Cobra Electronics MicroTalk PR 3100-2 DX (14 Channels) Two Way Radio
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- Maximum Range: 8 Miles
- Battery Indicator: With Battery Indicator
- Power Output: 0.5 Watts
- Channels: 14
- LCD Display: With LCD Display
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Cobra MicroTalk PR3100DX Review
Pros
Good features. Have good range in some conditions.
Cons
Poor performance in any built up areas. Limited benefit from "privacy channels" for any model.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Has better ultimate range than FRS, but this is very unpredictable in practise. Good features.
I purchased these to replace lower powered frs units, which I gave away to family members. My main interest was to improve the range while outdoors
Standing on a 100 m ridge, in rolling terrain, these 2 watt radios worked with little static to 14 km, as long as it was an open area. In this situation, range is possibly much greater. (not tested). By the way, the old units (motorola t5725's) worked to about 8km in these conditions, exceeding their advertised 3.2 km range. Silly of me now not to have tested the low power range on these units....
A further test, where I was communicating from a car to my wife in our kitchen, disappointed us with increasing static interference beyond about 1km. Perhaps our expectations were too high, especially after reading other reviews of GMRS radios.
The useful range of these units is very unpredictable beyond a couple of kms. Although they deliver on their advertised 13 km, this range is inconsistently achieved, therefore mostly irrelevant. (They sure weren't kidding when they advertise "up to 13 km"!)
Ease of use I find fairly intuitive for the most part, with a large backlit display that is easy to read. Refer to the features and specifications for more information.
This unit has 22 channels, 14 of which are FRS frequencies.
The 38 subcodes, are nice but lead you into a false sense of security. The subcodes only control squelch. In choosing a particular subcode on a given channel you can easily interfere or jam some else using the same channel regardless of the subcode and not realize it! If the channel already has a lot of traffic, choosing a unique subcode will only add to the confusion on that channel. Choose another channel and check the channel for traffic by not setting a subcode. Eg 7.00 rather than 7.13. Monitor the signal strength indicator if you are on a subcode. This tells you if someone is transmitting (on a different subcode). These radios come with an excellent scanning feature, for rapidly scanning all channels or any channels subcode. So much for the privacy concept!
The greater number of channels (22 vs 14) and 4 times the power, make these units worthwhile. Recommended
Standing on a 100 m ridge, in rolling terrain, these 2 watt radios worked with little static to 14 km, as long as it was an open area. In this situation, range is possibly much greater. (not tested). By the way, the old units (motorola t5725's) worked to about 8km in these conditions, exceeding their advertised 3.2 km range. Silly of me now not to have tested the low power range on these units....
A further test, where I was communicating from a car to my wife in our kitchen, disappointed us with increasing static interference beyond about 1km. Perhaps our expectations were too high, especially after reading other reviews of GMRS radios.
The useful range of these units is very unpredictable beyond a couple of kms. Although they deliver on their advertised 13 km, this range is inconsistently achieved, therefore mostly irrelevant. (They sure weren't kidding when they advertise "up to 13 km"!)
Ease of use I find fairly intuitive for the most part, with a large backlit display that is easy to read. Refer to the features and specifications for more information.
This unit has 22 channels, 14 of which are FRS frequencies.
The 38 subcodes, are nice but lead you into a false sense of security. The subcodes only control squelch. In choosing a particular subcode on a given channel you can easily interfere or jam some else using the same channel regardless of the subcode and not realize it! If the channel already has a lot of traffic, choosing a unique subcode will only add to the confusion on that channel. Choose another channel and check the channel for traffic by not setting a subcode. Eg 7.00 rather than 7.13. Monitor the signal strength indicator if you are on a subcode. This tells you if someone is transmitting (on a different subcode). These radios come with an excellent scanning feature, for rapidly scanning all channels or any channels subcode. So much for the privacy concept!
The greater number of channels (22 vs 14) and 4 times the power, make these units worthwhile. Recommended
