Photo taken at Milagroso, Sogod Southern Leyte.

From a different angle.

This was taken during a photo trip to the south of Cebu last November 26, 2011. You may read more about the trip here: http://www.istorya.net/forums/photography/443899-the-2nd-intimate-landscape.html

Sunrise at the Sumilon Bluewater Island Resort
Sumilon Island, Cebu

Map location: http://g.co/maps/h5wx7

My brother and I started our trek to the top of the hill at around 430am. At 145meters above sea level, you get a very nice view of the town of Sogod and the Sogod Bay area.

Click here to view map location: http://g.co/maps/tvfz6

Roble Shipping rates for Cebu-Hilongos (M/V Beautiful Stars)

They are now located here: http://g.co/maps/5kz23

For inquiries please leave your Contact info at the contact form found at the bottom of this page and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

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If interested, please leave your Contact info at the contact form found at the bottom of this page.

My wife and I were looking for portable 2-way radios for her wedding coordination group and my photography. We decided to buy something that is locally available and I found this, Motorola Talkabout 2-Way Radios MC220R.

1 set contains 2 radios which comes with 2 batteries, 2 belt clips, a charging cradle/mount which can charge 2 radios and a power supply for the charger. The power supply that came with the charger was 110V, but the vendor was kind enough to include a 110V to 220V converter for free.

A closer look at the Motorola Talkabout 2-Way Radio MC220R. It has a simple design with all the buttons on the front and the volume at the top of the unit. It’s very light and compact yet rugged enough for everyday use. The speaker is loud enough to be heard in a public place like a shopping mall or in the streets. The mic of the unit also delivers good voice quality. Navigating through the different functions in the radio is easy. I figured out all its functions without reading the manual and this is my first Motorola 2-way radio unit.

At the side you can find the Push-to-talk (PTT) button. Accessible and easy to press.

At the other side is the headphone/headset/earbud plug. I bought the earbud with the PTT mic. Useful when shooting events and situations where silence is needed.

At the backside you will find the cover to the battery compartment and the hole where you attach the belt clip.

Inside the battery compartment. It’s a nice feature to include that ribbon strip. It really helps in quickly and easily removing the battery pack.

This is the battery pack. It’s made up of 3 AA batteries. If the pack rans out, you can just replace it with any AA battery. This is another reason why I like this battery. AA batteries are common and easily available including the rechargeable versions. So purchasing backup and replacement batteries is not a problem.

This is how it looks with the battery pack installed.

The belt clip. This is one of the thing that I don’t like about the unit. The clip looks fragile, I don’t use the clip and instead I bought a pouch for it. The pouch was originally for a mobile phone. Because of the small size of the radio unit, its not hard to find a cellphone pouch that fits.

The 2 sets of radios mounted on the charging cradle. Charging the units takes around 8 hours. It’s a good thing the vendor included in the package a 110V to 220V converter for free.

Battery Life
Regarding the batteries, they only last around 6 to 8 hours depending on how often you transmit over the radio. But because it’s powered by AA batteries, its not hard to find backup batteries for this unit. Even if you already used up all your rechargeable batteries, you won’t have problem looking for alkaline batteries from stores.

Radio Range
The features indicate 16 miles or 25.75 kilometers. In my own experience, it didn’t reach that range. In the mountain areas with thick vegetation and foliage, the range is drastically lowered. With thick forest and mountain range, you’ll be lucky to get a good signal over 1km. I’ve tested these radios in the mountains of Talamban, Cebu and in Olango Island and there are times when I can barely get a signal from someone back at the campsite and I was only about 1km away from it. But there were a lot of thick vegetation and foliage between us.

Fortunately, my wife and I use these for events which doesn’t require that much range. I’ve tested this in malls and 5 star hotels and I get good coverage from the executive rooms down to the basement parking.

If you seriously need the range, get the higher models like the Motorola Talkabout MR350R or the MR356R. My only problems with the higher versions is their face plate design since its camouflage design. I recommend you purchase the face plate replacements with a different more “civilian” looking design. It’s not advisable to be bringing devices with camouflage design in photo treks in the local mountain ranges of the Philippines.

Overall
I love these units and I’ll be purchasing similar models in the future. Very useful for those who need 2-way radios for use in events and activities that don’t require range distances of 5km and above.

Note: I will update this topic from time to time giving you my opinion regarding this model over time.

Group with iStorya.net Photography Club buddies and guides. Photo taken at the base of the waterfalls. I decided to take one photo from the top to give viewers some reference as to how high the waterfalls is.

The rest of the photos can be viewed here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbgg1979/sets/72157627740523090/