Motorola T9500XLR 25-Mile 2-Way Radio Pair by Motorola
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Digital camera reviews of Motorola T9500XLR 25-Mile 2-Way Radio Pair
Digital camera Review: 2 miles not 25 miles
Summary: 3 Stars
While the two-way radios worked they only allowed for a 2 mile distance instead of the 25 mile distance advertised, which in our case was one of the main reasons this set was purchased.Digital camera Review: 25 miles?????? Please
Summary: 3 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
These walkie talkie's are ok if you don't read the front of the package or the descripion.
The good things about these radio's are that they are well built and they feel good in my hand and they even come with a spare pair of bright yellow faceplates.
Second, they have a nice clip on the back to clip onto your pants or where ever you want and comes off with a push of a button so that you can slip it into your pocket easily.
They also have the NOAA weather radio station where that guy with the monotone voice can tell you if you need to put the awning in on your RV before you go to bed.
From what I can tell that's about the extent of the good things. Right on the front of the package they claim that these radio's will work 25 miles from each other. In the directions it also explains why the radio's might NOT work. In fact it goes into great detail about towers and signals interferring. I live in a rural community of about 18,000 and my husband and I tried it in several places in town just to give the radio's a fair chance. There are no skyscrapers here. We also tried to get the radio's to work in the mall in Dallas and around the corner at my parent's house. No go. 2 miles was about as far as it would transmit. We even tried them out at our farm and it's so far out in the country we can't even get cable. 2 miles.
If all you want to do is talk to your spouse while he's backing the RV up then these are the radio's for you. That's about all I want them for.
Digital camera Review: A decent 2-way radio at a decent price.
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
The Motorola T9500XLR seems like a solid reliable piece of equipment. Once out of the packaging, the 2 units are charged via a cradle. I have used these in my neighborhood and overall they worked pretty well. First off, keep in mind these are not professional level radios, they are merely entry level units for home & family use. They are ideal for road caravans, amusement parks, shopping malls, cruise ships, etc. As other reviewers have mentioned, the voice over the speaker is "tinny" and using them in extremely loud environments seem impossible. The range is definitely nowhere near the claimed "25 miles". In a typical setting, you are lucky to get half a mile in the city and 1 mile in the country. Just remember these radios cost around $50 for the pair and you simply cannot expect professional quality at this price point. The NOAA radio feature worked as described and battery life was never an issue since they recharge with the cradle. Overall, I wish speaker and talk quality would be improved and maybe add a water resistance feature.Digital camera Review: A solid two-way consumer radio twin pack
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Years ago many kids in the United States longed for something that we called walkie-talkies, and many of us can remember going into Radio Shack and other stores, lusting after these products. When the CB radio craze hit the country, many of these kids could now indulge themselves with the same fantasies from the drivers seat of their cars, conversing with truck drivers or anyone else who would answer.
Today the walkie-talkie has been replaced by the two-way radio, a much smaller communications device than we had a decade ago, and almost all of these have ranges from one to two miles, making them handy for camping, hunting, cycling, hiking or just keeping in touch with the kids. Comparing them with cell phones, there are no per-minute charges, and there are places in the wilderness where cell phones don't always function.
Motorola makes some of the best handheld two-way radios on the market. The Motorola T9500XLR 25-Mile 2-Way Radios are probably the most powerful consumer radios you can buy, and it's important to make a distinction between consumer radios and higher prices professional or business radios, such as the Motorola CLS1110 Professional UHF 2-Way Radio, and then you have to buy two of those to communicate. Big difference, but pick the tools that you need!
The new T9500XLR has a rubberized antenna an claims a possible maximum range of 25 miles in the best conditions, but about two miles in urban areas. It really shines as a weather radio, with support for ten NOAA weather channels. The VOX hands-free feature works quite well, and its vibrating alert is a a good alternative to a ring alert when silent operation is necessary.
These two-way radios support all 22 FRS and GMRS channels, and there are 121 privacy codes per channel. They offer a backlit display, a channel scanning feature and 10 call tone alerts. You also get black and yellow faceplates along with Ni-MH rechargeable batteries for each one, and the set comes with a dual-pocket desktop charger.
The 25-mile range is a bit optimistic, but the printed material indicates that this is for line-of-sight communication, and that's in optimal weather. They note that the range is up to two miles in an urban setting, which seems about right, and is pretty adequate for a consumer two-way radio of this type.
Pros:
- Excellent range, just don't expect 25 miles in a city
- Good interference elimination, first-rate volume control
- Rugged, and the rubber ducky antenna seems sturdy
- Very practical dual-pocket charging stand
- Built-in Ni-MH rechargeable batteries 9 hours of talk time
- Also operates on 3 AA batteries for 27 hours of talk time
- Good ergonomics, either right or left handed
Cons:
- A bit large for small pockets
- Missing the rubberized bumpers that protected former models
- Slight delay when you press the PTT button
Please do note that GMRS operation requires an FCC license. You can apply online at http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls/.
In summary, have found that this is a decent choice for trail or mountain biking, and is quite handy for neighborhood communication with kids. The NOAA feature is excellent, with better reception than expected.
Digital camera Review: Actual tested range: Approximately .7 miles
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
This is the first pair of two-way radios I have used.
They work very well, voice is clear.
I tested the range of these units by driving away from the other user, we kept talking until the signal began to break up, which was about .7 miles. Your mileage may vary.
This was over relatively hilly terrain with quite a few trees.
These units have connectors for a headset and also have voice activation.