Midland 50 Channel Waterproof GMRS Radio

I think these have good features for a 'bubble pack' FRS/GMRS-only radio, I can't speak for the long term quality or reliability because I have not owned them long or used them much. I initially got another set that barely transmitted - so I had to return those, but the replacements I got are working good. Unless you have a nice ham HT that you like, I personally think everyone should have a pair of these: *they have the ~highest power that bubble pack radios have *the charger can plug into a house outlet or it can plug into a car 12v plug (if the power went out you could recharge these radios via your car 12v plug and keep them running for about a week or so I figure) *they can plug into a house outlet with the battery removed so you can keep it on listen/scan mode all the time around the clock without worry of overcharging/overheating the battery, great for neighborhood watch/security use *bubble packs in general are so easy to use anyone can use them without any learning curve *they run off 4 AA alkaline batteries as well as the Ni-MH rechargeable battery *they seem to run off 4 AA Ni-MH rechargable batteries as well, I tested it quick but did not do extensive testing so don't quote me on this *you can use headsets with them They have 3 power settings (low, med, hi), low is .5 Watt, so I'm assuming med is at least 1 W and hi is at least 1.5 W, but I'm not sure exactly, I think hi might be 2W, it could be more or less than that, I'm just guessing. But it's probably about the highest power that any of the 'bubble pack' FRS/GMRS-only radios offer. The antenna is longer than some other 'bubble pack' radios, I think for the FRS/GMRS frequencies it needs about 6-inches minimum, so any radios with those real short antennas are not going to have as much range. It comes with Ni-MH battery packs but they're only 700 milliamp hours (which only lasts ~14 hours with just listening & no transmitting), but you can use 4 AA alkaline batteries for somewhat longer lasting battery charge time (at least twice based on what I read on the internet). I wish it was designed to work with AA rechargeable batteries, I tried putting 4 AA rechargeable batteries in it and it did work, it transmitted well at least 3/4 mile, but I did not test it extensively so I can't guarantee anything because the rechargeable batteries put out less voltage than regular Alkaline batteries. The radios will work while simultaneously being recharged on the charger. Also, you can put them on the charger with the battery removed and they still work, they work on AC power alone with no battery installed, so you can leave it on 24/7 plugged into the wall without overcharging the batteries. The charger/docking base is not an "intelligent" charger so it doesn't automatically know when the batteries are done charging so you have to manually unplug it when you think it's done charging. I don't really know how long to charge the batteries for, the AC adapter puts out 300ma & 9 Volts, which the charger base converts to 225ma & 12+ Volts so theoretically it should take about 3 hours to fully charge one (700mah divided by 225mah = 3.11 hours) or 6 hours to fully charge two at the same time, but the instructions say 12 hours (referring to charging two at the same time I'm sure), so I reckon it takes less than the recommended 12 hours. Just thinking, you could plug it into one of those 'lamp timers' so you wouldn't have to remember when to unplug it. It has a battery life indicator on the display and when the battery is low it beeps periodically. These radios have a scan feature but it takes a full 15 seconds for it to scan through all 50 channels, so you might miss a transmission if it were short. It will also scan just 2 channels of your choosing (called "dual watch"). Channels 23-50 are for Midland brand radios only, they really just reuse channels 1-22 but with hard coded 'privacy' tones, so they're not really extra channels per se, as one could use one of the 22 real channels with any chosen 'privacy' code and that would be the same functionality. I wish it did not even have these "extra channels" because it makes the scan feature take a long time. I understand why ham operators should have a license - so everyone knows what they're doing and is not being annoying to others, but as far as GMRS channels (15-22) requiring a license I personally think it's just another tax. Channels 1-7 are license-free at .5W, but require a license to use up to 5W, these Midland radios will work at hi power on these channels even though you're supposed to have a license, although I don't think anyone could technically be able to tell if you were using more than .5W or not. Channels 8-14 are license-free and .5W only, these Midland radios will only work at lo power on these channels. Channels 15-22 require a license and you can use up to 50W with other high powered radios. I do understand why there are low-power-only channels (8-14), so that people that don't need anymore than .5W will have less traffic/congestion. As far as range goes, on hi power, I tested them to go 1.5 miles, with clear reception, it may have been working further than that but it started to cut out shortly beyond that distance. On low power the only test I did was at 3/4 mile and it did work well but there was some static in the background. I tested them on a winding road with mostly flat terrain and lots of trees & fields. One radio was inside my car while driving, and the other was inside my house at desk level. I recommend either these Midland radios and/or an inexpensive ham HT (handheld transceiver) radio for my neighborhood watch group. I like the idea of a ham HT such as one of the Baofeng or Wouxun models for their higher power (~4 W) and better antennas and better transceiver quality and additional ham frequency bandwidths. I want to be able to have them plugged into an electrical outlet 24/7 around the clock so I'm going to buy a "battery eliminator" accessory and an AC to DC power supply. I wouldn't simply leave the ham HT radio on the charger with a battery in it, it might eventually overheat.