Walkie Talkies

V-PV-P State College, PA Member
edited December 2011 in Science & Tech
Hey everyone! Hope you guys are having an awesome holiday season! I need some help choosing a good set of walkie talkies.

I'm looking for something that will work to about a 3-4 mile range in a suburban area (it's a small town with a busy downtown area, so no tall buildings but a good number of people). Preferably, I'd like to get three or four of them and my budget is about $150. I've looked on Amazon and Radio Shack but it all of them tend to say "24-mile range" or "36-mile range" and the reviews don't seem to agree with that. I don't know the first thing about these things (are they even called walkie talkies anymore?) so I hope you guys can give me some tips for a good set.

Again, happy holidays! And good luck to my fellow college students about to take finals :D!

Comments

  • fatcatfatcat Mizzou Icrontian
    edited December 2011
    I would say Two-way radios.

    I'm sure Drasnor could build you some :)

    http://www.discounttwo-wayradio.com/handheld-radios bunch of sites, saw lots of Motorolas

    I haven't used two ways since the Army back in the 90's, but I doubt you want to spend that kind of money for 50 mile range ;)

    I would assume ones with more than one channel would be better
  • JokkeJokke Bergen, Norway Icrontian
    edited December 2011
    I would reccommend something like this. May be a little bit too pricey for your budget though. I've used the previous model during field excercises. Great range and good battery capacity. Sounds is excellent, both for transmitting or recieving.
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited December 2011
    Jokke wrote:
    I would reccommend something like this. May be a little bit too pricey for your budget though. I've used the previous model during field excercises. Great range and good battery capacity. Sounds is excellent, both for transmitting or recieving.

    Here is something a bit less pricey-- in fact a lot less pricey. Motorola specializes in radios - has for a long time.

    http://www.buytwowayradios.com/products/motorola/motorola-ms350r.aspx

    John.
  • V-PV-P State College, PA Member
    edited December 2011
    Straight_Man wrote:
    Here is something a bit less pricey-- in fact a lot less pricey. Motorola specializes in radios - has for a long time.

    http://www.buytwowayradios.com/products/motorola/motorola-ms350r.aspx

    John.

    Do you think these could manage 3-4 miles without a problem?
  • JokkeJokke Bergen, Norway Icrontian
    edited December 2011
    buytwowayradios wrote:
    ...typically up to 2 miles in urban conditions...
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited December 2011
    Well, urban frequently means tall or tallish buildings. It was said that there were lots of people but no tall buildings in his area - thus in a sense it is not a city, rather a dense suburb. I would expect 3, maybe 3.5 miles of signal travel in a suburb, as the electrical fields in and dense materials of tall buildings distort signals much more than smaller buildings in a suburban area. Unless the smalll buildings are block and metal....

    Jokke, I got about 5 miles travel of signal out of an old Radio Shack Walkie Talkie made for them by Motorola in suburban areas. In citified areas, it got 2.5-3 miles use radius. It had good signal noise choking - adjustable noise chopping. That was with an antenna super-glued in place on contact pad.

    John.
  • JokkeJokke Bergen, Norway Icrontian
    edited December 2011
    Also, depending on what you get, you might need a license. Check your local laws.
  • V-PV-P State College, PA Member
    edited December 2011
    Jokke wrote:
    Also, depending on what you get, you might need a license. Check your local laws.

    Is there a huge difference between digital and analog? I know in most things it seems to make a huge difference but based on reviews I've gotten really mixed impressions about which one is better.

    I've ordered the Motorola ones so hopefully they work well enough for me to use otherwise I suppose I'll be returning them and picking something different.
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    All the two-way radios with huge advertised range (including those Motorolas) only achieve the advertised range when operating at GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) power levels and frequencies. GMRS requires an FCC license. FRS (Family Radio Service) is available on these radios for unlicensed operation, but constrains the user to a subset of frequencies and no more than 500mW transmit power. The odds of anyone noticing and caring are pretty slim but you should still be aware.

    What digital radios were you looking at? I'm only aware of the digital trunked variety.
Sign In or Register to comment.