The advent of the Family Radio twowayradio Service and GRMS has opened a whole new possibility for reliable short-range communications, and depending on your needs they may just fill the bill --or they may not. Understand that ANY means of radio communication can save lives, exchange information and simply be fun, so that is endorsement enough. Most of these radios operate on frequencies just above the twowayradio and twowayradio 70 cm Amateur Bands...somewhere around 462-467 Mhz. The major players all produce satisfactory equipment with similar standards so, for the price conscious, dollars can be saved if you know what to look for. First look at the specifications; the more watts of power out, the further your signal will travel. Beginners note that 700mw (milliwatts) is LESS than 1w (watt). More watts, more power, more distance. The manufacturer''s range claims are not fraudulent or specious, but they can be misleading unless you are in clear country, the ideal conditions for distance communications. Don''t expect a two mile range in heavy terrain, you won''t get it...sometimes you won''t get 200 yards. But for inner-mall talking with your kids and family members, most of them are ok. I''ve also used them on fly fishing trips where we have seldom been more than a quarter mile from camp and they were fine.

Another good use is avoiding cell-phone charges if you are in range. This can become your cell-phone substitute in many circumstances and that is good. A nice plus with many of these units today is that you can get hands-free attachments. A voice-activated microphone/headphone unit could really benefit anyone with their hands and eyes occupied, like a vehicle driver, a cyclist, or a hiker/climber. If that might be in your need profile, keep an eye out for units such as these. I don''t think having a multi-channel unit is all that important for most people. Most people are just wanting to communicate between point A and point B. But there are many radios today that will let you connect with points C,D,E,F, etc. The thing of it is, in real life, most people don''t need that extra feature. I expect that this type of radio will get smaller over time and one of these days they will be built into watches or something. people just like to stay in touch. And when a is too expensive or a cell tower isn''t near or there is twowayradio another problem, these little radios can often fill the bill. Just start with what your real application is going to be and work upward from there.

The third thing I would think about is electrical power. What kind of batteries does the unit require? Are the batteries rechargable? What are the recharging units, if any, like? Can I recharge the radio from my car''s lighter socket? If I can''t recharge the batteries, twowayradio what kind of batteries do I need and what will their life be if I leave the unit on for several hours? Consider electrical power. The fourth thing to consider is range. Many radios are advertised as being a 5-mile or a 2-mile radio, but that is only on a flat landscape under ideal conditions. If you can, either conduct a real-world test on the radios or ask someone who has actually used them for a while what kind of range they have. I have found two nice uses for my own portable radio set. A long-distance drive with two cars can really benefit from these. The two drivers or others in the two cars can stay in touch rather well as long as the cars are in reasonable range.