Best Walkie Talkie for road rrip

[Raptor7000r]

Looking for a pair of walkie talkies, need 3 for an upcoming road trip.

Something with up to 2-3 miles radius although we will usually be within a mile so longer radius not needed.

There are quite a lot of options on Amazon and lots of videos online but would appreciate if anyone has any practical experience using them.

[shirt]

Best would be using your phones with a ptt app such as zello and a handheld ptt mic/speaker which are £40-50.

We use this in the desert and for racing car>pit comms and it’s fine.

[Raptor7000r]

shirt said:

Best would be using your phones with a ptt app such as zello and a handheld ptt mic/speaker which are £40-50.

We use this in the desert and for racing car>pit comms and it’s fine.

I recommended Zello, seen a thread on here years ago, friends want walkies though and I quite like the idea, how does the handheld ptt mic/speaker work? Similar to a walkie will look into this, thanks

[Raptor7000r]

Considering this option for walkie talkies, reviews seemed decent.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Retevis-Walkie-License-Re...

[AndyTR]

Mitex UHF are the go to two way radios for our group up here in Yorkshire. Been using them for years and they are very reliable with a good signal.

[shirt]

Raptor7000r said:

I recommended Zello, seen a thread on here years ago, friends want walkies though and I quite like the idea, how does the handheld ptt mic/speaker work? Similar to a walkie will look into this, thanks

You just pair it with the phone and the handheld then just works as a normal walkie talkie with clearer speech.

Same price as a cheap WT but much better performance. A £40-50 WT won’t be very good

[Defcon5]

Zello will be reliant on his phones mobile internet connection won’t it?

Just thinking if the road trip is abroad/middle of nowhere

[shirt]

yes it requires a 3g signal.

i am typing this from sierra leone where i have 5g. not having a phone signal is an outdated use case.

[Truckosaurus]

Raptor7000r said:

Considering this option for walkie talkies, reviews seemed decent.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Retevis-Walkie-License-Re...

Are PMR446 radios better than they used to be?

We bought some cheap ones a few years back to use in a Le Mans convoy and they just about worked when the cars were in a group, but anything beyond line-of-sight was useless - eg. someone got delayed behind a car at a tollbooth and by the time you radio "I am stuck at the tollbooth" the other cars were a mile down the road and out of range.

[AndyTR]

As noted above, you really want to have a look at Mitex. Good range, complaint in all of Europe. We used them in the NC500 and trips across Europe and down to Le Mans. Lots of places had no mobile signal and on the twistys with no line of sight they worked well. They state up to 10KM range in urban and 25KM non-urban, so essentially10KM with no line of sight.

[LimaDelta]

We have 4x Motorola Tlkr T92s which are great. Can use their battery packs or AAAs, are waterproof, very solid, support earpieces etc. Can't fault them after 10 years or so.

Those posted above look very similar and I wouldn't be surprised if they are clones of the T92s.

[LimaDelta]

shirt said:

yes it requires a 3g signal.

i am typing this from sierra leone where i have 5g. not having a phone signal is an outdated use case.

Sadly, much of the UK mobile infrastructure isn't as advanced or widespread as Sierra Leone's. We have significant areas with zero coverage.

[ARHarh]

Are there no laws that permit use of handheld devices whilst driving?

[AndyTR]

2 way radio's are still exempt I believe.

[captain_cynic]

AndyTR said:

2 way radio's are still exempt I believe.

As is using a hands free kit which I believe is one of the devices being discussed here.

[Griffith4ever]

LimaDelta said:

shirt said:

yes it requires a 3g signal.

i am typing this from sierra leone where i have 5g. not having a phone signal is an outdated use case.

Sadly, much of the UK mobile infrastructure isn't as advanced or widespread as Sierra Leone's. We have significant areas with zero coverage.

Was just thinking that myself lol. Thailand has good 5G on tiny islands, on the remotest beaches. UK 5G coverage, is rubbish, as is 4G.

Phone signal is not an outdated use case - you are reliant on infrastructure out of your control. Radios don't.

I have a bunch from when I ran a business that was outdoors and we needed to speak to each other without fking about with phones. I also use a pair when skiing as they'll easily do top to bottom of mountains, so long as they are not obstructed by a large land mass (ground!). Cheap as chips raidios. The real value in them when skiing is you can clip one inside your jacket, easily accessible, and you don't need to full open up your clothing to get to it, and you can use it with gloves on. If you lose it, you just lost £20. A phone ..... gloves off, pockets unzipped, can't hear each other, etc.

[FlyVintage]

Raptor7000r said:

Something with up to 2-3 miles radius although we will usually be within a mile so longer radius not needed.

Overlanding through the Sahara we used CB’s which are similar in power output to the available walkie talkie systems. The obvious difference being that our CB’s had vehicle mounted outside aerials.

In practice, we could communicate clearly up to maybe a quarter mile as long as the terrain was not obscuring one vehicle from another. Beyond that it was very hit and miss.

That’s just my experience in similar circumstances to what you seem to be thinking about.

[indigochim]

I'm surprised some of these Mitex 446 say they're PMR yet claim such a long range and have removable antennas. Are they just like the Baefeng ones where they're higher power devices just using the PMR frequencies?

From my experience you only get these ranges when using line of site without interference so from one hill top to another for eg. I've got a pair of Baefeng ones and they're a step up from the sort that the OP posted that had 3 AAA batteries but forget a range of miles. If that's the level you're after you'll find better with built in/replaceable batteries like a Baefeng F22 keep your expectations low though less than 500m I'd say between cars but for under £20 a pair from aliexpress good value.

[shirt]

none of which is a problem when you're sat in a car though is it?

i have radios as well. but this is 3 guys in cars on a road trip. are they replicating hannibal's crossing of the alps or retracing scott's last expedition? no, they are on an organised hoon which under ETOPS rules should never venture more than 30mins from the nearest pasty shop.

they want radios because they want to push the button on a walkie talkie, that is all. the options are crappy line of site radios or an app and a bluetooth gizmo that allows it with the benefit of clear speech.

[simon_harris]

we use baofengs which are inexpensive and good.