Walkie Talkies

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Gleams

Full Member
Nov 20, 2006
201
0
47
Romford
Hi

I am looking for some recommendations on Walkie Talkies.
Firstly I know very little about them so any useful info you want to give me on the subject will be great.

Here are my requirements:
- Good range.
- Tough + Waterproof is possible
- 4 of them.
- Easy to use (for kids)
- Able to connect a headset to them.
- Preferably be able to be charged at home through the mains, but can run on standard batteries when in the field.

Thanks
 

rik_uk3

Banned
Jun 10, 2006
13,320
24
69
south wales
Last edited:
Apr 8, 2009
1,165
144
Ashdown Forest
The Baofeng 888 mentioned above would be a good budget start, but you will need to also purchase a programming cable and download the (free) chirp software to programme them to the PMR446 channels. If you search for 'Baofeng' or 'Puxing' on this forum, you will get a lot of information on the range of Chinese 'grey import', including on the legality/risks of use.

If you just want a standard low power, works out of the box solution, then their are numerous mid-range PMR446 radios available on the net. These are all limited to 0.5w of power though, and have fixed (and often fairly inefficient) antenna. If you wanted to go down this route, the motorolla's linked above would seem a suitable option.
 

wingstoo

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
May 12, 2005
2,274
40
South Marches
I bought a few midland alan 42 CB radio hand sets, uses AA and AA rechargable, has a car kit to use it with a different antenna, has head set sockets and can use throat mics, also remote microphone with earpiece socket...80 channel and good range.
 

snozz

Full Member
Dec 9, 2009
877
2
Otley
Baofeng 888's a pain to program and not technically legal as over 0.5w for PMR frequencies. Saying that, I have 2 that work well! I have experience with Motorola PMRs and they have always worked well. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Motorola-T...UTF8&qid=1478985882&sr=1-4&keywords=pmr+radio


If you aren't too fussed about money, you could always apply to Ofcom for a 5 year business licence for around £70 and then use more powerful handsets... depends where you're planning to use them really...
 

rik_uk3

Banned
Jun 10, 2006
13,320
24
69
south wales
Another option is to buy four mobile phones and get four sim cards, you will get better communication overall than using hand helds. I spoke to a guy in Norway today using a little rig and morse code but then I'm a licensed radio ham :)
 

Wayfarer

Member
Dec 31, 2015
22
0
Southampton
Depending on their age you could actually sit the Amateur radio foundation exam and then have hours of fun (and far too much money) in radios.
 

Duggie Bravo

Settler
Jul 27, 2013
532
124
Dewsbury
I've got some binatone ones, that pretty much meet your ask, but they are fairly old. Bought them from a TV action channel to keep in touch with our son on campsites.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

scarfell

Forager
Oct 4, 2016
224
2
south east
The best baofeng at the moment is the BF-F8+.... i wouldnt call it easy to use, but despite common belief, they dont need to be programmed via computer.

Bare in mind that they (all baofeng models) are *Completely* illegal to use on PM446 channels because they are over powered. (5W compared to legal limit of 0.5W); if you know enough about radio you can alter the ERP with certain arials, if you dont know what ERP is, dont buy a baofeng


A PM446 radio set wont cost you much (the ones you see for sale as "walkietalkies" in maplins etc), will be push to talk with a simple channel select, thats all you want, otherwise you and all your kids will need an amateur licence


All these radioa, regardless of whether they are 0.5W or 10W, are line-of-sight frequency band, trees, hills, buildings will all reduce signal quickly
 
Last edited:

snozz

Full Member
Dec 9, 2009
877
2
Otley
Correct. Youngest I know of personally is 10 years old

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
 

scarfell

Forager
Oct 4, 2016
224
2
south east
Pm446's are all thats needed really, no real benefit in terms of distance; fun as it is listening into the ISS space station occasionally :)

All pm446's run on the same channels/freqs, so you dont even have to buy matching models
 

Jaeger

Full Member
Dec 3, 2014
670
24
United Kingdom
Aye Up Gleams,

I would suggest that the first key issues in your question are the word 'kids', their ages and the lack of information in your question about how you intend to use the sets.

If your intention is to use the sets in a controlled, boundary'd, easily negotiable area with mature kids and/or accompanied by adults just for a bit of fun - pmr 446 might be all that it is worth paying out for.

If your intention is to allow the 'kids' to roam free range (unaccompanied/unsupervised) out in the sticks even in what appears to be a relatively small area, as some members have identified the .5w output of legal pmr446 'walkie-talkies' can be woefully inadequate not just in woodland but even in relatively lightly undulating terrain.

Add to that, depending on the age of the 'kids' the selection and the re-selection of main channel and codes (on digital pmrs) when they inadvertently knock them off the original settings can be not only daunting for them but lead to them going adrift of where you think that they might be (potentially without communications) - as a pair of youngsters that I found 'lost' and in despair in what is only a relatively small area of woodland during last summer discovered!

Furthermore, despite multi-channel and 'privacy' coding you might still pick-up morons transmitting garbage (and obscenities) over pmr446 which I'm sure that you wouldn't want to expose your 'kids' to.

I wouldn't recommend going down the 'hacked' illegal conversation of pmr446s.

The simplest, safest but not the cheapest route is low-end, 5w, professional hand held sets (licensed at £75/5 years) with click knobs to select on/off/volume and channels, far easier to explain, set and reset if they do inadvertently change the settings.
This of course is assuming that your 'kids' are old enough to learn a small amount of voice procedure and radio etiquette and discipline so as not to become a nuisance/hazard on those airwaves. :)
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
Our boreal/conifer forests soak up signals. Wet forest is a sponge. Mountain stone is a killer.
Jaeger's recommendation for a professional 5W hand-held has some punch power.
Synch watches, arrange a regular schedule to make contact. Saves on battery power.
There's next to nobody out there so little risk of cross talk. If you want to visit, sit down to lunch together.
Besides industry, I see hunters using walkie-talkies for communication, sometimes calling for accident help.
 

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