The third thing I would think about is electrical power. What kind of batteries does the unit require? Are the batteries rechargable? walkie talkie and talkie 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, 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 walkie talkie 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.

the physical casing of the radio can be an issue depending on whether the radio is for the wife''s purse, or for us butch fishermen and hunters whose equipment is subject to jostling and talkie knocking around. in the outback hunting, fishing and rockclimbing walkie venues, talkie don''t rule out walkie-talkies-- the units are usually less expensive and just as well made. in remote areas interference is highly unlikely, and the squelch can be set just high enough to allow only your immediate user groups participation in more populated areas. the subjects of intermodulation, transmit/receive audio, etc. can for the moment be set aside walkie inasmuchas these questions are of little concern to the casual hobbiest. the "rubber ducky" antenna that comes with these radios is the least efficient antenna. but there are extensible "gain" antennas that can be had, even though they are a little bit clunky in active environments. if you are going to be in difficult terrain, or say you want to transmit from car to car, 440 mhz antennas are available from many sources, notably, and with a simple adaptor you can connect your frs rig to a magnetic mount antenna on the roof of talkie your vehicles.