Walkie Talkies / Hand Held 2 way Radio

[Marko]

Anybody have a recommendation for a good pair of Walkie Talkies or hand held two way radios? Looking for something to be able to communicate with the DW when backing up the rig at a campsite and when we are out on separate hiking trails.

Thanks in advance.

Marko

[bansai]

For the backing up of the trailer thing, any midland radio set will do. These are the bubble pack radios you can buy pretty much anywhere. Although if DW has a cell phone, that should be plan A when it's an option.

For trail use, I can't recommend anything other than getting your tech ham radio license and buy some real HT's that you can communicate with over distance. The walmart radios are heavily limited by the FCC in wattage, etc.. I'm lucky to get a city block out of mine in range, and I'm on a hilll. My Yaesu HT will go 80 miles if I have a repeater. Baofeng also makes some good handheld radios for super cheap, but you need that tech license It's not that difficult to get to be honest. Maybe 2 months study on and off.

[Marine71-76]

We used to use walkie talkies. Just became too much of a pain.

Now we use our cell phones. And DW parks the unit & I provide direction because I know where I want the unit parked. DW does great pulling into a spot - except with other campers park their vehicles too close to the road and she can't swing wide enough - and she is getting better backing in.

[Lmbrjk]

We use full duplex headsets. Changed the way communication goes. Would not work for trail communication but it's great for any short range talking. We don't always get cell reception so that was out for us.
These are the ones we use - pricey but worth the cost for us - EARTEC UL2S Ultralite 2-Person System

[CAG]

Any brand name walki will work for no further than you’re going to use them. Phones work fine and will save you money.

If you are planning to use them for something else then you should evaluate that function and the radios that are available. HAM radio has a purpose but is more than you need for your job.

You don’t say how far the hiking trails are apart but common walkies won’t give you much over a half mile depending on terrain. HAM 2 meters can help IF you have a repeater available but that is not always the case and then you are back to a pretty short distance.

[pconroy]

agreed - for that close of a distance - any set would do.

for Christmas last year we grabbed a pair of "35 Mile Cobra CXT645's"


our informal testing showed we could get good conversation up to about a mile. so not sure where the other 34 are, but they were the best of the sub $100 walkie talkies we had used.

[CAG]

VHF-UHF walkies are line of sight IF conditions are perfect and they never are. Trees, buildings and weather conditions affect distance. The best you might get is a mile or two and that will be a novelty. HAM repeaters extend distance BUT both or all users have to have licenses. Private repeaters are available but on a very limited basis.

So if you’re looking for something to transmit long distance you’re pretty much SOL. There are Sat units that can be used for safety and messaging like InRreach but units are expensive and require a plan subscription for each unit. I use mine for backcountry hiking safety and hand helds for close communication with HAM repeaters being a luxury if available.

[bansai]

For what it's worth, I use my own truck as a base station cross-band repeater as my yaesu supports that function and the truck has a 50 watt radio and an antenna with decent gain... it gets out. It has greatly extended the range of my HT's around camp (I've tested it beyond 5 miles). There are a lot of options in the Ham world, not all of them rely on 3rd party assets and every use case is different. I'm converting my base station to solar for example.. That said - it's pretty rare when I can't hit at least one repeater from where we camp. I guess I'm lucky but there are repeaters all over the rocky mountain west where I do most of our camping. Clearly we're using this for more than parking the camper.. (to be honest, I think a person should be able to do this solo 99% of the time anyway)

I guess I'm just shilling for Ham radio overall because it's one of the hobbies that I have integrated quite well into RV'ing / camping. It's at the point where I program my radios for the local repeater sites before I leave home. A small child can pass the technician exam. Mine did. Just my 2 cents Oh, and if you ever want to know how to make something as expensive as possible while turning it into a hobby, I'm your dude.

[muckinfuss]

we have walkies and have never used them since the first two attempts. that direction problem of left/right doesn't just exist in hand signals....if the brain lacks sense of direction or presence, then it just plain lacks it and no radio will help.

[RedHorse1]

Cell phones work for us.

[CAG]

Originally Posted by bansai

For what it's worth, I use my own truck as a base station cross-band repeater as my yaesu supports that function and the truck has a 50 watt radio and an antenna with decent gain... it gets out. It has greatly extended the range of my HT's around camp (I've tested it beyond 5 miles). There are a lot of options in the Ham world, not all of them rely on 3rd party assets and every use case is different. I'm converting my base station to solar for example.. That said - it's pretty rare when I can't hit at least one repeater from where we camp. I guess I'm lucky but there are repeaters all over the rocky mountain west where I do most of our camping. Clearly we're using this for more than parking the camper.. (to be honest, I think a person should be able to do this solo 99% of the time anyway)

I guess I'm just shilling for Ham radio overall because it's one of the hobbies that I have integrated quite well into RV'ing / camping. It's at the point where I program my radios for the local repeater sites before I leave home. A small child can pass the technician exam. Mine did. Just my 2 cents Oh, and if you ever want to know how to make something as expensive as possible while turning it into a hobby, I'm your dude.

I have been a HAM since 1970. Two items that you mention that I have to comment on. Where I go in Arizona, hiking and trail riding, I seldom can hit a tower. Too far in the outback. Some places yes but most, no. For that reason I carry the Garmin InReach and as to the test, that is one of my dislikes about what happened to HAM Radio. In many places the easy tests for VHF and UHF have made the airways sound like channel 9 on the CB but then I am old school.

[JFlightRisk]

Originally Posted by Marko

Anybody have a recommendation for a good pair of Walkie Talkies or hand held two way radios? Looking for something to be able to communicate with the DW when backing up the rig at a campsite and when we are out on separate hiking trails.

Thanks in advance.

Marko

We have a pair of Midland walkie-talkies, and find them useful especially for after dark arrivals. Most daytime arrivals, the DW spots for me at the rear of the TT, staying within sight of my mirrors. We've used them quite a bit between vehicles when travelling together with my in-laws.

[bansai]

Originally Posted by CAG

In many places the easy tests for VHF and UHF have made the airways sound like channel 9 on the CB but then I am old school.

I hear you there. My dad flipped out when they dropped the morse code requirement and almost left the hobby, but that's when I gained my license. I had no need or desire to learn code, even though I eventually did) but now I'm teaching him how to link up with me via IRLP from states away, so there are some pros to the changes I guess. The hobby is dying out sadly.

To your other point about UHF/VHF range while boondocking... that's one of the reasons I also have an HF rig, but I don't want to take us further off-topic lol. There is a hammer for every nail.

[spoon059]

For backing up, cell phone on bluetooth. I don't want to take my eyes off the mirrors or hands off the wheel to push a button. Hiking on different trails, there are lots of walkies. Get something with a couple frequencies and channels so you can find something that isn't used by others. We have WisHouse ones that the wife got on Amazon. Neighbors have them and like them, we got them so that the kids can chat with their friends too. So far, they are decent.

[gypsmjim]

We have a pair of Motorola walkie talkies. I think I paid $9.95 for them about 20 years ago. We use them all the time.

[rjackson]

we use cell phones, hands free in truck and instead of saying left or right, try driver side/passenger side

[Mopar_Earl]

Those that use cell phones, what is your backup when there is no service?

Earl

[rjackson]

we use hand signals, point to the direction you want me to go, both hands in front to show me the distance to stop , works for us. only had to do that once in last 5 years

[Happy wife / happy life]

We have Midland gxt , they work great for backing up. I can't speak for long distance because I haven't tried them. We have used them for about three years and our communication goes something like this------ your ok your ok if I start to get catywompus she says STOP, I get out a look and try to fix it. Eventually I get it parked!

[berwin]

Some folks here have talked about the short range they get out of their walkie talkies. Many of these have FRS (Family Radio Service) which is for short range use shared with GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) which covers much longer ranges. Which one you are using depends on the channel you pick. The FAA requires a license if you are broadcasting using GMRS since it is much more powerful than FRS. That said, I have never heard of anyone being "busted" for using the GMRS channels without a license. Check your user instructions to see what channels on your particular radio use which service.