FHSS 2 way Radios

[Omega-TI]

About 20 years ago I remember seeing a company selling FHSS radios for around $50.00. In the literature they suggested using your telephone number as an easy to remember code. Anyway, I've not seen these advertised anywhere recently. Were they pulled from the market or a commercial flop? The closest I could find was the discontinued TriSquare TSX300-2VP.

 

[alcahuete]

Not sure what company you are referring to, but the Motorola DTR/DLRs are pretty much the only game in town now. Definitely more than $50. You can also use old Nextel phones.

 

[mmckenna]

About 20 years ago I remember seeing a company selling FHSS radios for around $50.00. In the literature they suggested using your telephone number as an easy to remember code. Anyway, I've not seen these advertised anywhere recently. Were they pulled from the market or a commercial flop? The closest I could find was the discontinued TriSquare TSX300-2VP.

TriSquare were the ones I remember. I think they were 900MHz ISM band stuff. They sort of fizzled out, as they were marketed to consumers, even called eXRS, and confused the hell out of everyone that didn't understand they were not compatible with FRS. An interesting product, but poorly marketed, too confusing for consumers, and essentially an answer to a question no one was asking. Back in the day it had it's fans, and they were convinced it was going to "replace FRS and GMRS". Obviously, it didn't.

Motorola has their DTR series radios that are 900MHz FHSS, and from what others have said, are pretty good radios.

 

[prcguy]

I have a couple of Trisquare radios in a drawer next to me. They still work pretty good.

 

[PACNWDude]

I have the TriSquare eXRS radios in a box somewhere......and many Motorola DTR series radio in use. I mentioned in an older thread that the TriSquare ones were not even worth giving away, they were that bad, and had problems with maintaining sync with each other. Often requiring a reboot of all radios in close proximity to one another to work. They were about $50 each, with a pair being from $70-100 with a cradle style charging stand for a pair. I also had the cloth cases for them, as they were cheaply made plastic and broke with the first fall onto concrete.

The Motorola DTR series radios were $250+ each, and built well, work well, and had decent range for 1 Watt 900 MHz ISM band frequency hoppers. I still use them for family use when I do not wish to hear FRS/GMRS traffic, ski resorts, cruise ships, hiking, and amusement parks. Great little radios, but have a delay as they must have another radio to sync with to talk. However, many people kept them defaulted, so you may hear others if you keep the standard hopset/TalkGroups in them too.

 

[N4KVE]

Not sure what company you are referring to, but the Motorola DTR/DLRs are pretty much the only game in town now. Definitely more than $50. You can also use old Nextel phones.

I will second using Nextel phones that have the Direct Talk feature. I live in a huge development, & from the furthest two points, the radios work perfectly. Even though the Nextel system was shut down years ago, in the Direct Talk mode, they will communicate with each other with frequency hopping technology. They can be set up with privacy codes. The trick is the phones must have SIM cards to talk. Most E-Bay sellers include them with the radios. I like the I355 as a rugged radio, & they’re not expensive. I recently got three in mint shape with 3 chargers, batteries, & SIM cards with a Pelican case for $80. Heck, the case was worth more than $80.