Midland 75-515 2-Way Radio

Amazon.com Review
Grasp the sturdy-yet-light Midland 75-515 FRS two-way radio in your hand and you'll be staying in touch with friends, associates, and family in a whole new way. The 75-515, like all FRS radios, has a range of up to two miles on land (five miles over water), and it works best in the open, away from buildings and not in enclosed vehicles. It features 14 channels with 38 CTCSS and 83 DCS privacy codes (totaling 1,694 code and channel combinations), enabling you to easily switch to the clearest channel for communication.

The power-save circuit automatically places the radio in a sleep mode if no signal has been transmitted or received for several seconds. A backlit LCD screen displays all 12 functions, including the channel, privacy code, battery strength, and key-lock status. However, the small text read-out can be hard to read in dim light.

Impressively compact and solidly designed with soft rubber covers for the accessory and charge jacks to keep dirt and moisture out, the 75-515 has call and talk buttons conveniently positioned for any right-hander's easy use.

We appreciated the concise owner's manual, which provided a guide to using the functions (channel change, monitor, and scan busy and open channels) and to setting memory channels for faster contacts. Other benefits to enjoy are hands-free operation (just set the VOX sensitivity level) and a babysitter mode (also voice activated).

We found that replacing the unit's back after battery replacement was a bit tricky, and the hinged rubber jack covers (for microphone and earphone/headset) are vulnerable to damage. But that shouldn't diminish from the overall positives of the 75-515's feature set--collected in an affordable package.

Pros:

Stay in contact in the wilderness, on vacation, at the mall
Lightweight and very compact

Cons:

Battery cover tricky to replace
Hinged rubber jack covers are vulnerable to damage

Product Description:
Your Midland 75-515 SpeakEasy Ultra brings the new FRS (Family Radio Service) to your fingertips. The Family Radio Service is provided for by the FCC and is totally license free. For the first time business and the general public can use the quiet UHF FM band for personal communications at no airtime charge. The 75-515 uses maximum allowable power for range up to 2 miles. Use for fishing, hunting, picnics, biking, business, or any other activity where communications are needed for convenience or safety. The 75-515 model incorporates all 14 channels with 38 different CTCSS and 83 DCS codes to provide the best in quiet communications. Also this radio offers scan, power save, 9 memory channels and a multifunction back-lighted liquid crystal display. This unit also incorporates VOX (voice operated transmit) that allows hands free use when the radio is equipped with certain accessories.The 75-515 has three scan modes. The most popular and most used is the "Busy" channel scan. This allows the radio to stop on a channel that someone is talking on. When the radio stops on a "Busy" channel, the scan will stop and resume after about 5 seconds. The second is the "Open" channel scan. This allows the radio to stop on channels that are not used. This is useful when looking for open channels to use. The third is "Dual Watch". This allows you to scan only two channels. This is useful when you want to keep track of two other people.

Average customer rating:

Best for the money
A lot of bang for the buck
Review of the Midland 75-515 FRS Transceiver
Good Radios - minor problems
Hi-Tech Walkie-Talkie in a Compact Size

Midland 75-515 2-Way Radio

Manufacturer: Midland
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics

All Two-Way Radios | Two-Way Radios & Accessories | Audio & Video | Categories | Electronics

FRS Two-Way Radios | Two-Way Radios & Accessories | Audio & Video | Categories | Electronics

Audio & Video | Refurbished & Used | Special Features | Electronics Features | Electronics

Midland | Brands | Electronics Features | Electronics

Midland 22405 EarBud Speaker Microphone
Energizer E91BP-4 AA Batteries (4-Pack)
Energizer E91FP-12 - Battery - AA - alkaline x 12

Product Features:

Privacy code allows 1,694 code and channel combinations
12-function backlit LCD
36-setting voice activation for hands-free talking
Automatic stealth squelch
Range of up to 2 miles on land, 5 miles on water

ASIN: B00004U8GS

Product Description

Your Midland 75-515 SpeakEasy Ultra brings the new FRS (Family Radio Service) to your fingertips. The Family Radio Service is provided for by the FCC and is totally license free. For the first time business and the general public can use the quiet UHF FM band for personal communications at no airtime charge. The 75-515 uses maximum allowable power for range up to 2 miles. Use for fishing, hunting, picnics, biking, business, or any other activity where communications are needed for convenience or safety. The 75-515 model incorporates all 14 channels with 38 different CTCSS and 83 DCS codes to provide the best in quiet communications. Also this radio offers scan, power save, 9 memory channels and a multifunction back-lighted liquid crystal display. This unit also incorporates VOX (voice operated transmit) that allows hands free use when the radio is equipped with certain accessories.The 75-515 has three scan modes. The most popular and most used is the "Busy" channel scan. This allows the radio to stop on a channel that someone is talking on. When the radio stops on a "Busy" channel, the scan will stop and resume after about 5 seconds. The second is the "Open" channel scan. This allows the radio to stop on channels that are not used. This is useful when looking for open channels to use. The third is "Dual Watch". This allows you to scan only two channels. This is useful when you want to keep track of two other people.

Amazon.com Review

Grasp the sturdy-yet-light Midland 75-515 FRS two-way radio in your hand and you'll be staying in touch with friends, associates, and family in a whole new way. The 75-515, like all FRS radios, has a range of up to two miles on land (five miles over water), and it works best in the open, away from buildings and not in enclosed vehicles. It features 14 channels with 38 CTCSS and 83 DCS privacy codes (totaling 1,694 code and channel combinations), enabling you to easily switch to the clearest channel for communication.

Pros:

Stay in contact in the wilderness, on vacation, at the mall
Lightweight and very compact

Cons:

Battery cover tricky to replace
Hinged rubber jack covers are vulnerable to damage

Customer Reviews:

Best for the money.......2001-09-17

This is the best for the money. I successfully used these at Disney World. The DCS codes cut off the first word, so you have to "learn" to use it, but it did come in handy for crowded airwaves (no other radio's I know of have them). The CTCSS codes are a little better and are compatible with other FRS radio's. My daughter left one outside all night through a thunderstorm. It was soaked. After emptying the water, drying it out all night and replacing the batteries it worked just fine! (and she didn't have to spend her allowance on a new one). Makes me feel good about using them for skiing this winter. There is only one call tone and it's a little annoying. There is no vibrate alert. One set of batteries lasted the week at Disney. If your not using them everyday, I see no need for the charger. In all, great for the money.

A lot of bang for the buck.......2001-08-29

I got 3 of these Midland 75-515's for family bike trips, but I've found that they're useful for much more: trips to the mall, skiing, all kinds of situations. I had previously bought and returned some other FRS radios, because I found that they lacked some necessary features (like call tones). What I like about these particular radios is that they have a large number of subcodes (38 CTSS codes and ~83 digital squelch tones) that screen out other peoples obnoxious comments (go to an amusement park and you will NOT be able to use FRS radios unless you can screen out moronic profane comments). The channel lock feature is a must also. Despite all the features, it's pretty simple to use (my nine year old has no problems with it). They're also really small, which helps when you have to carry one on a bike all day. The range is somewhere over 1.5 miles outside on the road, with only trees blocking your way. From car to car, it's probably about 3/4 miles based on my limited tests. So, the obstructions in between senders affects the reception, but overall, I was pleased with the range and clarity of the sound. In my opinion, I got a lot of features for the money, and the radios are very useful

Review of the Midland 75-515 FRS Transceiver.......2001-07-23

Review of the Midland 75-515 FRS Transceiver

This unit has a nice "Walkie Talkie" look to it. I have been disturbed by the unusual designs of many radios. I am glad Midland decided to keep with the more traditional look.

Upon powering up the radio, it indicated its awakening with a prominent tone. The LCD display is large and easily viewed. The only trouble I had was viewing the upper part of the display, where the CTCSS and DCS mode indicators are. Other than that, the display is VERY well laid out and easy to read.

Volume levels are pretty darn loud for such a small speaker. Receive audio qualiy is pretty good. It is easily understood.

Range checks: This unit was detectable 1.5 miles away with my wife inside our house and myself in the car. Effective communications were possible with one mile distance between us. In a mobile environment, I consider this range to be VERY good for an FRS radio.

Also, we were in communication with myself inside the grocery store about .25 miles from the house... Perfect communications was a result while shopping. These units can communicate well between buildings.

Power output is 500 mW ERP, verified by FCC test data. This applies to use of fully charged alkaline batteries. We used the nicad rechargeables for our tests.

The battery life as listed, is pretty good. I have yet to have had my rechargeable go dead, and I've used the radios a bit. although I do admit some charging time.

Intermod and other interference: We experienced no intermod. In our area, though, this is not unusual. We are out of the range of many dirty pager transmitters and such. My computer did interfere with this radio to a small degree... again not surprising. Personal computers commonly interfere with UHF receivers.

Features and evaluations of such:

DCS: Digital Coded Squelch comes to FRS!! This system is the latest in selective squelch systems. It is reported to be more efficient than CTCSS. We used it in our tests and it performed perfectly, even at maximum range.

CTCSS: In case you want to communicated with units without DCS, CTCSS is there for you to use. As expected, the CTCSS system worked perfectly.

Our "home channel" had additional traffic when we were conducting our tests. Our communications was not interrupted by the other signal.

SCAN: This radio can scan for active channels, and clear channels. I would have like to seen a way to lock out unneeded channels; but you can set a CTCSS tone, or DCS code, which will allow the scan function to skip over that channel, unless that code has traffic. With that in mind, the radio scans whatever characteristic you have programmed with that channel. This is useful if you want to scan your group's channels and thay have CTCSS or DCS set.

BABY MONITOR FUNCTION: This function will sit and listen for any noise in its range, sound the call tone and transmit for a period of time, then go to receive mode, and back and forth. It does work as indicated, but we have no use for it (until we get a young 'un). However, it could be useful in many other ways, such as listening for the doorbell, or the microwave beep to go off. Use your imagination...

END OF TRANSMISSION TONE: AKA Roger Beep. It is there, if you wish, and can be turned off if you do not wish.

BATTERY SAVE FUNCTION: during recive, except for scanning, sort of puts the radio to sleep until it receives a signal. Good for unnecessary drain on batteries... Problem though... It takes about a half second or so for it to wake up, so it is likely you will miss the first word or so of your communications. The delay is a bit short for my tastes. Too bad you can't turn it off.

5 MEMORY CHANNELS: This allows you to set up a channel and keep its characteristics set. While this radio holds any Tones or Codes you may set for a channel permanently, the memory function allows you to store the same channel as a memory location. You could have channel 1 as your primary channel, with a differtnt DCS or CTCSS tone set. Too bad this radio doesn't allow memory channel scan.

VOX: This unit allows voice activiation right out of the box. with or without a spaeker mike, you can talk hands free. Good to mount a radio on the sunvisor :) With a selectable sensitivity and selectable delay setting, the VOX on this unit is the best I have seen so far. If you use VOX, this radio can't be beat IMHO.

BATTERY STRENGTH METER: This is a 4 segment LCD that will give you your battery charge state.

TRANSMIT/RECEIVE INDICATOR: Will display the appropriate icon. It will indicate when a channel is receiving a signal, so you can see actibity on another CTCSS or DCS code.

ACCESSORY JACKS: These units have TWO sets of jacks! You will be able to plug almost anything into this radio.

CHARGING CONTACTS: The radio can be charged with a desk charger OR an AC adaptor type charger.... Versatile!

FINAL COMMENTS:

This radio is a clear Winner!

It has a nice look and feel, good sound quality, and range. Plenty of good functions. I have in the past, heard of problems with this series, however, I have discovered NO flaws whatsoever in the operation of these units. The multiple accessory/charging jacks are unique to the industry and allow for greater flexibility. Kudos to Midland for a job well done.

Good Radios - minor problems.......2001-04-24

Just got a pair of these and they work just fine. My biggest beef with these is the rubber covers for the jacks are very hard to get back into place - but not hard to get out. It would be nice to be able to access the channels in memory a bit more easily as well, but for the price these things are just fine!

Hi-Tech Walkie-Talkie in a Compact Size.......2001-03-01

In my opinion this unit offers high-tech FRC radio capability and it is available for a bargain price! Currently Amazon has the best internet price available for the product. I want to offer a few comments about this radio which might be of help to others like myself who knew nothing about the modern high-tech walkie-talkie. The Midland Consumer Radio Company ... has over 40 years experience in 2-way radio technology-mainly CB radios and more recently the FRC (Family Radio Service) UHF FM band radios. They build a variety of radio models with and without weather frequency capability. First, I got the inexpensive Midland combo set from Amazon (Midland 75509W) including batteries/charger. The radio worked amazingly well, but I really needed a more heavy duty case. I went to the Midland web site and read more about their various models. I realized that their 75515 model was a "top of the line" unit with many more features including backlit LCD display and the capability to select 14 channels plus the 83 DCS (Digital Coded Squelch) and 38 CTCSS (Continuous Tone Coded Squelch System). That gives a total of 1694 code/channel combos for privacy in busy user environments. These "security" settings prevent the user from hearing other radios that do not have the same code. The clear and concisely-written manual reminds people that these codes do not make your conversation private! The 75515 model has a nice heavy duty case including water resistant gaskets for "splash" protection. Initially, I could see why the editorial reviewer commented about the "tricky battery cover" until I discovered that if I slipped off the belt clip first, then I could lift the cover lid and easily load the batteries! By the way, current models of the 2-way Midland radios also come standard with VOX (Voice Activated Transmit) capability in up to 6 levels of sensitivity/delay functions. These small radios use 3 AA --either, alkaline (45 hrs of use) or rechargable Ni-Cad (15 hrs) or Ni-Mh (24 hrs) batteries. An optional batter charger (single or double unit) is available elsewhere on the Internet or from the company direct. If one is really serious about using VOX, Midland recommends using an optional microphone/headset unit. To summarize, the Midland radios are top notch radios built by an established radio manufacturer and packaged in a compact size. For the price, I found no other walkie-talkies currently on the market with as many functions, a high-quality antenna and programmable squelch controls. Amazon should consider offering the optional accessories like battery chargers, headsets & microphone for one-stop shopping. The standard Case Logic neoprene walkie-talkie case fits the Midland radio units.

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