Customer Reviews

Uniden GMR1838-2CK 2-Way 18 Mile 2 Pack GMRS/FRS Radios with Dual Charger Included

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

Good deal for 20 bucks. I bought 4 of these to keep track of the kids in the neighborhood. Works great but don't expect to come anywhere near the 18 mile range. Channels 1-7 and 15-22 are suppose to get "UP" to 18 miles but you need a license from the FCC ($80) to use them. The free channels (8-14) get "UP" to 5 miles. I would say more like up to 1 mile in the city where I am. I still say it's a good deal just to track the little ones.

Poor reception and distance. At one mile in normal conditions reception was unclear. Over water and some land distance was down to 1/2 mile approximately and very static. Upon purchase I charged the batteries as stated in instructions and only received about 4 hrs worth of use and no talking during that time. Camping this weekend one radio battery went dead in less than one hour and this is after a full charge the day before. For the price you can't go wrong, for the quality well.... it's up to you!

Pretty amazing, has features that used to only be found in ham radios.

Con: They are a little large, I don't know why the antenna is so long on these radios when it's shorter on others, in this band (GMRS/FRS 460 MHz) all antennas on all radios should be the same length.

Pro: They come with a couple of nice features that everyone should look for, and that's CTCSS (tone) and DCS (code). Basically CTCSS transmits a sub-audible tone and if the other radio is set to the same tone it will break the squelch (turn on the receiver) when it receives the tone, which is super nice so you don't hear other peoples conversations. DCS transmits a series of DTMF tones which essentially does the same thing. Unfortunately you can't use both modes at the same time, but I'm sure this is adequate.

Con: No adjustable output power. It seems that the power is preset for GMRS(hi) and FRS(lo).

Pro: Call button, this transmits a signal kind of like a doorbell, so you don't have to keep saying 'hey buddy, you there?'

Con: No adjustable squelch, so if there's a lot of noise it will keep breaking in, but CTCSS/DCS can avoid this. Maybe this is how all radios are now?

Pro: Comes with batteries and charger! Both radios can be charged at the same time with included battery packs that have extra terminals which go through the back of the radio and charge in the cradle. Regular NiMH batteries can also be charged in the radios by removing the wall wart from the charger cradle and plugging it directly into the radio, however with this method only one radio at a time can be charged.

Con: The battery pack is just that, it's not 4 seperate NiMH batteries but rather 4 NiMH batteries in a pack that fits in the 4 AAA battery slot. Maybe they could be pulled apart?

Overall a good value.

I needed a pair of radios with a call signal because my father is invalid and I wanted something that he could page me. I go no farther than 5 miles so I thought this would be adequate.
IT ISN'T !
Best I could get was 2 blocks (about 300 yards). I live in a wood structured, single storied, suburb, and these POS can't even get to the nearest park (about 1/4 mile away). TOTALLY USELESS.

Unless you only need to talk within a few hundred feet, DO NOT BUY THESE RADIOS, mine are now in the junk drawer, awaiting some sucker at a yard sale.

I knew when I bought this product that I was not going to get 18 miles because I was only going to use the FRS channels (the free ones) and I was also going to use it in the city but I didn't need the signal to go far and it works perfectly. I don't have to wait outside for my husband to pick me up from work, I just wait in a store and he calls me. a lot cheaper that cell phones. the battery last me all week and get charged over night. I'm happy with them

I bought these for a cruise i took with my wife and her family. Her parents tend to wander off and we can never find them so we thought this would be an ideal way to keep track of one another. I turned them on Monday at noon and the did not need a recharge until Thursday morning. The recharge was fast and the charger is simple to use. We had great reception everywhere on the boat, only problem was that someone else was using the channel we used so we had to switch. The price was great and radios seemed to be solid enough to be dropped without doing them harm. I was happy that we had these and performed as i hoped.

We purchased 8 sets (16) of these 2 ways and have found that only 4 of them (not sets but radio's) have a battery pack the will hold a charge for more than 4 hours before they die. We have changed to just regular AAA batteries (1000 mah) and can now use them for the full day. But please note that we can not use the chargers any longer with these batteries. The battery packs cost as much as the radios did. Check it out yourself.

I bought these 2 way radios so I could keep track of my son around the neighborhood. It goes to static not even a mile away in a suburban neighborhood. Definitely not worth the money because it doesn't work.

The family across the street and us use these after receiving an unexpected phone bill and they work great. We had to buy an extra charger but found one at Fry's pretty cheap. The call button is a nice feature - we both have newborn son's who don't like to be woken up. We haven't had any clarity issues with the handsets. Again, they are only being used across the street but work great.

The range and features on these radios are top notch, but the batteries are underpowered to the point of ridiculousness. We took these cross country so my wife and I could stay in touch in separate vehicles, but a few days into the trip we realized that, even fully charged at night, the radios only last a few hours at max. We ended up having to stop and get car power chargers, but even that idea didn't work as you couldn't use the radio as it was charging. These are going to our kids to play with and we'll be looking for better ones in the future.