Chris Schneck

If you’ve ever played a large enough game to warrant the use of radios you already know how just plain awesome and genuinely useful they can be. Just as anything else in paintball, or any other hobby actually, there are a few expensive mistakes you can make a long the way before you find the perfect practical working combination between cost and functionality. The radios featured in this article are admittedly a couple years old, but no less effective or relevant.

The Motorola T6500 FRS/GMRS radios have stood up well to plenty of outdoor abuse. I’ve used these in all weather conditions and only once when there was 4 inches of snow on the ground and it was raining and muddy did they have a hiccup, but that very well could have been the headset getting damp. A rugged radio like this model is ideal for the beating that comes with playing woodsball. The T6500’s come with rechargeable battery packs and a charging stand, but I would ditch the battery packs and go straight to consuming straight up AA’s. Each T6500 takes 3 AA batteries and battery life is quite good, I’ve never had to panic and swap out during a days play. The complete list of features is quite impressive: 22 channels, PTT, VOX, pad lockout, etc. check out the main product page here. They’ve been shot, dived on, dropped and stepped on and Motorola T6500’s get an overwhelming thumbs up.

A good radio in pair with a good headset & microphone combo increase the advantage you have over your opponents. If you have only 2 radios in a squad of 8, you can maneuver 2 groups of 4 people in and out of danger without the other team knowing what really just happened. At the end of the day they will most definitely be asking themselves how you always seemed to pop up out of nowhere with such a showing of force.

More importantly then what brand I would recommend is of course the technical information. The most important tidbit is the difference between FRS and GMRS.

FRS stands for Family Radio Service. Radios that are only FRS compatible will be limited to 500 milliwatts of power. Unfortunately for Americans the FCC has regulated that to use anything more powerful you have to pay a licensing fee, currently at $85USD. FRS radios are just fine for short range use and are very often affordable to anyone!

GMRS stands for General Mobile Radio Service. In the United States, licensed GMRS operators are permitted to transmit at up to 50 Watts of power It’s more likely that the GMRS radios you buy will be powered at the same level as my T6500 radios, outputting a blistering 1 watt and providing you with ample range in which to communicate with.

PTT stands for Push To Talk. Either the button on the body of the radio or the button on the cable that leads to the plugged in microphone can be pushed to initiate a transmission. Having a boom mic under your mask is an enormous advantage, you can literally whisper and be heard by the person on the other end. Excellent for directing movement or fire from a concealed position.

VOX stands for Voice Operated Transmission/Transmitter. So why isn’t the acronym VOT? I have no idea. Although I HIGHLY recommend you don’t use this feature. With all the running, gunning and shouting you’re going to be doing it will sound more like a violent obscene phone call then anything tactically useful.

VOX = *pant*pant*pant*oh crap*pop*pop*pant*pop*IM HIT IM HIT*