Motorola T9500XLR 25-Mile 2-Way Radio Pair
by Motorola
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List Price: Our Price: $22.98 You Save: $57.01 (71%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Car Audio or Theater See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Motorola T9500XLR 25-Mile 2-Way Radio Pair
Customer Review: Looking for range? This will disappoint you.
Summary: 3 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Motorola says these radios have a range of up to 2 miles in a dense urban setting. I'd say that's true if "up to 2 miles" means anything from one inch to 2 miles. We tested this in a variety of situations. First we used our home area, a typical suburban neighborhood with no structure taller than 2 stories. The signal was strong at one-tenth of a mile. At two-tenths of a mile, the signal started breaking up but was usable. By three-tenths of a mile the signal was gone.
Then we tested it at a small lake here in beautiful upstate New York. Motorola claims up to 10 miles on a flat, unobstructed surface like a lake. One of us stood on the lakefront and the other drove around to the other side of the lake, which is about eight-tenths of a mile across. The signal was clear and strong. We then tried the wide ends of the lake, two miles across. The signal was still clear and just a little less strong. I can't vouch for the 10-mile range, but I can give a strong thumbs up for 2 miles. We thought about trying the 25-mile test (illustrated as one on a mountaintop and the other down in a valley with no obstructions between them), but we would have had to drive to a location more than 50 miles away and we're trying to conserve gasoline.
As others have written, the interface leaves a little to be desired. Most but the simplest controls were not intuitive. I had to read the instructions, but that's not the worst thing in the world.
Others here have suggested favorable settings for good reception. The radios serve their purpose in those settings, I guess. I'd have to give this a mixed result--any kind of obstruction seems to cause a severe decrease in range.
Customer Review: Good way t keep in touch at large outdoor event
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I looked forward to receiving these radios because my husband and I were soon to attend a large outdoor event held each summer at our state fairgrounds. This four-day event features more than 11,000 classic cars as well as large indoor exhibits, so there is a lot of area to cover and we like to go our separate ways at times. In years past, we used our cell phones to keep in touch. This year, we saved our minutes and used these radios very successfully, including communicating while my husband was deep in the parking area, surrounded by noisy cars, and I was deep inside a building surrounded by the echoes you get from large crowds of people in cavernous buildings.
I liked that I could push a button to send an attention-getting beep when I wanted to talk, rather then just starting up a conversation and hoping I wasn't talking to myself.
I was especially interested in the weather alert feature of these radios, which I plan to use anytime we're away from home, but I knew from experience that they may be a life saver when we attended the event I mentioned above. You would think you could count on being warned of severe weather when you're at a large state-operated facility, where you know a public address system is available because you hear frequent announcements that a car needs to be moved, somebody left their lights on, or who is in concert. But one recent year we were among the tens of thousands out in the open parking lot who were never warned of 70 mph winds. Fortunately the weather was excellent this year, so I'm happy to say I can't review the weather warning option. It's just one of those things you're glad to have and even more glad to not need.
Customer Review: Almost useless audio and intolerable PTT delay
Summary: 2 Stars
I buy a pair of FRS radios pr. year, on the average. Radios like these are great to tack on to the kids when they run around the neighbourhood. I bought my first pair in 1999 - I feel I have some experience, this pair of radios beeing my 8th pair or so.
The radios looked cool, although bigger than expected. The charging stand is practical, the kids use batteries like I owned a battery factory, so I can appreciate anything rechargeable. The range is better than I am used to, I guess it is mostly due to the fairly long antennas.
Now to my main two gripes:
The audio is beyond awful. I am a ham radio operator with a comprehensive understanding of radio electronics, also professionally. And I fail to understand what they have done to make the audio so incredibly bad. It sounds like someone is talking through a very long plastic tube. It's garbled, distorted and metallic sounding. This -must- be a design flaw, I cannot think that this passed basic Q/A testing. My 10-year old, after trying to talk to me many times, finally broke down and called me on the phone from his friends house. I have had Unidens, Cobras and Midlands, but these are my first Motorolas.
My second gripe is just as serious when you try to make 10-year olds call home for dinner - the radios do not start to transmit audio until maybe half a second after you push the PTT. This translates into much difficulty when you are used to an instant reaction when you key. Even my old tube HF set is faster than this. Again, this must be a design flaw. All my old, beat-up Unidens are instant (as well as smaller and with crystal clear audio, I might add).
Sorry, Motorola-guys, you need a second look at this design. I will make sure to field-test your FRS radios before considering another purchase.
Customer 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.
Customer Review: Good radios for a great price.
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
We got these radios as a replacement for some old Motorolas we'd had for 6 years which finally quit working.
We use 2 way radios quite a bit. We live on a big lot, with 2 big outbuildings, so shouting isn't really an option. We also ride dirt bikes, and use the radios (one at the front of the group, one in back)to keep the gang together, which is tough, since we're all a bunch of independent old cusses.
We initially purchased the Midland GXT710VP3 radios, these work adequately. I hate to admit it, but I don't like them because they're clunky and ugly. I'm normally not a slave to fashion, but these radios just look and feel like a brick. An ugly brick.
So, when the Motorolas were offered, I snagged them. With the price difference between the Motorola T9500XLR and the Midlands, I expected a lesser quality in the Motorola, but was pleasantly surprised.
I know all these radios claim that '25 mile' standard, but in our experience, line of sight use is about 3 miles, in the woods or in a populated area, it drops down to about a mile.
We have not tested the radios in densely populated situations (city, amusement park, etc.), but can attest to the fact that they work very well in rural situations (our home), and in the woods (motorcycle trails).
They suit our purpose, they're easy to use, the batteries last more than 10 hours, and they've even got the Weather radio built in.
The Motorola T9500XLR suits our needs.