TriSquare TSX300-2VP Digital Two-Way Radios
From LEXAR MEDIA INC
TRISQUARE eXRS 2-WAY RAD
- Brand: TriSquare
- Dimensions: 2.00" h x 9.50" w x 12.00" l, 1.30 pounds
Two's company, three's a crowd
The advantage of this frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) radio is unless someone knows what "channel" (of 10 billion) you select, eavesdropping by a third party is highly improbable. It also means you won't be disturbed by others who are using the same frequency, as with FRS/GMRS radios, even with so-called privacy codes.
The TSX300 works fairly well when there are two units on the same channel -- their frequency hopping seems to stay in synchronization. Audio quality is generally good. In my experince, distance is on-par with other 1-watt UHF 2-way radios.
Having more than 2 radios on the same channel consistently has one or more getting out of sync with the others. This means one or more radios will not be able to hear others' transmissions and vice versa. This is a real showstopper for my requirements.
The good news is, private communication between any two radios (using a radio's private channel) seems reliable, regardless of how many radios are active. So, you can treat these like telephones -- one unit can communicate with any other -- just avoid using a common broadcast channel.
The other issue with this model is its battery life. Because these are FHSS devices, they must actively transmit in order to maintain synchronization. This uses significantly more power than a device that only receives during standby, and battery life suffers as a result.
The ability to send short text messages is neat, but I personally haven't found a practical application for it, especially given there is no guarantee of delivery. A message may or may not be delivered, and there's no feedback to the sender one way or the other.
Overall, for the price, if you're only using a pair of radios, the TSX300 is a good value. If you try to add a third radio to the party, you're probably going to be disappointed.
Innovative Privacy in a license free Walkie Talkie.
These little walkie talkies have all the features usually associated with a cellular phone. PRIVATE encrypted communications, unit to unit voice and texting in addition you can set channels up for group operation.
The codecs produce reasonable and understandable voice quality. These are not APCO P-25 quality digital radios but produce audio that is easily understood. These radios transmit and receive digitally and can not be listened to via a scanner on the 900 MHz. band. Since they are DIGITAL radios the quality and range are far better than FRS (Family Radio Service) units on the 450 MHz band. Speech quality remains constant throughout the total range distance of these units where as speech quality of analog FRS radios drop off drastically as you approach the maximum range of the FRS radios.
Out of the box the units will talk to each other on an encoded fleet channel. When I say channel, this does not mean a given frequency because these units are frequency hopping radios. Channels equate to talk groups which can be assigned at the operators will by assigning a number from 10,000 to 9,999,999,999 if you don't settle on obvious number picks like 6969696969 or such you have a relative high expectation of privacy!
They are an excellent choice as private hunting radios or radios for clandestine operations. These are an excellent choice for the casual criminal citizen to have secure private nearly undetectable communications for the commissions of criminal acts while avoiding detection and not breaking any FCC rules!
There you have it, undetectable legal communications technology available to your international terrorist or for that matter any criminal activity. You can thank your Federal Communications Commission for the gift!
Respectfully, Dennis Lloyd
