Midland® - XT511 - Emergency Radio - 22 Channel Two-Way Base Camp Radio with 5 Power Options, 121 Privacy Codes, 3-LED Flashlight & NOAA Weather Scan + Alert - Gray/Black

I love Midland's products. This is an awesome emergency radio. However, I am disappointed in Midland - crank handle is too thin and seems easy to snap off. No one, in my good opinion, should purchase this radio with thoughts of using it as a daily base camp CB-type radio. It could definitely be used for camping, for such use, and intermittently at home, but the two-way radio option appears to be made for intermittent use only. However, the weather, FM, and AM bands can be used on a daily basis. Love the flashlight option. Does have an alarm option with snooze feature for those who might want to use it as a bedside alarm clock radio. It is small, measuring 4 1/2 inches tall (6 1/2 inches tall when measuring to top of handle) and 7 1/2 inches long; it is 2 inches thick. The small size and great features and sound make it the perfect emergency radio, great for camping or day trips, and easy to take just about anywhere. Takes 4 AA batteries or comes with a rechargeable battery pack (charge with crank or included AC wall charger or DC car charger), and crank option allows charging devices, like a phone, that can plug into a USB outlet. Get one before the next storm hits.

Wonderful product. Used as a base radio since it can be powered by AC. High range of volume that allows people to be heard from other rooms to low enough to sleep to the radio. Unfortunately could not find a radio sleep function. My mother is not radio savvy so setting it up, locking button input and having her just use the included mic with transmit button. It worked perfectly and she preferred it greatly over using a handheld. Alarm clock works but not as intuitive as I'd like. It's more difficult than necessary to verify the alarm time. But alarm is loud enough to wake us up when camping. Great transmission distance and antenna is sturdier than most portables. Used the privacy codes which worked better than both my differently branded handhelds, they sometimes squelch off for the first half second of another radio on the main channel before understanding the sender is not using the privacy code. It can be annoying to repeatedly hear that static in an otherwise quiet setting. This radio doesnt do that. Camping-wise having the FM radio was awesome but you can use receive or transmit when in FM mode. Spinning the fairly loud handcrank a minute charged the included rechargeable batteries from dead to enough power for transmitting and receiving once quickly. The only problem is the battery level indicator shows full or almost full when it wasnt leaving us outside with only the crank. Luckily we had some spare non rechargeables that worked fine. Remember not to crank with standard batteries installed! Overall a great unit, small and light and you can choose to use the speaker/mic or the mic built into the unit. The removable shoulder strap made it easily accessible while carrying a pack. Also came with car charger. Wish list: built in compass, monitoring multiple channels, built in solar charging.

years ago I had looked at these radios, and wanted to buy one. Unfortunately, for quite a long time they were not available on anywhere. Finally, I saw that they were available again, and decided to pull the trigger and bring one home for myself. I like the fact that you can charge this little bass station, and that it has a crank to help charge up the internal battery. Also, like that will take alkaline batteries as well. Taking this thing out of the box I found out the unit itself is a little smaller than I imagined it almost look like a toy. It does work quite well and picks up lots of signals. Has a nice scanning function and even has a flashlight that I will probably never use. despite its shortcomings, I do still think that the radio itself is a useful purchase for those who are going camping or getting off the beaten path. Other than the size of the unit, another negative would be that you were unable to plug-in an additional long range antenna, or switch out the existing antenna for a larger antenna. Otherwise it's not a bad radio.

Just got this yesterday, and I'm enjoying it already. I was looking at a Kaito with the solar charge, but an AC cord was an extra $12, and not a cig lighter option or the GMRS. This Midland comes with both cords, and no solar....which I always find pretty iffy anyway. Not the best reception in the house, but it gets my R&R and Country stations on FM, and NPR on AM. Weather channels come in clear from 60 miles away. Haven't tried the GMRS yet, so not sure how well that's going to work. I can check it Fri night when the FB game's going on, as a bunch of people use theirs then from town 4 miles away.I like the options of a rechargeable and 4 AAs and the included AC plus the cig lighter cord. As others have stated, the crank handle looks pretty much like a use when you really need it attachment. For the money it's pretty nice. As always, a better speaker would be great, but it's not all that bad as is. All in all I'm happy with it so far. :)

I bought myself this GMRS radio for Christmas in December of 2025. This item was showing good reviews but I must’ve gotten one of the OLD radios because whenever I plugged in the mic to transmit, it would not work at all! It’s almost as if there was an internal short on the mic and I couldn’t transmit or receive on it! I contacted the company Midland and was told they would send me a replacement. I am STILL waiting to receive a new one and it is almost April! Their tech support told me they were sold out and were waiting for a new shipment. I was told o would have it at the beginning of March when they supposedly received the shipment but still had to pass “QC”. Well that didn’t happen and when I texted back to ask what the holdup was, they said they’re still waiting on the shipment. So I’m confused because at first they said they received it and just needed quality control but now they are saying they never received the shipment! I’m going to wait till the beginning of April and it they give me another BS excuse I’m going to demand a refund and go elsewhere!

Generally for the cost of FRS/GMRS type Two Way Transceivers, we all pay around $50-$100 - whether it be Walkie Talkie Portables, or a Unit Primarily intended as a sort of "Base Station" as this model is listed. The FCC limits our Transmitting Power "output" to 1/2 of (1) Watt for the FRS (Family Radio Service) Channels (#8-#14). The GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) Channels which Require us to purchase an FCC License for $86.00/5yr. - are allowed some 5 Watts of "input power" to the final Internal Electronic Power Amplifier(s) Circuitry. Actual External Output Power is around (4) Watts (+/- a little), with fully charged Batteries or external supplied Power Source on Channels (#1-#7) and (#15-#22) that's it per Federal Regulations. Commercial, Marine, and Business Radios are in different categories, and of course are much more expensive. The just mentioned, is to potentially help the non-technical person reading this gain just a little bit of insight into this type product. Now to directly state things: This Midland Brand XT511 Base Camp Unit is actually quite nice for what it is intended to do. Specifically: It has AM/FM/WX(7 Weather) Bands, (7) FRS Channels and (15) GMRS Two Way Communication Channels, Utilizes 120Vac w/included Adapter, has a NiMh Rechargeable Battery Pack included, can also run on (4) AA Alkaline Batteries (not included), can also run on 12VDC (Vehicle Socket) power, and you can Recharge the NiMh Batteries via the hand CRANK "Dynamo" built into the Radio. That is a lot of Optional Power Source capabilities for Camping, Emergency usages, or even around your own property as may be applicable. The Two Way Radio portion of this unit is compatible with all other Two Ways using "standard" FRS/GMRS Channels. This Two Way Radio also incorporates the CTCSS and DCS "Privacy Codes" which Midland Company has been a trend-setter in utilizing these technical enhancements. Simply stated for understanding: These CTCSS & DCS Codes are "Frequency or Numerical" Coded additions incorporated onto the FCC assigned Frequencies for each Channel. Analogy: Kind of like Phoning a businesses 10 digit Main telephone number, and then adding a 3-4 digit EXTENSION Number to take you more directly to where & who you want to talk with. This enables some 121 Codes that can be assigned to each of the 22 Standard Channels (that's a whole bunch of Privacy capability). Transmitting capability is via the External Handheld Microphone, VOX, or Press To Talk Button on the Base Unit itself. Range of course is dependant upon Battery(s) Charge Level, Obstructions, and Terrain. NOTE: This Base Camp Model does NOT have "Group Mode" capability which is even another Privacy Capability found on Midlands higher end Portable Walkies such as their Model GXT1000VP4 (found herein Amazon). The GXT1000 Walkies also have 142 Privacy Codes. However, you CAN set this Base Station and the Walkies just mentioned, up to 121 of the same CTCSS & DCS Codes, or just Standard Channel setting for this Base Camp Model - really quite nice. The AM/FM are standard, and are Adjustable for Volume & Tone. The Weather (NOAA) has 7 Station Capability, and comes in very clear with very good reception even in a Basement with Florescent Lighting immediately around. The built in LED Flashlight supplies enough light for the immediate area - but is not a Flashlight with a projected beam. There are also built in Digital Clock, Alarm Clock, Siren/Calling Out Sounds, Dual Watch for Two Way Channels, Weather "Emergency" Alerting, and even a Carry Strap. Note: This unit is NOT as physically large as it may sound - it is NOT a Pocket or Belt carry type Radio, however, it is not heavy, nor bulky either about 8" Wide by 6" High. The only negative I see is the physical Handle of the Dynamo Crank itself... this handle folds into its designated holding position on the Radios RH side. It is the rather "thin" plastic handle that is of concern. Although it may never break... I would like to see Midland reinforce or make this part from a heavier plastic material. Also, the LCD screen is easy to see, and is lighted! The Owners Manual requires a bit of getting used to, the English translations are sometimes different from how we generally construct our sentencing, and requires being read more than once. Overall this unit is well worth the money, it could literally be a life saver, and its versatility is impressive.

This is a quality unit, do not get me wrong. It can do a lot of functions in a satisfactory way. Because the XT511 does so many functions, I will address each one seperately. The FM/AM radio works good, not great. If the antenna was changable, that would help. The little "rubber duck" antenna is medium range at best. I struggle to get local stations with this radio. The flashlight is well... a flashlight. Nothing special, but it works and lights up the trails at night. Most campers or households have multiple flashlights, the XT511 would probably be a last resort light. NOAA radio, meh... It works exactly like it should. It is the most boring radiocast you will ever hear. Ok, now the real reason I have given the XT511 a three star rating, the GMRS radio function. Be forewarned, if anyone buys the radio with the intent of trasmiting on it, the license is $85 and only lasts 3 years. You get a very limited bandwidth, 10 channels, and with the 3 inch non-replaceable antenna your range is extremely limited. It is almost a gimick, IMHO. If someone reads this and wants to get a radio to transmit and receive signal, I would encourage them to invest in a ham radio. The cheaper Baofeng hams are about the same price, the license is cheaper and lasts for 10 years, and you can transmit on a LOT more frequencies plus receive the NOAA bands and police/fire bands. Yeah, you don't get a flashlight or the fm/am radio channels. Eton makes a great flashlight/radio combo, and combined with a small handheld ham it would take up less space combined than the XT511. $50 XT511+ $85 license fee(every 3 years) = $135. $20 ETON + $40Baofeng ham + $30 ham license(every 10 years) = $90.

This radio was purchased to work with other FRS radios in a neighborhood emergency preparedness network. This network allows FRS equipped neighbors to report emergency information to a ham operator, who then relays that report to the county department of emergency management. The Midland XT511 Base Camp will be used by one of the ham operators. With the external mic, this radio can be placed at a higher location than the operator, thereby extending its coverage. The dual channel scan is a useful function for monitoring two adjacent neighborhoods and help reduce interference and being walked over. As a stand alone radio, it has a number of much appreciated features. Read the description of the radio for those. The dynamo crank, though not an easy way to charge the batteries, is there when needed to put a small charge on the rechargeable pack to power FRS, WX or GMRS radio usage. But it is really nice if one needs to put a bit of charge on a cell phone. Companion radios to this base station will be Midland GXT1000's. A good reason to stay with Midland for both handhelds and base are they share the same programming procedure and the battery packs are interchangeable. Please read my review of them here on Amazon.