is a superior brand of transcievers, and is hard to match in quality and customer service. Range for the ICOM's is said to be 2 miles (as are all other family radios) ((unless you pay $50 to the FCC for a liscense to upgrade to the "business radio class")) Some days, I could reach my family at the WL from the MK. Also, I was able to contact my brother from Japan in the WS as he was on the monorail to Epcot. I wouldn't go to any other brand after having an ICOM, but i'm sure most of the other name brands work just as good.

 

[jenbren]

We just got back and we had our FR60s that we bought last year with us. They were wonderful since we had 8 of us staying at 2 different sites trying to meet up. We lucked out with the channel/subchannel we picked and never had to switch or had interference. They have a good range but it decreases as the batteries wear down. We were so glad we had them!

 

[SheDaisy0088]

We are buying ours from Target! Not only do they come cheaper but they are more lenient on their return policy if something goes wrong with them, or they don't work all that great in the park. As long as you have the package and the reciept you can return them within 90 days of purchase! We are going to try them for 1 day and if they don't work well then they will go back to the store!!

 

[slp87]

Definitely get the subchannels. That is what will keep you from getting interference. We had the channel & subchannel set as our daughter's birthday (month & day) and if we had interference we knew to switch to my husband's birthday. Easy for all of us to remember and we didn't give away what channel we were switching to. Luckily we never had any problems. We were able to talk from Tomorrowland to the parking lot at MK, but not any further.

 

[Krisj]

We just bought the mororola T6300. IT works great. Dh even drove to work(about 3 miles away) and I could hear him when he was at the work parking lot and I was in my family room! We lost contact when he went inside his buiding at work. IT has AA Bateries. I think he got them at Circuit city and there is a $25 rebate going right now.