Walkie Talkies

Gdetrailer wrote:

hedgehopper wrote:
I know this topic has been covered before. But technology is constantly changing and improving(?)

I want a pair of walkie talkies that the wife and I can use when she is hiking and I am at our campsite. What brand and model have you used in this way and would recommend?

There is no "improvement" in personal unlicensed radio communications.

For unlicensed, you are looking at FRS (Family Radio Services) which is a UHF band FM radio with power and antenna size limitations. UHF band is very line of site, does not bend with the terrain making long distance communications almost impossible with the FCC limitations. Basically on a good day with absolutely nothing in between you and the other person about 2 miles distance is about it. Add in trees hills and structures and that distance gets a lot shorter.

Don't fall for the hype, one of the Cheap import radios someone posted a link to states 32 miles, that is a marketing lie.

Cobra and Midland are good choices, other cheap no name imports however, may or may not be FCC type accepted which means may or may not follow the FCCs rules..

To add on to what Gdetrailer said, there really is very little new technology in this area. Physics don't change, and that is what limits the range you will get. Yes radios add features etc. but marketing will vastly exaggerate the range that is possible with a handheld radio.

I also want to add that an 8 watt radio will be pumped up to be much better than the older 5 watt radios. You will NOT see any difference in that little of a power increase. I've been a ham radio operator for over 30 years (or very close to that anyway), so I have had a little time to mess with these types of things. I also get to take care of the radio system at work.

as mentioned FCC regulations pretty much dictate performance. And FCC has cracked down on the radios that gamed the system and never really were FCC legal. Now they are pretty much band specific (GMRS, FRS, HAM, MURS) several require licenses.

With handheld units expect pretty much line of site use. Performance wise most brands are going to be pretty much equal. Ruggedness and accessories is the major difference. Go up in quality and you get weatherproof or waterproof, more rugged cases, interchangeable battery packs, high capacity battery packs, antenna choices, tone controlled squelch, voice scrambling, setup for in the helmet headsets etc.

As mentioned HAM units will often give you the ability to use repeaters to increase distance. today getting a ham license for the units is much easier than in the past.

We been using a setup with in the helmet mic/speakers, bar mounted push to talk and tone controlled squelch for motorcycle riding for more than a decade. Range has varied from about 1/4 mile in dense woods, to a mile + on open level straight highway. We've tried MURS, FRS, and GMRS channels. We've found for the terrain we ride in MURS give us a bit better performance then GMRS or FRS for the same output power. MURS is near the 2m ham band. (154ish mhz)



When we are out camping, the radios are good for campground communication, that's about it. campground to a hiking trail, not to be relied on.

Bobbo wrote:

larry cad wrote:
iphone

And, if there is no cell service?

Then probably remote hilly country and the radio won't work either. Most of the handheld radios are limited to a couple miles in ideal conditions and it can be far less in non-ideal conditions.

Back before it was cheap and easy to get a cell plan in any country, we used to have a pair of FRS radios when we escorted group tours...and 100yds ahead and around a corner, you would often lose comms.

Another thing to think about is batteries. If you have walkies with "built in" rechargeable batteries that conveniently use a USB cord to a laptop or wall plug, great! IF you have access to the needed power.

Think about getting one with AA or AAA batteries - you can get those batteries anywhere, and you don't need a recharging setup. But... not as convenient.

Just something to think about.... because having said that, the pair I have use a charging port, lol!

I haven't used them in years, though.

Tvov wrote:
Another thing to think about is batteries. If you have walkies with "built in" rechargeable batteries that conveniently use a USB cord to a laptop or wall plug, great! IF you have access to the needed power.

Think about getting one with AA or AAA batteries - you can get those batteries anywhere, and you don't need a recharging setup. But... not as convenient.

Just something to think about.... because having said that, the pair I have use a charging port, lol!

I haven't used them in years, though.

X2 on the batteries!

I have two sets of Cobra FRS HTs laying around somewhere, bought them for a family "convoy" trip before cellphone plans were cheap. Me and my DW have Ham licenses but rest of my family does not, so that ruled out using 2mtr or 440 Ham bands..

The Cobras came with replaceable rechargeable battery packs and nice drop in desk chargers. The unfortunate thing was the rechargeable batteries only lasted 5-6hrs out of a 10 hr one way trip per charge..

But, The Cobras we bought, the battery pack area when the rechargeable pack was removed was designed to hold standard AAAs! That was a bonus, just had to make sure everyone had enough AAAs with them for the trip..

The are plusses with FRS and there are minuses, on the plus side, cheap, low cost, small, no license.

On the minus side, UHF band is line of site, FCC power and antenna size limitations limit the ERP (Effective Radiated Power) which limits the range to at best 2 miles under ideal terrain.

Not that I want to push one into becoming a Ham if they do not wish to but if one is expecting to have to deal with distances far greater than 1-2 miles a Ham ticket does open up your world to 2mtr band, no antenna limitations and higher transmit power.. Improved distance, 2mtr distance is better per watt of power when comparing to UHF.

Downside ham radio is each person transmitting needs to get their own license but with no code licenses and lots of Ham clubs that will help you get your ticket and a small donation to that club for the exam materials and filing it isn't all that difficult or expensive to get started.

My one local Ham club has enough VEs "on call" that they often setup an exam pretty much any time within a couple of days notice.

With the flood of cheap Chinese import Ham HTs you can actually get on 2mtr/440mhz for the same price as the cheap FRS Chinese radios (although some of the Chinese Ham radios do not have as good of quality over the brands like Icom and such..

yup, batteries are a big differentiator between brands. anywhere from on replaceable low capacity rechargeables on up. Spend a few more bucks and you can get units with "quick swap" battery packs, larger high capacity battery packs, units that will take either the rechargeable packs or packs with AA batteries.

Pay attention to the battery packs when looking at your needs.

And yes on the 2m band frequencies, Ham or MURS (In that order IMHO)

I have a set of Cobra FRS radios and was amazed that I got about a 5 mile range one day. Of course, I was on way up a mountain trail and could see the parking lot where my wife was sitting on a picnic table.
I am usually able to get about a half mile range around camp with trees and campers parked all over.