gmrs-frs two-way radios

After using the FRS1000 base stations for a couple of years, this unit was an excellent upgrade. I am about to get another one when it goes on sale. The last time it was on sale it was less than fifty dollars--anything higher is just too much for a glorified intercom which is how I use these. The no-name NiMH batteries are useless, but don't throw them in the garbage--take them to the hazmat section of your local dump. The hand-held unit works great with new batteries.

The channels that are GMRS can each be programmed in low/high power modes but you have to manually do this for each channel. The unit sometimes takes a while to recognize CTCSS codes from other units (even the FRS1000 which is also by Audiovox) but this appears to be the fault of the signal coming from some of the other units rather than of this unit. The coverage is excellent and the sound is much better than other base stations. The antenna is shorter than the FRS1000 but seems not to make any difference. I wonder how the close-by hand-held's antenna might affect the propagation of the main antenna, but so far so good. No AC hum in broadcasting from this unit, either, like the older FRS1000 had.

I don't use the handheld terribly much but it is very basic carry-around that I use when working in the yard. If they made this unit with just a base station it would be a perfect product, but it's nice to have the hand-held right next to the door with the expectation that you will return it to the cradle when you get back inside. This is a major plus since you won't lose it! I don't recall ever hearing a low-battery alert and have returned from working long hours in the yard several times to find the hand-held unit dead on my belt.

Like another reviewer said the battery backup is just for the hand-held. Unlike the FRS1000, which continues to run the base station when the power goes out, the GMRS3000 does not run. You can be stuck without the intercom when the power goes out. If the hand-held is not in the charging cradle and the power goes out the settings on the base station are lost so make sure you store the hand-held in the base station at all times.

The weather radio has better coverage than some others. I don't recall ever hearing a weather alert on this unit so I recommend that you get a dedicated weather radio with a really long antenna for that purpose. I use a Radio Shack unit with SAME technology, something that none of the FRS/GMRS radios never have.

I'm always looking for good FRS and GMRS base stations. I'm puzzled how few there are, especially none from the "big" electronics companies and retailers who fought so long and so hard to create the FRS band.

I received the radio yesterday and I like its size and features. Unfortunately, the unit cane with a set of four AAA 650mAh NiMH batts whos general quality is extremely poor: on two of the batteries, the positive end is either not properly plated, or is already corroding. Worse, a third one is shorted and will not take a charge. I called warranty support to see if they would simply send me a set of new batts, but they refused. I talked to a supervisor, and she refused, I then talked to the supervisor's supervisor and she refused. They want me to return the entire unit (at my expense) for for repair/replacement (possibly with a refurb unit).

I put in a set of alkalines and all works well. I'm going to mail back the 4 NiMH's tomorrow and see what Audiovox does.