Cobra LI-7200-2 WX VP Micotalk GMRS/FRS 22-Channel 27-Mile Range 2-Way Radio with 10-Channel NOAA Weather Radio - 2 Pack
 | Average Customer Rating: Recommend Get up to 27 miles of range on the maximum power output allowed by law with the 7200. Also includes 10-channel NOAA All Hazards radio to stay on top of changing weather conditions. Ultrahigh capacity lithium-ion batteries and two-port desktop charger included. The desktop charger wall adapter can also charge one radio through its speaker/microphone/charge jack. Vibralert silent paging, VOX hands-free operation, 10-channel memory and scan feature. 10-channel memory… Product details and pricing info |
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3 Customer Reviews Posted
- Excellent Value
- For the price, excellent quality. I have gotten about a three mile range through dense forests and housing developments where other similar units couldn't handle it. Recommend.
- 2008-08-12, 2 of 2 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND TO BUY THIS
- I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND TO BUY THIS BECAUSE IT SAY'S THAT WORK 27 MILES BUT IT WONT WORK FOR 1 AND 1/2 MILE
- 2008-08-04, 0 of 2 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Good consumer two-way radios - beats the old channel 14 CB walkie-talkies!
- I had reasonable expectations for two-way radios like the consumer-grade Cobra Li7200 when I bought them. Based on my research, I knew that the whimsical claims on the bubble packs of 10's of miles of range (27 miles in the case of these radios) were pure fantasy. In urban areas, a mile or maybe two of range is the best you get; in more open areas, a little more. I also had a good idea of how the "privacy" codes work (they don't keep other people from hearing your broadcasts - they allow you to tune out other people), the GMRS licensing requirements ($85/five years to the FCC to use the higher power GMRS frequencies, and the basic operation of two-way radios in general (they aren't cell phones - you can't listen and talk at the same time, you have to pause after pressing the transmit key, the voice quality varies with transmitter power, distance, and intervening obstacles/terrain).
Based on my limited experience with these radios, I'm not disappointed. They worked fine on a recent vacation to a remote lake area. We used them to communicate between our rental house and the beach, while hiking on trails in the mountains [big kids and little kids move at different paces], between vehicles while caravanning to/from an off-road park, and to keep in touch while off-roading. While off-roading, one of the other vehicles had Motorola consumer-grade GMRS radios, and the Cobras and the Motorolas interoperated just fine, including both channel numbers (same channel number to frequency assignments) and CTCSS "privacy" codes. We probably never used them more than 1 to 2 miles apart, but we weren't going for any distance records.
The NOAA weather radio capability of the Cobra LI7200s was a key item for me. I wanted to be able to listen to NOAA weather service broadcasts because the area we were in was known for rapidly changing weather, and we needed to plan trips (hikes and beaching) without resorting to television news or non-existent Internet service. About the only weather radio features not found on these units is a weather radio "scan" (so I manually ploughed through the 10 weather frequencies until I found the local station, which wasn't hard because they broadcast continuously), and a "NOAA Weather Alert" (automatically monitors for NOAA WX ALERT signals) - this last feature is appealing but wasn't available on the Cobras.
There seem to be two different approaches to batteries for consumer-grade GMRS radios; some take "AA" size batteries that can be rechargables or non-rechargables, others (such as the Cobra) use proprietary Lithium-Ion rechargables. If you know you can stick the radios in the charging cradle every day or two, the proprietary rechargables seem to be a good option - they hold lots of power but are very lightweight. If you want the ability to go to non-rechargable backups when you are away from civilization, get a radio that takes them instead.
There appear to be three top-brand consumer-grade FRS/GMRS radios - Motorola (actually made by a company called GIANT who license the Motorola name for this product), Midland, and Cobra. All three offer several models, mostly varying in size/output power (bigger size generally more power) and a few other features such as the NOAA weather radio capability. The Cobra LI7200s are the biggest/most powerful Cobras I found; I didn't find the size to be inconvenient nor the weight to be too much, and I wanted the maximum power I could get. If the Midland GXT900 had been shipping back in June 2008, I might very well have gotten those instead, as they have a higher rated power output registered with the FCC and they have the NOAA WX ALERT function, but I'm not unhappy with the Cobras. Some folks like the Motorola, others pan them. I wasn't sure I would like them because despite Motorola's excellent reputation with business radios the consumer-grade GMRS radios aren't really Motorolas.
For anyone thinking of using the Cobra with an external microphone/speaker, I will point out the the manual says "When using an external speaker/microphone accessory on channels 1-7 or 15-22, your microTALK radio will only operate on medium or low power." Since channels 8-14 are FRS channels that operate exclusively on low power, this means that these radios won't operate on high power with an external speaker/microphone accessory. This isn't a concern for me.
I didn't use the VOX (voice-activated transmit) or memory functions. I did use the channel scan functions to find clear channels (not a problem where we were located).
If you get a GMRS radio and you plan to use the GMRS frequencies, please go ahead and get properly licensed, then follow the radio rules about sharing channels. Have fun and save money on your cell phone bill! - 2008-08-02, 4 of 4 people found this review helpful, Rated:
