Hi Tweeters,

Irma and I have been using radios of various types since 1994 when I tried to
out scream the surf to alert Irma I had found the Little Curlew at the mouth
of the Carmel River. We have used two way FM radios (the radios you see on
the hips of maintenance people in buildings, attendants at parking lots,
etc.), CB's and now the new Family Frequency radios.

For size and weight the new FF radios are great. We have Kenwoods which we
are very happy with except for a design flaw which requires us to keep a
rubber band around them to keep the back battery cover from falling off.

The advantage of radios in the field have been proved more than once for us.
At the ABA convention at Park City, Utah, we split our radios, giving one to a
group who was climbing up the hill to try and see the Black Rosy Finches and
keeping one with the group who was remaining at the bottom of the hill.
Because of this, everybody on our bus that day saw the Rosy because we were
able to call the group going up the hill back to the base in time to see the
group of 5-6 birds that came into the trees there.

This was again repeated this year when we split the radios again in our group
in Churchill, Canada that helped insure that the whole group saw the Ross'
Gull.

Range of the radios definitely depend on the terrain on which they are being
used. They work better on flat ground. We have used them up to a mile, mile
and half away from each other. They are poor in canyons and in very hilly
areas.

They help spouses keep track of each other when one is tired and wants to wait
it out at the car or if one is impatient and tends to wonder around usually
away from where the bird finally shows up and needs to be called back to see
the bird.

Although, expensive, they are worth their cost if you bird with your spouse or
other birders frequently.

I would strongly suggest if you are buying radios for the first time that you
get one of the new Family Frequency radios. Also, the model you get should
have a dial that shows you what channel and sub-channel you are set on. One
of the Motorola models does not have a dial and depends on a voice to tell
you what channel you are set on.

Hopes this helps.

Great birding and find that next lifer,

John (One of Birders2)

John + Irma = 2, we are birders, too.

John C. LeVine
Birders2 at aol.com
Los Angeles, CA

Please put <To Birders2> in subject line when e-mailing us. I do not open all
of the 200-300 e-mails I receive each day, but I want to be sure to read your
e-mails to us. Thanks!

A CONUNDRUM: If the Amazon holds the cures for the diseases affecting
humankind; Then will not the increased multitudes of humans doom the Amazon?
Then humans?
___________________________________________________________
A thought on leaving a showing of IMAX's "Amazon" 11/03/97