Need help with two radios?

[Haunted Farm]

Can anyone tell me what two ways they use? We have about a 15 acre area to cover and need some reliable and reasonably prices two ways!

[Jonathan]

I am a fan of the Motorola that I have. It covers up to 8 miles and the signal is outstanding. It is pricy though.
It averages 190.00 usually.

But in case you want to look it up it is model #CU1410BKV4AA

There are some good cheaper ones for like 59.00 or so too. But for the distance I think it is a worthy investment.

[Mike Goff]

We operate on 22 acres, and have tried just about every type of radio from the $20 to $150 range. For myself and key personel I like something with an ear piece. For just about everyone else I like the cheapest one that radioshack has to offer. Of all the different types of radios that we have, probably 30 in all, the radioshack versions sound and work the best. I say get the cheap ones because when you buy a more expensive one you are paying for features that you are better off without. The more money you spend the more buttons you get. The perfect radio has one button (push to talk) and a mechanical volume knob. This eliminates accidently hitting the wrong button in the dark. There are few things more frustrating than trying to reach someone who accidently changed channels, or trying to track down someone who has thier VOX on. Keep it simple.

[imax]

We use the iCom IC-F11 series...
http://www.icomamerica.com/en/produc...s/default.aspx

Not the cheapest radios on the planet, but we are fond of them. We sit on about 6 acres and have no problems with range. Used to have a ton of the older cheap walmart/radio shack radios and had problems with range.

[BruiseMuse]

I agree with Johnathon that the Motorola ones work well. They are also durable, which comes in handy

[Haunted Farm]

What are the model numbers

Can you supply me with the model numbers for the motorola and radio shack versions?

I like the fact of less buttons the better. I want to add earbuds to these will that work?

[Haunted Farm]

What about this model motorola

Motorola EM1010TPR FRS/GMRS Radio

[BruiseMuse]

I added ear buds to mine with no issues (I bought a ton of them on eBay for a few bucks each).

[stafford]

We rent our radios each year, they are the Motorola cp200. Night and day difference between these and a frs/gmrs radio. We use them with surveillance mics, which at first I felt looked kinda funny, like secret service, but in the long run it's the best option, and comfortable.

We pay around $40 a month for them, but we only use them sept/oct so it works out, we always get the latest and greatest equipment, and it's always under warranty.

For the price of the cp200's you could rent them for several years and it still wouldn't equal the purchase price, however, at whatever point you have ended up paying for one, you'd have an old radio, out of warranty, and may be looking for new ones.

I think renting is a good solution for haunts, since we really only use them a couple months out of the year.

Just my thoughts. We've never tried the radio Jonathan posted about, but I do see those types being used a lot of places, Apple store, Costco, Chili's, etc. I've heard they are better indoors, but they do look compact and rugged.

Chris

[TALA]

Any advice for interference?

Last year my haunt was in a 150 year old, 242,000 square foot lunatic asylum with walls that are 2 1/2 foot think in some places. Some sections you can hear the radio but not near enough to be able to communicate effectively, while other sections you can't hear them at all.

This year I'm moving it to an adjacent building. An old TB hospital, which is a little younger (only about 100 years old) and about 100,000 sq. ft. but again I come into the same problem.

[Brandon_K]

We use Moto CLS's, 1watt UHF. They work well for us, though do have their issues. Including the parking lots, we're somewhere around ~350,000sq ft, heavily wooded, multiple buildings built in the early 40's.

That being said, the OP is roughly twice as large as us. I would recommend looking at a 2watt, if not 4+ watt radio for seamless coverage. You might be able to get away with the Moto DTR digital radio's. They're freaking awesome. 1W, 900mhz ISM, license free, digital, private talk, etc etc. You may also want to try some Nextel Direct Talk's. Similar in function to the DTR's as they're all digital and don't allow the person talking to be "stepped on", which we have an issue with at our haunt. You can usually pick up a i355 on ebay for ~30-50$ a pop which is actually quite cheap when you compare to buying new. At this point, we run over 20 radio's through 3 different groups (parking, security/maintainence, actors/zones) so we get a lot of people trying to talk over each other. If I had it to do again, I would have definately recommended spending the extra coin and going with the DTR's.

You can't go wrong with Motorola. I would recommend staying away from FRS/GMRS as they're generally only in the 500mw output. Lots of false or rather, misleading advertisement on them.

Also keep in mind, anything that ISN'T FRS legally requires an FCC license (except for Moto's 900mhz ISM).

[sts]

Motorola Raidos

We found that Circuit City used the motorola CU1410BKV4AA and talked to the liquidators not the store people And we got a heck of deal from multiple stores. Radios came with chargers, belt clips and lithium batteries, and ear buds. There might still be some left out there but the stores are pretty picked over here. We have been very impressed with the quality of these radios. I would highly recommend them. Remember to ask for the liquidators not the store staff. I think they only have three days left.
Might be worth the trip.

Chris @
Scream Theme Studios's
Battle Of The Haunted Houses
Fort Collins Colorado

[Don_OfThe_Dead]

We found that Circuit City used the motorola CU1410BKV4AA and talked to the liquidators not the store people And we got a heck of deal from multiple stores.

I was screaming for these when we found out about the liquidation. We're in Richmond, same as their corporate HQ, but even then those were the first thing to go to other companies, so by the time I started asking they were all gone. :sad:

That being said I've complied my own list of radios I find work:
We don't have the issue of thick walls but for FRS/GMRS these are a good working solution for owning your own.

Super Cheap- Motorola Talkabout $17 (pair)

Cheap&workable- Motorola SX600TPR $50 for 3 (@ Target)

Moderate very useful(Multi channel listen/direct talk)- Midlan GXT-900VP4 $80 (pair)

also we use boom mikes for operations and I use a throat mike for inside the haunt, helps cut down on noise transfer and allows me to whisper.
Earpieces are a MUST! the secret service ones are great but there are plenty of regular ones if those are not for you (I like mine- lets me get in a few scares without anyone noticing it and still staying connected)
We'll never live down our first year when customers could hear over our operations net that 'Scary Cary has to go to the bathroom" or "The zombies need water" no no no never again!

I like the idea of renting if you're going to use high watt walkies off standard freq. For those who do- does the company you rent from provide the FCC license or do you have to obtain it yourself?