Customer Reviews

Motorola TalkAbout EM1000 20-Mile 22-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radio (Pair)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

We've got lots of these radios at our farm and few of them last more than 6 months. Battery issues and button failure are the main issues. As I understand it, the biggest problem is the chargers (sold separately) are not "smart" chargers, meaning that you can easily over-charge the battery and dramatically shorten its life. All that said, when the walkies do work they are great, the sound is clear, etc on our 12 acre farm. They are SOOO much cheaper than the professional next step up that we're continuing to buy them frequently to replace the broken ones, although soon I hope to try professional & hopefully more durable units. The belt clips and the charger build quality are shockingly poor.

The radio doesn't come with a charger or the rechargeable batteries, but it takes AA batteries also. I used the radio at the beach, and got about 3/4 of a mile from the beach around buildings before I couldn't hear my wife at all. The emergency band works well, though, so it would be great for emergency instructions. The built-in light works great.

This is one of the most disappointing purchases I have ever made. While the radios have very user-friendly NOAA features, that's the extent of the good stuff. We use these radios to help us back our camper into campground sites. One of us is in the truck and one is outside giving directions, so we are never very far apart. From the beginning the reception was terrible. Very distorted. And the transmit buttons just don't have a solid feel to them. As a result, many of our transmissions were cut short or missed altogether. After a few hours of use, one of our units quit altogether. We went back to our old Cobras, for which I paid $35 for the pair. Reception is exceedingly clearer, and the transmit buttons have a solid feel. I expected much better from Motorola, but the Walkabout was a disgrace.

I got these so my wife would not have to run up and down three flights of stairs here in our home, I stay mostly on the ground floor because I have legs that don't function on stairs very well, these 2-ways just barely make the grade, most 2-ways on the general consumer market work no better then these, the range is a weak mile plus, the main problem is battery life, Motorola furnishes 2 "battery" packs and a charger, we were instructed to charge the battery's 16 hours starting out, we did, the first day we got about a half day before the units needed charging, we did it again, the same thing happened again, I called Motorola about the problem, do you like being yelled at?, if so, call them, they will be more than happy to yell at you also, the battery packs furnished are JUNK!, they are worthless!, what you have to do is throw the packs away, go to your local "Mega-Mart", buy 3 packs of 4 name brand rechargeable NIHM battery's, this way you each have 2 sets of battery's, also pick up a charger to keep them charged, we did this and we get a full day plus out of a set, problem solved.

Good product that works as designed.

For anyone just purchasing their first set of radios, just know that 20 mile communications can only happen on open land / water with no obstacles. Line of Sight must be unobstructed. Otherwise, expect a good 3 - 5 mile range around town with some possible dropouts.

For the price, I would have expected the charger to come with this set. It worked as well as another set I had purchased locally for $15 - we tested it around our 1.25 mile block and lost reception at the half-way point. Too much interference from something I guess. I returned it and kept the $15 pair.

I have always owned Motorola radios. For the price this is a great radio. I use them mainly for hunting so the NOAA weather channel is a must. the LED light is a great feature as well.

The Motorola radios were a Christmas gift for my son-in-law. He had noticed that when he went hunting, the Motorola brand radios used by others in his group were usually compatible with each other, so I bought these radios for him. Even though they were not the expensive models, hopefully they will help keep him and his sons from getting separated when they are out on adventures. I always like to buy brands I can depend on, and Motorola seems to have a reputation for quality products. Also, they arrived in excellent condition and in time for Christmas.

I got these as a Christmas gift for my kids. We haven't tried them out at any distance (other than around the house). They've worked well around the house. We did end up switching channels because we kept picking up someone else's walkie talkie conversations.

Great for the kids.