Customer Reviews

Motorola 25 mile T9580R SAME Two-Way FRS/GMRS Radio

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I received Four T9580R as free replacements for my faulty T9500. The 9500's cut out when talking, and it's a documented problem. If you used a 2 way radio, or read any other reviews you will quickly come to find that none of them give you the range they claim. These claim 25 miles, but in two vastly different locations, my average is about 1/10 of that. In rural middle Tennessee (rolling hills & trees) these are capable of 1 - 1.5 miles which I actually expected based on other 2-ways I've owned. At the beach in FL (flat and sparse, 80 degrees when testing) I was able to get 3 - 3.5 miles of clear communication straight down the coast line. I expected more at the beach, and thought I may obtain 10-12 miles, but no such luck.

Things like elevator shafts, inside automobiles and being near any large source of metal/steel will greatly reduce your range.

The S.A.M.E. (Specific Area Message Encoding)feature isn't real practical, so I have it turned off. With this feature on, I noticed a delay in being able to start talking. You have to press the talk button for about 3 seconds before you can begin speaking or the other party will not hear the first word or two. With it off, you can begin speaking right as you press the communication button. The other reason is that all the weather messages that get transmitted are in 3 letter code. Unless you carry the manual with you, you will be hard pressed to understand the message since many don't correlate well with the warning. S.V.A. is Severe Thunderstorm Watch, S.V.R. is Severe Thunderstorn Warning, etc.

The mic hole takes a little practice getting proficient. Once you understand how far to hold from your face (not far), and speak to towards the mic hole, it's fairly easy to understand each other.

This is a better radio than the T9500 or 9550, but I honestly like the Motorola Fr-60's I have better. They are 10+ years old, easy to operate, and inspite being dropped in sand, on rocks and worn in the rain, I think they sound better. The FR-60 range is less but not by much, maybe a half mile. Motorola has packed in a lot of features into their current radios, but they seem to work better when you turn off all the frills.

Still, these are handy radios with privacy sub codes, and work great in some settings, like amusement parks, on the beach, around a small farm, etc. but your real world range is very limited in my experience. I've dropped mine a few times from a moving bicycle and they have survived asphalt impact, so they seem to absorb shock well, which is a plus since the belt clip sucks....and the rechargeable battery life seems short to me which will only get worse as they age. I'm kind of on the fence. ***

I bought two packages containing two radios each. All four work perfectly well with each other. Used initially for an outdoor nature camp and later in a preschool, the positives are:

POSITIVES:
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- Crystal clear voices at any volume setting. Let's face it - this is the #1 reason anyone buys walkie-talkie devices like this.

- The dual charging staion gives the radios a "place to be" when not in use. Then when needed, they are fully charged.

- Natural feeling intuitive controls. Your fingertips are alreay on the push-to-talk (PTT) button when holding the device. The button is strong enough not to get pushed accidently. The volume knob is right where you first look for it. Ditto for the channel setting. A group of non-technical preschool teachers set the channels and volume so they all were useing the radios without instruction within two minutes of receiving the devices.

- There is a very useful feature I can only describe as a "ring" function. When initiating a radio conversation, the caller can (if desired) first press a button that sends a musical sound like a phone ringing. This alerts the receiver like an incoming call on a telephone. The sender than can start talking or wait for the receiver to answer. As you might imagine, this is quite useful in a preschool environment. The recipient teacher can finish talking to the children or give them instructions before "answering" the radio call.

NEGATIVES:
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- An individual radio does not stand up on its own. The belt clip works terrific outdoors, but it must lay down when set on a teacher's desk. This isn't a big deal as it doesn't affect usage or functionality - just asthetics.

Overall:
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- I have used professional grade (expensive!) hand-held radios before. These devices are every bit as good, at least for the nature camp and preschool usage described above. I imagine the professional radios would work over longer distances without loss of clarity, but otherwise I see no advantage.

- I'm also pleased to know I bought the Motorola standard of quality and support, adding a level of confidence to this purchase.

Worked as expected. Not a whole lot of range. But for the price, this radio is a good deal. Don't lose the instructions as setting the channels is not that intuitive.

Bought 4 radios to snowboard with friends. It worked perfectly, even in the mountains, between trees, in the hotel, restaurants... Battery life was ok. Had to recharge it after 2 full days of use. But with the recharger for free, it was no big deal. Definitely a buy recommendation.

These radios were replacements for a previous pair because I lost one. Both sets have been handy and useful. My mother doesn't have a cell phone so we use it to keep in touch while shopping. These are the best we've found. We had another brand that would not reach as far and were not as clear.

I am extreemely unhappy with the T9580R. Its range in urban setting is no more than 500m. The voice quality is crackling. The advance features are useless to a basic user like me. This unit is only good for kid's back yard use. Will NOT recommend it to anyone.

This is the only 2-way radio that I came accross that has the S.A.M.E. feature build in. This feature is great if you use the NOAA alerts on the 2-way radios because SAME allows you to filter out alerts that are not meant for your county. I used to get too many alerts on my old radios. Now, at least when there is an alert, I know it is serious.
The clarity of the radios is also great and I like the vibrate option.

The product seems to be O.K. I will try it for a month or so to see how it works