Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
FRS-1000 Review. It's a keeper!, August 18, 2002
I just purchased the FRS-1000 Base station and I have to say I'm very pleased. It works fine with my BellSouth FRS Hand Held units. The station is small and compact, no larger than a standard intercom. The manual is a bit hard to figure out some of the functions but if you play with it, you'll get the hang of all it can do.
One function I especially love is it's ability to scan all 14 FRS channels, so I can monitor all channels for incoming signals. It also has a function whereby you can monitor two channels at once, if you have people using two different channels, you can hear conversations on both. The NOAA weather function is a no-brainer, just press the button and you have instant weather information access. The unit also features a "Roger Beep", this is a short beep that is attached to the end of every transmission. (It can be turned off) I like it because it distinguishes when a transmission is coming from the base station. My hand held units do not have this beep so any transmission from base is clearly identified by this sound. You can also sellect from 4 different "Call Tones". This allows you to define the type of call signal the unit emitts when signaling other units. If you have more than one base station this would be handy to differentiate them.
When they say "Two mile range" their not kidding, the unit belts out enough power to talk and listen somewhat beyond that. (a friend and I tested it, he on a bike with a hand held and me on the base!)
This unit could have many uses, I use it for camping and keeping up with friends hiking. It could be used in a factory too, or as a way to keep track of neighborhood kids. In fact, as I scan channels I often hear the neighborhood kids playing and talking. And with it's range, I hear other neighborhoods too.
I must admit it's fun to listen in on their play. Plus during the day I can hear workers who use FRS to talk to each other.
FRS is not as crowded as CB bandwiths, it's easy to find a clear quiet channel to use if you don't want distractions.
If you're looking for a unit to use for work or in a factory, I'd recommend you pick an odd channel like "3" or "6". Most units default to channel "1" when turned on and this is the channel that you'll hear the most chatter from the neighborhood.
The FRS-1000 is a great buy, it comes with rechargable batteries and they charge while the unit is on and plugged up with the supplied adapter. So you can use it portable or plugged in. It has a tall antenna that will swivel up or down depending on if you have it mounted on a wall or sitting on a table. The screen is backlit so you can easily read the display and you'll get used to the various display icons in no time. Look for other units like this to hit the market soon as FRS becomes more popular, this is really the way to go.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The "BEST" base station for FRS, March 7, 2005
I have several of these fantastic radios! It has everything I look for in a base station FRS radio.
The Audiovox FRS1000 comes with all the necessary features for FRS radios. 14-Channels, 38 CTCSS tones, speaker/mic connection, weather reception, VOX, call tones, etc.
The FRS1000 has the speaker/mic connection that is most useful. It is compatible with standard Radio Shack/Icom speaker/mics which means you will be able to find one easily and it will not cost you a fortune. Most people don't use speaker/mics, but with this unit, you can use it in your car and with a speaker/mic, it is extremely useful.
Powering the unit is done in several ways. First, the radio comes with a 12-volt power transformer that you plug into the wall. Not only does it power the unit, but it also charges the rechargable NiMH batteies (included) stored in the back of the radio. HOT TIP!!! This is VERY important...Before you use the radio, charge the batteries for at least 24-hours. If you try to use the radio when the batteries are completely drained, the transformer will not have enough power. It makes the radio "seem" non-functioning, but you will find if you follow my advice, everything will be fine. Also, if you use alkaline batteries, make SURE!!!! you switch the charging option to "alkaline", otherwise, you may FRY the batteries. BTW...Pickup a 12-volt "cigarette lighter" plug from Radio Shack and you can power it in the car. I would recommend that you turn the battery charging option "off" when using the cigarette lighter plug...I don't know for sure if it will damage that rechargable batteries (I suspect not), but why take the chance.
A wonderful feature of this radio is the weather channel reception. It picks-up all major weather channels in your area and will even alert you when a warning is sent out. This even works when you are using the FRS radio.
Of course, there is a scan feature. It scans all 14-channels. It doesn't display the CTCSS tone used during scan like the GE 38540 radios does (see my review of that radio), but most FRS radios don't do this either, so I will not deduct points for that.
One thing I will deduct a point for (this is why I gave it a 4 instead of a 5) is that the VOX does not work well. I suspect that it doesn't work well on all of the FRS1000 radios because I have 5 and it works the same on all 5...Poorly!
All-in-all, it is a fantastic bargain if you want a base station or even a mobile FRS radio. Only fault I can see is the VOX problem I listed above. Go ahead and try one...You won't be sorry.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good when cheap, not good to use more than a year, December 31, 2003
I bought one of these about three years ago and bought two others when they were discontinued about two years ago. I'm surprised to see these still in stock, so perhaps the new batch is different from the one I'm reviewing.The push-to-talk button will wear out after about a year of daily use. The buttons wear out in the strangest of ways. It appears to transmit but doesn't transmit the subcode unless you really press the button down. Not sure what was going on there. I highly recommend the GMRS version of this base station. It's much better and has a "bonus" removable portable radio. We're replacing the FRS1000 with the new version as their push-to-talk buttons break. The battery life is very decent on the FRS1000--it lasts two days which is excellent for any FRS with subcodes turned on. The configuration sequence is horribly confusing and the icons don't seem to represent anything in real life, so the manual should be kept close by. We are in a rather noisy environment, RF-wise, so passing aircraft and vehicles with business radios will cause the unit to break squelch and emit a loud 1/2-second long blast of static and white noise. This happens even if you set the subcodes. Some ranges of subcodes false break squelch more often than others. Transmitting audio is accompanied by an AC hum. The newer GMRS version has a quieter hum but it's still there. The power supply appears to be the culprit, as I have used ferrite cores to try and clean up the interference a bit and it doesn't have much affect. If it's cheap, like twenty-five dollars, grab it. FRS base stations are very rare products that are much more useful than the basic home intercom system.
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by James Wesley Rawles
