Most powerful bubble pack radios

[Onthecoast]

Does anyone know if there are any 4-5 watt bubble pack radios available? I believe that most max out around 2 watts at best, but I would like to find some with the max allowable power behind them.

 

[jimbr1]

Bubble pack radios usually only transmit 0.5 watt on the strictly FRS channels. Some of the Midland bubble packs a reported to transmit in the area of 5 watts on the GMRS channels. Because the bubble pack radios operate on UHF frequencies, it is strictly line of sight- one or two miles at best unless you can elevate a radio (eg. hill or mountain) which is the only way one could advertise a range of 35-40 miles. Once you go past 2 watts, generally speaking, all the extra wattage does is drain your batteries faster and really doesn't give you any better range (again unless you can elevate a radio). I've found that the Cobra models seem to do a bit better than most (both from what I've read and actually tried) due to their increased sensitivity on their receivers. In comparing Motorola (bubble pack), Puxing (5 watt), Motorola 5 watt HT 600 (commercial dinosaur) and Cobra LI 7200, the Cobra seemed to have a little bit better range but was also a bit noisier...good luck in your search!

 

[Zagadka]

I'm sure there are others but Ive gotten good service from these:

Midland GXT1050VP4

Also, the site - Buytwowayradios.com - is a good resource for your search.

Hope that helps.

 

[towerdog]

The more expensive midlands are about 5 watts but they just dont hold up in the field and the RX and selectivity is crap.

Some of the motorola do about 2 watts and they seem to hold up better than anything and are less susceptible to interference.

We use these for work in the most **** up conditions, and I learned
#1 toss the batteries they came with, dont matter if its nimh or nicd, or how vigilantly you keep em charged they dont last longer than a few minutes
#2 AAA batteries are extra hassle when everything else runs on AA
#3 nothing sucks more than being 400 feet up a tower and some kid thinks its fun to mess with you. Use a PL tone, shuts the kids, schools and b.s. up, kid jammers think you cant hear them, because you cant hear them and pay them any mind and they quickly give up
#4 baofeng, woxun, TYT, etc stomps on the blister pack radios

 

[fnkycoldmedina]

+1 for the motorola`s .i use to use small 2 ways alot and tried most the low cost brands .even had some 5 watt cobras (i think they were 5watt,its been awhile)but in the end the motorola`s blew them all away .
even had more range with less power .money better spent on motorola.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I like Motorola. Always have since way back in the day of carrying a pager and cell phones predecessor the Auto-Tel system. i always had good luck with Motorola business products including their land mobile radios. Even my smartphone is a Motorola as are a pair of FRS/GMRS HT's. Some people bitch that they are hard to hack or program without the proprietary software but I just say they do a better job at protecting their copyrights and protection against knockoffs. People always bitch about not getting something for nothing.

 

[9C1Driver]

I have been playing with a set of Midland GXT-785 radio's for about a year now. They claim to be 34 mile radio's. While I know that's hardly possible they do kick butt. Any time you can get up on a hill, parking garage, 2-3 floors up by a window you can get some crazy range. On a trip car to car while driving over an overpass I got an 8-10 mile contact, this was in northern Michigan on I-75. Even standing in my back yard I can hit a friend also standing in his back yard at 4 miles in the city. Not bad.

Cabela's: Midland GXT 785 VP3 Radio Pack

Midland GXT785VP3 Model GXT785 X-Tra Talk Two-Way Radios with 42 Channels, 5 Animal Call Alerts and Weather Scan, Up to 34 Mile Range, 142 Privacy Codes, Dual Power Options, NOAA Weather Alert Radio with Weather Scan, HI/MED/LO Power Settings, eVOX -