Motorola Talkabout handheld radios for the farm.

[Happy Gilmore]

Does anyone use the Motorola Talkabout radios for farm communication. I was thinking they might be good to use around the farm. Any experience? Would be nice to have a 2 way with me on the tractor or out in the woods for quick communication back to the house or elsewhere.

 

[TomSeller]

Does anyone use the Motorola Talkabout radios for farm communication. I was thinking they might be good to use around the farm. Any experience? Would be nice to have a 2 way with me on the tractor or out in the woods for quick communication back to the house or elsewhere.

No, but I have thought about it. I need something that can get my attention over a running engine's noise and vibration when someone is calling me.

 

[Happy Gilmore]

I was thinking about the Motorola MS350R, they're available locally for $69.99. Weather proof as well.

 

[Verticaltrx]

When I used to work on my uncles farm in the Midwest during the summer we used 2-way radios. This was before the time of the little handheld ones that are the size of a cell phone, these were more like the size of a small brick. I think they were made by Motorola and used the FM frequency, about a 2mi range IIRC.

They were very handy and each person on the farm had one including one back at the house (this was before the days of cell phones). It was nice to be able to call back to the farm for parts or supplies, have someone bring a piece of equipment out to the field, give specific instructions for a problem, or to talk between equipment when in the field (like the combine and grain cart). I think they are very handy still today if you need to do a lot of back and forth communication like my last example. Many of the other uses have been replaced by cell phones. They are pretty inexpensive so I say give it a try.

 

[Verticaltrx]

Actually, just typing that reminded me how useful they were. I might have to pick up a pair for use on our farm since we have very spotty cell reception.

 

[k0ua]

While I am sure that particular radio pair would work for you, depending on what your needs are, the thing that irks me about any of this type of consumer product is that there is not technical information available for these products. You cannot compare the various radios against each other from a technical standpoint. Now I am not so stupid to think that technical data would be understood by the average person, but for those of us that do have experience in these matters it is annoying. For example saying a radio has a 35 mile range is ludicrous. There is no frame of reference. If you said the radio had a power output of 1.5 watts, that would be a good place to start. Of course how many db of loss does the supplied antenna have? That particular radio set could send and receive signals for thousands of miles with proper antennas, and in the medium of outer space. And as a corollary, you could walk into a tight metal building and not be able to communicate 50 feet. So a 35 mile range means nothing. There are no specifications given as to the receiver sensitivity, or adjacent channel rejection, or IF rejection or any other parameters, not even audio output power. There is just no way to evaluate these unit. As Forrest Gump would say. It is like a "box of chocolates" You never know what you are going to get!:confused3:

Well enough of my nerdy technospeak ravings... enjoy.!

 

[Al 2]

If you have a newer type cell phone check out zello.com. Zello is a "CB" app for your phone and it's free. Many people seem to like it as there have been 50 million downloads. If anyone here has it maybe you could tell us more?
Al

 

[k0ua]

If you have a newer type cell phone check out zello.com. Zello is a "CB" app for your phone and it's free. Many people seem to like it as there have been 50 million downloads. If anyone here has it maybe you could tell us more?
Al

I loaded it on my android and my PC (yes works on pc's too).. seems to work.. do you have it on your phone?

 

[newbury]

I've been an advocate of good 2 way coms since the early '70's. When I plan a multiple vehicle trip I still like to have a pair of radios for when cell phone coverage drops out. But around the house and shops cell and cordless phones work pretty good.

If your going to be using on the tractor check out the Midland 75-822 40 Channel Handheld CB as a strong alternative. It's bigger but it's a full blown CB. I got one in 2011 and have tested it on battery pack as a "walk about hand-held" and it worked fine. But I mainly use it in my car and truck driving to and from Mississippi. There have been many times it's got me in sync with truckers to get around traffic jams. And it swaps between vehicles easily.

I've also got an older 4 pack of the Motorola's FRS radios which I've used on several occasions. But SWMBO would rather use a cell phone.

 

[k0ua]

I loaded it on my android and my PC (yes works on pc's too).. seems to work.. do you have it on your phone?

I have now tested it with my wifes Motorola android, and seems to work pretty well. It will wake the phone up when it is dark (powered down). A fairly decent beep to wake it and then your voice comes out of it.