Customer Reviews

TriSquare TSX100-2VP eXRS Digital Two-Way Radio (Pair) - Charcoal Metallic/Black

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I purchased the TriSquare handheld radio for a cruise I took with my family in Dec. 2007 as I knew my cell phone would not work while at sea and I wanted to keep track of my kids. The TSX-100 worked very well. I was quite impressed. Very easy to use and my kids loved them. I have a pair of Motorola handheld radios that do not work nearly as good as the TriSquare. Reception is good while I remain in the house and my kids are in the neighborhood a few blocks away. I would certainly purchase again.

The TSX-100 radio is simply one of the best short range 2-way radios available. It uses the 900Mhz ISM band (902-928Mhz range). And is full 1-watt. Uses spread spectrum technology (similar to CDMA Cell Phones: Sprint, Verizon Wireless, US Cellular, Cricket) which makes it JAM-PROOF and highly unlikely that anyone can monitor while using the best scanner radios. 900Mhz band means easy penetration thru thick walls and buildings with dense materials concreate and metal. It is simply the best for Indoor-to-Outdoor or vice-versa comms. And has identical coverage with VHF when used for Outdoor-to-outdoor use.

The TSX-100 does not have all of the exra bells and whistles of the TSX-300 radio:

- 1,000 virtual channels (using FHSS)
- is compatible with all TSX-100 radios
- is compatible with all TSX-300 radios (below channel 1,000 ;
channels 0-999 allows interopability to any Trisquare radio)

(See my review of the TSX-300 for a list of some of the bonus
features on the TSX-300)

With the PRO features, there is one notable CON:

- Do NOT place the TSX-300s or TSX-100s too close to each other.
- They sometimes experience De-Sync issue when a unit nearby
transmits too close. So keep them 4 or more feet apart from
each other. This only occurs when too close to other Trisquare
radios. This does not seem to occur when other nearby radios
or cell phones are placed too close. So no need to worry about
MURS, FRS, GMRS or HAM radios are under 3 feet away.

At least 95-100% of all of the bad reviews or complaints about this radio is over this single flaw in the radio. Rule of thumb, keep the
TSX-300s and TSX-100s a minimum of 4 feet apart from each other at all times, and you will never have any problems at all. Simple right?

Even the TSX-100 is so much better than any MURS, FRS or GMRS radio.
900Mhz just has superior radio properties over all VHF and the rest
of the UHF band. 900Mhz penetrates and bounces around inside buildings
better then any other UHF service. And certainly superior over VHF as VHF does NOT bounce well inside any buildings. Instead VHF gets knocked out of phase, and its wavelength mostly gets cancelled-out or worse yet ABSORBED into the building's materials: concrete, wood & metal. VHF is an OUTSIDE only band. UHF is a good inside and outside band. 900Mhz has the best properties. FRS/GMRS operates at 462 & 467Mhz. Take 462 x 2 and that equals: 924Mhz, which means that 900Mhz has a wavelength that is HALF that of FRS/GMRS. Which means none of the wavelength phase interference of VHF or even of the low-UHF at 462Mhz. Again, it boils down to superior in-building penetration. Thru Concrete, Wood & bouncing off of Metal.

Enjoy your TSX-100, enjoy the superior 900Mhz properties for indoor-to-indoor or indoor-to-outdoor (also vice-versa), or even outdoor-to-outdoor comms. Its FHSS full 1-watt of power will show its superior ability over all MURS, FRS & GMRS radios.

- MURS - VHF 2-watts ERP (Poor Indoor properties - not recommended for
any indoors use at all ; Any scanner can receive, no privacy)
- FRS - UHF 1/2-watt (Good Indoor properties - 1/2 watt max power)
Any scanner can recieve, no privacy ; some HTs have limited voice
scramble function)
- GMRS - UHF 50-watt (Good Indoor properties - 5-watt HTs are hard
to find ; Any scanner can recieve, no privacy ; some HTs have a limited voice scramble function)
- EXRS - 900Mhz 1-watt (Superior Indoor properties - full 1-watt HTs)
FHSS assures no scanner can monitor, wonderful privacy feature)

I bought a pair of TSX-100's after reading a review of TriSquare's upmarket but similiar TSX-300 900MHz radios in a radio hobby magazine. My intent was to use them to keep track of my bike riding buddy on longer road trips. They more or less work in this application but I have found them much more useful for staying in contact with my wife when out for extended walks or while shopping in malls & power centers.

The range is highly variable (sometimes several miles) and it seems to have gotten better in the 8 months I've had them. The batteries will hold a charge all day (8 hours anyway) after a full overnight session in the charger. While we're carrying them, my wife & I never power 'em off until we get home.

The advantage (maybe the only one) over FRS radios in the same price range is that you never get interference from other users on "your" channel 'cause you got 999 channels to pick from.

This radio has amazing interference rejection and privacy capabilities. You won't be hearing unwanted signals, even on a mountaintop overlooking a city of one million where FRS/GMRS radios would succumb to total chaos. (Yes, I have tried this!) Likewise, your average punk with a police scanner won't be able to eavesdrop on your conversations. Privacy on FRS/GMRS is zero in most cases (so-called "privacy codes" only prevent you from hearing other people's signals, but do nothing at all to prevent them from listening to yours -- "privacy" is a grossly misleading name for an interference rejection feature which actually provides no privacy at all.) Last, unlike the "blister pack" combination FRS/GMRS radios, you are not required to spend $85 for an FCC license before you may transmit to avoid being a federal criminal. Yes, ALL of those blister pack combo FRS/GMRS radios require an $85 GMRS license, though this fact is often buried in fine print inside the box. These are all significant advantages over rival FRS/GMRS technology.

The minuses are that to my ears, the audio quality is somewhat inferior (thin, slightly metallic) to the analog FM you find with FRS/GMRS. Also, there are reports that you may encounter "sync" issues and that the supplied battery pack is of inferior quality. I have not experienced either of those, but... the capacity of the pack is only rated at 750 mA/hrs, which is not terrible but far from impressive. Bring some alkaline "AA" batteries and a coin for prying because the built-in pack is just not up to serious radio standards IMHO. However, considering the low price of this radio, carrying a good number of "AA" alkaline throw-aways and a coin to pry the impossibly tight spent "AA"s from the case along, or at least a spare pre-charged accessory rechargeable pack, and you will have no battery problems at all.


The problem with these radios is the same ugly truth you'll encounter with FRS/GMRS hand-held radios. While they are likely to work well inside a large building or outdoors where there are no obstacles between sender and receiver, under more typical conditions with obstacles or trees in the way, expect a mile or less of usable range unless one of the stations is elevated. That's why nearly 100% of all radio communications at UHF work through repeaters situated high above the coverage area, to repeat the signal from that superior visibility vantage point.

I would say if you don't expect the impossible from these radios, you'll find they are pretty nifty. But if you want to talk over more than a mile, you're probably better off getting with your buddy and studying for an amateur Technician license, or find a local GMRS repeater system in the areas you need that are open to public use, secure permission from the owners to use it, and get a GMRS/FRS radio like the Motorola MR356R which has repeater capability (most don't.) Then you might get 30 miles.

Or have one of your party stand on a tall hill. From there, she will hear everything any person below transmits on-channel, and everyone will hear her, even though it may be that many people below can't hear each other. For team games, the recipient of each message acknowledges it. If the person on the hill doesn't hear the acknowledge following a message, she repeats the original message so the recipient and sender can both hear. In this case, she also repeats the acknowledgement back. I call this the "parrot" repeater system. ;) Silly, but for team games this may work :)

The TXS100 works as advertised. Plus - Every signal I get I know it is from my partner. No false positives, no annoying breakins or random foreign conversation. If the radio makes any noise at all, I know my wife is trying to talk to me and she alone will hear my reply. Minus - There is no lock button on the lower end model. This means I have to worry about carrying it in my pocket (I don't care for a swivel belt attachment). So far though I haven't had it do anything more annoying than accidently activate the call button when I sit down. So I have to keep it in a loose pocket. The range is the same as a regular Family Radio Service at the max legal power. Don't even think of comparing it to the higher power Commercial business only settings (GMRS) other walkie-talkies have built in. For that you need a special commercial license and it is not a fair comparison. For keeping in touch within a fair sized mall it does just fine as long as you don't have too many walls between you. Stay out in the open part of the mall and the signal will bounce around and find the other receiver. Bottom line - a very nice, no license legal, private way to communicate. Stealth radio - I love it.

I ordered 6 of these radios for my employees in the warehouse. The sound quality is horrible !!! They have such a bad echo. I wanted to call the company and ask about that but they don't even list a phone number on their website. I will be returning these.

I got these Tri Square TSX100 radios to replace some old Motorola FRS/GMRS radios after reading all the hype about spread spectrum, a thousand channels, more power, no static, etc. The Tri Squares are a total disappointment. First test after charging the batteries was to set them to the same channel and walk in opposite directions in plain sight of each other. At 50 feet: The "call" function didn't work, and keying the microphone worked once in about ten tries. Back to the computer and read the reviews about "synch" and digital, etc. Today we took them to Costco, where the Motorolas were mainly used. The Tri Stars only keyed up three times out of about 50 attempts. In the exact same place, the old Motorola FRS/GMRS worked clearly and perfectly. When the Tri Stars did communicate, there was heavy static on both radios. Distance maybe 200 feet, a couple of aisles apart.

They are utterly unreliable and useless. A great concept maybe, but the execution fails to deliver a product that can be counted on. Definitely not ready for prime time. If you use these you have to stay within shouting distance or you can't expect to communicate.

I gave them 1 star only because 0 was not allowed.

PP

Nobody seems to mention these radios can use AA batteries which is a big plus. High capacity AA batteries can easily double the capacity of the supplied battery packs, and primary cells can be used when you are away from the recharger. This is great for travel.

The "roger beep" feature has an interesting twist. Usually, such a feature is controlled by the sending unit, not the receiver. In this case, it's controlled by the receiving unit. For these radios it is almost a necessity, as there is almost no audible indication of the end of transmission, because there is no squelch tail or other giveaway that analog radios have.

These are the only "digital" radios I could find on the market for home use. The "privacy" feature is not so much strong privacy, due to there only being 1000 possible channels, as it is freedom from interference and use by others. And that's a huge advantage in any crowded situation. If you want some privacy, make sure to hide the "channel" you're using, as this is all anyone needs to receive your transmissions.

The number of buttons is just right. Most such products strive to minimize buttons, which makes them hard to use. Others have too many unnecessary ones for what seem to be cosmetic reasons. This model has it just right. Enough to make use easy and few enough to make use easy to remember.

If you need short range commo protected from interference, these are going to be hard to beat.

Update 2010-0205

I wanted to add that the radios are protected from interference but not immune to it nor encrypted to be immune from eavesdropping. These are by no means to be considered "private" or "secure" radios. Consumer radios give you a great choice of bands, 900 ISM, 462/7 GMRS/FRS, 151/4 MURS and 27 CB. Which band and which equipment you use will greatly depend on what kind of situation you have. These radios are likely to be best in crowded areas where other users in the other bands are likely to be present and for short ranges.

If you really want a more detailed look at the privacy and interception issue, refer to the following link which describes how eXRS radios can be received on conventional scanners.

[...]

arrived on time and in excellent shape, These are very good radios with no interference like with CB's. You dont get the advertised range but they ar better then the CB type with a clearer channel

I previously purchased Midland LXT340 with the AVHP3 headsets from Amazon. First, they are garbage. They (midlands) don't go 1/4 mile much less than the 30 miles they boast. Second, the radios (midlands) do not have a VOX option, but are being sold with the VOX headsets.

I was looking at the Trisquare 300's but chose the 100's because they were cheaper, have the same radio function, and I do not text message. So, I bought the TSX-100-2vp with the TSX-10A headsets for VOX capability. Awesome!! I tried them out today while paintballing in Fredricksburg, VA. My partner in some cases was around 1000 yards away and through brush and overgrowth. Heard everything. NO STATIC!! None. It has 3 sensitivity levels, so put it on "3" when you are talking very quite so no one can shoot you. I would recommend that while walking quick to set up the game, put it on PTT because the crinkling leaves will kick the level 3 VOX on. The battery packs that came with the radio last for around 3 hours of constant use at long distance. Luckily, two batt packs and a second charger come with the accessory pack. 4 batt packs, 2 chargers, 2 kick-butt radios, and 2 headsets for under 80 bucks? Yeah. They really are that much better than ANY GRMS, or RMS type radio. I admit I have never tried the cobra ones, but I have at one time or another tryed the majority of the others. Garbage. 12, 18, 20, 30 mile? BS. Trisquare exrs are where the perfomance is at. And so clear, I am buying 4 more for my other team mates.