There’s probably no bigger “bogus” claims in all of advertising right now than the “range” claims of handheld GMRS / FRS “walkie talkie” radios (BTW I hate the name “walkie talkie”, it’s so very junior-high, isn’t it?).
Behind the exaggerations…
I’m sure we’ve all seen them in the store, various packages of GMRS / FRS radios claiming “19-mile range” or “28-mile range” or some such nonsense. Are the manufacturers lying to us? Yes and no.
Today we are looking at a pair of Cobra brand GMRS / FRS radios claiming a “37-mile range”. Skipping right to the chase, we found 5 miles at high power to be the absolute limit of the range of these radios in GMRS mode in our terrain (small hills and trees around The Place). Low power range? Half-a-mile tops.
Cobra ACXT1035R FLT handheld transceiver
The Claims:
Manufacturer claims about the radio:
- Up to 37 mile range – Provides extended signal range with 2662 channel combinations
- NOAA weather and alert – Be prepared for storms and emergencies with built-in NOAA radio receiver and alert in the event of weather or other emergencies
- VOX – The user’s voice is detected and the radio transmits without the need to press any buttons, freeing hands for other tasks
- Floating – Never lose your radio. Floating design and orange core makes retrieving the radio easy if dropped in water
- VibrAlert – Enhanced vibrating feedback to notify you of incoming transmissions
The manufacturer states that “The CXT 1035R FLT two-way radios come pre-charged and ready to use out of the box and have a max performance range of 37 miles”. Both of these things are “kinda sorta true-ish, but mostly not”
The truth:
The radios ship with pre-charged AA rechargeable batteries, but they need to be installed in the radio so the units are not actually “ready to go out of the box”.
Additionally, one of the few true design flaws of these radios becomes evident when you install the batteries… the screws that hold the back on are “fidley” and they are not captured to the back of the radio, and tend to go flying across the room if you even look at them funny.
Waterproof? Yes.
The battery compartment is waterproof, and if the radios have been shipped by air the pressure differences cause this battery cover to get stuck on good and tight. Getting it off is a bit of a challenge since it is only made out of plastic and can easily be cracked if one is not careful. The batteries that shipped in my units were 1/2 charged.
The radio has a bunch of features on it, some you may care about, some you likely won’t. VOX (hands free) works fine if you have hands-free wired headsets. The call buttons on both handsets have different tones, so you can tell by listening which radio it is (assuming you have a third radio). Vibration works as expected.
NOAA weather radio is what it is, these radios pick it up just fine if you find it of value.
The radios do float, and the models we got are orange so they can be seen in even the murky water we have around here just fine.
GMRS/FRS
Let’s talk about what those mean.
These radios are equipped to transmit and receive in both the General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) and Family Radio Service (FRS) bands.
I won’t get into what those are here (click the links above to find more details) but basically they are both bands designed for civilian use.
The two bands are not created equal, FRS is designed for very low power transmission and the range is quite short. GMRS radios can use much higher wattage extending the range. The tradeoff for law-abiding citizens? GMRS requires an FCC license, and the license is both a pain in the butt to get, and expensive.
I have a GMRS license (and much more powerful GMRS mobile units in my car), so we were good to go legally testing these radios.
I know that 99.999 percent of the people who buy these handheld radios will use the GMRS bands without a license, and will absolutely get away with it, but here at 3BY we advise everybody to scrupulously adhere to the law at all times. What you choose to do is up to you.
GMRS / FRS Range in our actual field use tests
In testing, we found in our hilly, heavily forested terrain the useful range of these GMRS radios to be 4 miles, with extended range up to 6 miles.
In FRS mode, we found useful range in this terrain to be about half-a-mile.
You might ask “why on Earth would I want to use the lower power settings?”. Simple, operational security (OPSEC) and longer battery life. The Place is not bigger than half-a-mile across, so our radios on low power will reach anywhere we need them to go without broadcasting to the entire county what we are doing.
Privacy? No.
These radios feature “privacy channels” but in reality these are nothing of the kind… all they do is make it so you only hear people transmitting with the same settings you have. Anybody with a radio set to your channel can hear every word you say.
A charger is included, using a micro-usb fitting, making the radios easy to charge without removing the batteries.
Let me bottom line it here with the pros and cons:
Pros:
- Lightweight
- Tough
- Clear vocals
- Vibration
- Distinct call tones
- Voice activation works well
- Floats
- Doesn’t leak
- Uses standard AA batteries
Cons:
- Expensive for what they are ($70)
- GMRS requires license
- Screws not captured in the back of battery cover
- Buttons stiff and somewhat difficult to push
Other GMRS / FRS considerations:
There’s one other thing that I need to throw out here, because most preppers I know carry Baofeng UV-5R HAM radios that can be tuned to GMRS/FRS frequencies as well as HAM bands. In many ways, the Baofengs are better… cheaper, more powerful and much more versatile.
What they are NOT is LEGAL in the GMRS and FRS bands, the radios have not been certified by the FCC therefore it is illegal to use them in those bands… and illegal to use them without an armature radio license and following all HAM procedures.
While Ham’s don’t care even a little about GMRS radio they VERY MUCH DO care about people who are not certified messing around on their bands.
The Bottom Line:
Would I recommend these radios? If they suit what you are wanting, then yes. We use them when Spice is kayaking, where floating and waterproof is important and they have “range of the lake”. We also use them at The Place and they work fine there.
More radio reviews to come in the near future!
The problem with the range claims is that they are for line of sight ranges. The curvature of the earth alone will give two people standing on the ground (or ocean) abut a 7 mile range. Obstacles will interfere cutting that distance further. However, two people standing on mountaintops with no obstacles might achieve the claimed ranges.