Walkie Talkies

[KITT]

I've been thinking of getting a pair for my upcoming skiing holiday as our group normally splits into 2 groups and would be quite a nice way of keeping in touch (trying to meet up for lunch etc can be "interesting").

Has anyone got/used those 3km range ones you often see? Are they any good? Any recommendations? Don't want to spend loads but certainly not over £100 for a pair. Oh and is there any that you can attach headsets to them (for incar use)?

cheers

[Podie]

I've got a pair of BT Freeway jobbies… came from Argos for about £55… and supplied with headset for "covert SAS style" stuff..

Volume is good (can be heard over a TVR at full chat), range quite impressive (convoy of 18 cars to Le Mans didn't present too many issues)… although it does depend on your surroundings. If you're one side of a mountain, and the receiver is the other side… probably wont work…

Oh, and interference (other people using the same channel) can be quite amusing

[gsx600]

Go some 5k ones that came with headphones etc. Quite good but no where near 5k unless both on a mountain top.

Best must be about 2 - 3 k. cost me about £60 from ebay.

Bought them to communicate in the car (to passenger) on way to Le Mans, but turned up after we got back !

[mechsympathy]

We got some motorola ones. They work fine, but their use is a bit limited. If you're on the same part of the mountain they're great but we found that sending texts was often better.

[Raify]

I've used some cheap ones in the past that worked o.k. but weren't really tough enough. a couple of spills and the antenna started to come apart. This time I got some Motorola Talkabouts from Ebay.

Brilliant design, very sturdy, splashproof. Mine have 5km range apparently (haven't tested the range yet). You'll find that on a mountain, you'll have no problems at all within the same 'bowl / valley.' As soon as you go into another valley, you'll be going back to the texts. You can get headsets, even special skiing jackets with heaphones and push-to-talk buttons integrated!

If you don't fancy Ebay, the cheapest I found was here

In fact, having just opened that page again, I see they're now only £60 less than I paid on ebay!

[turbobloke]

What's more, IIRC press-to-talk radios are exempt from mobile phone laws re. use in cars.

[ofcorsa]

maplins had a special on midland G5's great battery life and range and were only £20


www.446user.co.uk/forum_index.html


has alot of info on other radios

[alexkp]

I've got some and they work great.

[dontlift]

I have motorola TK3101's have had cheap ones and the motorola's are way way better

[rsvmilly]

dontlift said:

I have motorola TK3101's have had cheap ones and the motorola's are way way better

I have those on my bike. A friend has a cheapo maplin set and his range is nowhere near that of the Kenwoods. (Mind you, he did spend a fraction of what I did so make your own mind up.)

Edited to say that I believe Dontlift meant Kenwood and not Motorola

>> Edited by rsvmilly on Monday 13th December 16:20

[alfa male]

Can confirm Motorola Talkabouts are excellent.

[KITT]

Thanks all. Based on the above, I think I'll go for the T5522 twin pack as it looks the best buy. The Kenwoods are a little too dear for my needs.

[mutt k]

If you are skiing in europe you should find that your mobiles work fine.

[KITT]

mutt k said:

If you are skiing in europe you should find that your mobiles work fine.

Mobile's do indeed work, but get a little pricey as you both end up paying when you make a call and texts don't tend to get noticed until you take a break! Also, I've always wanted something to allow me to take to other cars in a convoy up to kit-car shows etc.

[mcflurry]

I have a Panasonic PMR and a set of Maplin cheapies.
Both do the same job, although the Panny has more features such as beeping to grab attention before speaking..

The best are the old motorolas, but unfortunately they replaced them with 5522s which aren't quite as good..

[Incorrigible]

he same amount of money buys an awfull lot of mobile phone calls

IMHO

[KITT]

Incorrigible said:

the same amount of money buys an awfull lot of mobile phone calls IMHO

Hey, I didn't say I needed one

[mutt k]

KITT said:

mutt k said: If you are skiing in europe you should find that your mobiles work fine. Mobile's do indeed work, but get a little pricey as you both end up paying when you make a call and texts don't tend to get noticed until you take a break! Also, I've always wanted something to allow me to take to other cars in a convoy up to kit-car shows etc.

A man's need for new toys should never be underestimated

[Piglet]

We've got a set that came from the US, I'm not sure what they are but they work well and are great for convoying and much more fun than mobiles! I seem to remember sharing an Abba track or something similar to the car behind coming back from Spa!

[ofcorsa]

the pmr 446 standard gives 8 different chanels at 0.5watts i believe so all much of a muchness, ranges of 3-5km quoted but less in built up areas or alot more miles up in a balloon