[CJAS Otakon] FRS Radios

[James Kao]

So you're at the con with a group of friends (51 of them to be
precise) and a big question is, how do you get in touch with all of
them for messages like "hey, who has a room key to 351?" or "anyone
want to go to lunch?" or "can anyone in room 347 bring my bag down?"

The answer, is wireless communication via FRS 2-way radios.

A group of 9 of us tried this last year, and they worked superbly. We
were equipped with 4 Motorola Talkabout 289's, and were able to get
reception from the hotel room down to the dealer's room floor, which
is a significant distnace (since the baltimore convention center is in
a separate building from the hotel).

FRS radios are some of the most useful gadgets you can have, and I"ve
used them endlessly since i got them last year. I highly recommend
getting them.

Here are things to look for:
	FRS radios are "14 channel" radios
	You _must_ get ones that support teh 38 "privacy" or CTCSS codes.
	  (If you do not, your radio will be way too noisy)
	The Motorola talkabouts are rumored to have special circuitry
	that makes them usable at longer distnace than others brands. However,
	this is not 100% confirmed.

In general, any FRS radio should do as long as it has privacy/CTCSS
codes. The ultra cheapo models do not have this. Those which do not,
will have a hard time communicating with those which do, becuase al
lthe ones which have the codes will need to be run in code-less mode,
which makes eveyrone's 2-way radio experinece more annoying.

My top pick for this season, is the Motorola Talkabout 6100, which is
sensitive to the call tones of other talkabouts, and causes the radio
to vibrate rather than audibly emit the tone. Very useful if you
forgot to turn down the volume before wlaking into a panel, since you
get some warning. THey're also running a $25 rebate on them, so they
can be had for as little as $58 a piece (yeah, they're more expensive
than the toys r us variety. But they're really worth it).

A good place to start shopping for them is at mysimon's 2-way radio
section:

http://www.mysimon.com/category/index.jhtml?c=2wayradio&v=1

It's definitely a good buy. Plus, I'll be carrying one, so it's an
easy way to get a hold of me when you want to get to your room if your
one of my hotel registrants.

Domo...