Before we get into this review, let us make one thing clear. We are NOT radio experts, or even enthusiasts. For us, a two-way radio is simply a communication tool that makes our lives easier when on the trail, or in many other places. You ham radio operators may wince at our laymen's language, or lack of understanding about the intricacies and inner workings of two-way communication. On the other hand, everyone else will probably be happy that if electronic communication - challenged people like us can work the radios, they probably can, too.
For years, four-wheel drive enthusiasts have relied on AM Citizen's Band radios to communicate with each other. CB's have been fine, most of the time, but interference problems that affect AM can hinder communications. For example -- how many times has "skip," where some CB user with an illegal linear amplifier somewhere across North America interfered with radio communications on your local trail ride? Just like your AM radio, there are many others factors that can affect your AM communications.
Family Radio Service (FRS) radios came on the scene a couple of years ago as a low-cost alternative to family communication. Being FM, they offer crystal-clear communications when the users are in range of each other. FRS radios are low powered, so no license is required to use them. The FRS market is expected to reach $400 million by the end of 2001, so it's obvious that the little, inexpensive radios have found their way into many homes and vehicles across the nation. One negative is that since there are so many FRS radios around, it's much more crowded on the FRS bands than even CB is. Another negative is that, while FM is crystal clear, it's supposed to be pretty much line-of-sight, which limits the little FRS radios range somewhat (although we did find that they seemed to have about the same range as our CB radios did). | 
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