Cobra AM655 2-Way Radio, Two Pack
Cellular coverage is a promise somebody else makes. A pair of licence free radios is a promise you make to yourself: press the button, the other person hears you, with no tower in the loop and no data bundle draining in the background. The Cobra AM655 two pack is built on that idea, which is why it tends to end up living permanently in a hiking pack, a farm bakkie, a boat locker or a site office rather than being packed away between trips.
Each handset stands 176.5 mm tall, measures 56 mm by 47 mm and weighs 114 grams. That is a hand sized radio rather than a pocket toy, and the difference matters more than it sounds. A longer body carries a longer antenna, and antenna length is most of what turns a quoted range figure into a real one.
What the AM655 range figure actually means
Cobra rates the radio at up to 12 kilometres, 300,000 square feet, or 25 floors. Those three numbers describe three different worlds and it is worth knowing which one applies to you. Twelve kilometres is line of sight across open water, a valley or a plain with nothing standing in the way. Three hundred thousand square feet is the figure to hold in mind on a showground, a game farm or a large caravan park. Twenty five floors is the vertical measure, relevant in a hotel, a construction site or a multi storey centre where the obstruction is concrete rather than distance. Read the number that matches where you will be standing and the radio will not disappoint you.
Privacy codes, and why 121 of them matter
Licence free bands are shared bands. On a long weekend at a popular reserve, several groups will be sitting on the same channels having entirely separate conversations. Privacy codes do not encrypt anything, but they do filter. Your handsets ignore any transmission that does not carry your code, so the radio stays quiet unless your own group is speaking. With 121 codes available, finding a combination nobody nearby is using takes about ten seconds and saves an afternoon of listening to strangers organise their braai.
Hands free operation with VOX
Voice activated transmission opens the channel when you start speaking, so the radio can stay clipped to a shoulder strap while your hands are on a rope, a steering wheel, a rod or a tent pole. That is the difference between a radio you actually use and one that stays in the bag because reaching for it is a nuisance. Channel scan does the opposite job, sweeping the band to find where traffic is, which is how you relocate a group that has drifted off the channel everyone agreed on at the car park.
Eighteen hours between charges
The 2000 mAh lithium polymer pack is rated for 18 hours of continuous use on the standard duty cycle of 90 percent standby, 5 percent talk and 5 percent listen. In plain terms that is a full day in the field with the radio switched on throughout, rather than a full day of talking. Charge both handsets overnight and most weekends never need a second thought about power. Five selectable alert tones let each person choose a sound they recognise, which stops turned heads every time a radio chirps on a shared table.
Setting a pair up in the car park
There is no configuration to speak of. Switch both handsets on, agree a channel, agree a privacy code, and confirm you can hear each other before anybody walks away. Doing that check at the vehicle takes thirty seconds and saves the classic mistake of discovering, an hour up a trail, that one radio was left on a different code. Write the channel and code on a strip of tape inside the battery door if the group changes often, because the person who needs the radio most is usually the person least interested in remembering settings.
Sold as a pair for a reason
A single radio has nobody to talk to, so the AM655 ships as two. Add a second pair and the group extends to four handsets sharing one channel and one privacy code. The radio carries a water resistance rating, listed in the specifications below, which covers rain and spray on deck rather than immersion, so a sudden Highveld thunderstorm or a wet morning on the water is no cause for concern.
If you are choosing between a budget bubble pack radio and something you will still be using in five years, the AM655 sits firmly in the second category. It is the pair you buy once, keep charged and stop thinking about.
Features
- Up to 12 kilometres, 300,000 square feet, 25 floors max
- 12 channels and 121 privacy codes
- IPX2 water-resistant
- Voice-activated transmission (vox)
- 5 selectable tones
- Channel scan
Specifications
| Brand |
Cobra |
| Maximum Radio Range |
Up to 12 kilometres, 300,000 square feet, 25 floors |
| Number Of Channels |
16 |
| Number Of Privacy Codes |
121" |
| Features |
| Waterproof |
IP54 |
| Vox |
Yes |
| Power |
| Rechargeable Battery |
Yes |
| Battery Type |
2000mAH Li-Polymer Battery |
| Battery Life |
Extended 18 hours of continuous usage (90% standby / 5% talk / 5% listen)" |
| Unit Dimensions |
| Weight |
114 grams |
| Length |
56 mm |
| Width |
47 mm |
| Height |
176.5 mm |
