Two way comms between cars
Discussion
With two Caterhams shared by my sons and friends, it’s nice to be able to warn of direction changes or road hazards and keep in touch when on trips. We have helmet blue tooth comms for the track, but no car solution without helmets.
Many car clubs use UHF walkie talkies and Mitex has been recommended for purchase. Just wondered if anyone has other suggestions?
Many car clubs use UHF walkie talkies and Mitex has been recommended for purchase. Just wondered if anyone has other suggestions?
UHF walkie talkies that do channel programming. Far easier to explain to non radio users, requires no licence and we've been able to maintain contact around 2km apart, they're cheap and available everywhere.
Check that they can be charged from 12v while being used, some cheap ones dont allow this (have to remove antenae for charging or similar), also AAA or AA batteries are handy so if theres a charging fault you can bang in a pack from a petrol station instead.
Check that they can be charged from 12v while being used, some cheap ones dont allow this (have to remove antenae for charging or similar), also AAA or AA batteries are handy so if theres a charging fault you can bang in a pack from a petrol station instead.
Love that.
Yes we thought about just calling each other. It’s amazing how much of the UK, with nice roads, isn’t covered by good signal. We toured the lakes and each town had ok coverage but off down (for example) Rosthwaite from Keswick Borrowdale valley and up over Honister pass … zero signal. While 30-45 mins of driving didn’t seem too much of a black hole, the oncoming tractors and valley bus service would have been useful ‘heads up’ info passed!
Yes we thought about just calling each other. It’s amazing how much of the UK, with nice roads, isn’t covered by good signal. We toured the lakes and each town had ok coverage but off down (for example) Rosthwaite from Keswick Borrowdale valley and up over Honister pass … zero signal. While 30-45 mins of driving didn’t seem too much of a black hole, the oncoming tractors and valley bus service would have been useful ‘heads up’ info passed!
Familymad said:
With two Caterhams shared by my sons and friends, it s nice to be able to warn of direction changes or road hazards and keep in touch when on trips. We have helmet blue tooth comms for the track, but no car solution without helmets.
Many car clubs use UHF walkie talkies and Mitex has been recommended for purchase. Just wondered if anyone has other suggestions?
IME the bluetooth intercoms are the best solution as you can talk as if you're in the same room, ie more than 1 person can speak at once which makes it a bit more natural. Cardo, Interfone and Senna are the best on the market. There are adaptors for Cardo like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cardo-PTHP0003-PACKTALK-E...Many car clubs use UHF walkie talkies and Mitex has been recommended for purchase. Just wondered if anyone has other suggestions?
Zello (free for personal/friends/family use)
Download the app.
Create user name and sign in
Create a group of people you want to talk to
Buy a Push To Talk (PTT) button for your car and connect bluetooth headphones to you phone.
We use it alongside handsets as the mobile/cell signal is generally a lot more reliable than radio. Particularly in places like the lakes.
Plus you can listen in sat at home!
Download the app.
Create user name and sign in
Create a group of people you want to talk to
Buy a Push To Talk (PTT) button for your car and connect bluetooth headphones to you phone.
We use it alongside handsets as the mobile/cell signal is generally a lot more reliable than radio. Particularly in places like the lakes.
Plus you can listen in sat at home!
Edited by ben5575 on Monday 24th November 16:58
In caterhams without helmets it’s likely that wind noise will make comms using any system difficult as the mic will be drowned out. Worse still if you’re not running windscreens. Proper headsets like those used on helicopters seem to work and ive heard of folk using throat mics.
Cheap £10 throwaway uhf radios work fine and range is mostly dictated by whether you have line of site between transmitter and receiver yet most good roads are in hilly/ mountainous areas where this is not always possible unless you’re generally driving close together
Cheap £10 throwaway uhf radios work fine and range is mostly dictated by whether you have line of site between transmitter and receiver yet most good roads are in hilly/ mountainous areas where this is not always possible unless you’re generally driving close together
We use these on car outings, very similar to Mitex and in fact can be programmed to work with/be compatible with them, at a fraction of the cost. Had them a few years now and never had any issues with them
https://www.baofengradio.co.uk/baofeng-bf-888s-uhf...
https://www.baofengradio.co.uk/baofeng-bf-888s-uhf...
Edited by ninepoint2 on Monday 24th November 19:03
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