Walkie talkie recommendations

[uncleboob]

Afternoon all. I'm in need of a pair of reasonably priced walkie talkies that I can take with me into the woods and can rely on to keep in touch without having a clear line of sight. I know that most walkie talkies come with inflated claims of communicable distance.

Do any of you guys use them? If so what would you recommend?

Cheers j


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[drliamski]

I have a set of pro kenwoods in the trade section... Any good to you?

 

[uncleboob]

I have a set of pro kenwoods in the trade section... Any good to you?

Cheers for that, what's the trade value?...I suspect they may be out of my price range!


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[Jack Bounder]

We use these and have found them to be adequate for our needs. They are robust and hold their charge for some considerable time.

My youngest dropped hers into a puddle (without knowing). It was in the puddle for at least half an hour. When we found it, it was almost totally submerged. We took it home, took out the battery and left it to dry for a few days. On replacing the battery, it now works as before. I've drilled a hole in the belt clips of all four radios and added a lanyard, to prevent future accidental loss.

So, if you want something for work, I would look elsewhere. If you want something for recreational use, these are pretty good.

 

[drliamski]

Cheers for that, what's the trade value?...I suspect they may be out of my price range!


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Updated the trade thread, send me a pm.

 

[uncleboob]

We use these and have found them to be adequate for our needs. They are robust and hold their charge for some considerable time.

My youngest dropped hers into a puddle (without knowing). It was in the puddle for at least half an hour. When we found it, it was almost totally submerged. We took it home, took out the battery and left it to dry for a few days. On replacing the battery, it now works as before. I've drilled a hole in the belt clips of all four radios and added a lanyard, to prevent future accidental loss.

So, if you want something for work, I would look elsewhere. If you want something for recreational use, these are pretty good.

What's the range like on these? Good in the woods? Cheers j


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[rik_uk3]

Regardless of make, using them in woodland will have a big impact on performance, don't expect too much from them. You can send a text message from a phone even when there is next to no signal if you just want to keep in touch.

 

[mrcharly]

Most walkie talkies need line of sight, but will cope with a few trees in the way. The slightest bit of ground and they can't be counted to work.

 

[Pterodaktyl]

What sort of coverage range were you hoping for? Water is an excellent absorber of radio frequency energy, and a woodland is essentially a lot of tall columns of water clustered together. I use licensed business radios that operate on VHF frequencies, which are slightly better at penetrating tree cover than the UHF frequencies used by the licence-free PMR446 radios. Even these become unusable after a few 100 metres in woodland.

 

[santaman2000]

Regardless of make, using them in woodland will have a big impact on performance, don't expect too much from them. You can send a text message from a phone even when there is next to no signal if you just want to keep in touch.

Most walkie talkies need line of sight, but will cope with a few trees in the way. The slightest bit of ground and they can't be counted to work.

What they said.

 

[Jack Bounder]

We find the range to be pretty good. They don't like ground in the way so, yes, line of sight. Over open water, they are supposed to be good for a couple of miles but I haven't used them at this range. In the woods (New Forest, so not much understory), they are definitely good over a hundred metres. Haven't really tried them over longer distances but I think they would be good over much greater distances. We use them for the kids and we keep them fairly close.

I think it might help the forum make recommendations if you were to be more specific about your needs. How far apart are the users likely to be? How dense is the woodland?

I did a bit of research before buying the Cobras and I found that prices quickly rose as the kit became more powerful.....ending at stuff where you needed a license (much more than we needed). So, are you going to be heavily dependent on these devices or can you switch to mobiles, if you can't reach the person over the radio?

 

[uncleboob]

We find the range to be pretty good. They don't like ground in the way so, yes, line of sight. Over open water, they are supposed to be good for a couple of miles but I haven't used them at this range. In the woods (New Forest, so not much understory), they are definitely good over a hundred metres. Haven't really tried them over longer distances but I think they would be good over much greater distances. We use them for the kids and we keep them fairly close.

I think it might help the forum make recommendations if you were to be more specific about your needs. How far apart are the users likely to be? How dense is the woodland?

I did a bit of research before buying the Cobras and I found that prices quickly rose as the kit became more powerful.....ending at stuff where you needed a license (much more than we needed). So, are you going to be heavily dependent on these devices or can you switch to mobiles, if you can't reach the person over the radio?

Cheers guys,

I have to do courses etc in and around woods, sometimes splitting into two groups/ working parties. We are usually within 1/2 mile of each other. I do carry a mobile but don't always find reception reliable. Though some reasonable walkie talkies might be a useful failsafe.

I have looked at the cobra walkie talkies, also midland g7's- look to be a decent makes with some good reviews

Really need 2 and have a budget of upto £100, second hand is fine


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[Pterodaktyl]

For £100 you can probably find a couple of 2nd hand Motorola XTNI radios. Pretty much the most bombproof PMR446 radio you can buy.