Walkie talkies

[JeffH]

Does anyone have any experience of small hand-held walkie talkies and, if so, could recommend a reliable brand/type costing about £50 - £75?

Thanks

Jeff

[Brocker]

Hi Geoff, my workplace have a couple of sets that were purchased from Argos for around £40 for two.c/w the chargers and the actually work very well. They have a range of around 3/4 of a mile and are very clear with very little interference. They are used in a town centre environment and suffer from no RF bleedover at all. Specialist suppliers are now selling digital walkie talkies but they can cost in the region of £250 per individual radio which we also use and are far superior but you would expect that with the price variation. Hope that helps. . . .

[honeybee]

I don't have experience so don't know how good they are but here's some on Toys r us .. there are spiderman ones but those waterproof ones at the bottom might be ok! Although out of stock at he mo.

Search Results for walky talkies

[genuinita]

ive used the small Motorola types similar to this:Amazon.co.uk: Motorola TLKR T5 Two Way Radio Twin Pack - Black: Amazon.co.uk: in the past. They seem very well made and durable - nice bit of kit!

[nightshade]

An electrical store like Maplins perhaps

[ron1863]

I bought my son a pair a few years ago and they were fairly good but the battery life wasn't. They had a range of about a half mile He drove us mad, calling from his bedroom for food to be brought up etc.

[JeffH]

Thanks all. I know there are lots of brands/types on the market but I also know the quality is tremendously variable - I read one review in which the user said they would last a lifetime, as the sound quality was so poor you'd only them once . This is why I thought I'd see if anyone had any actual experience of a particularly good version.

Brocker - thanks for the info but Argos have about 16 different versions and I wondered if you happen to recall the brand/model you've used at work?

Honeybee - thank you also. Whilst the idea of playing at being Spiderman certainly appeals I'm not sure that I still have the figure for a one-piece skin tight lycra outfit

genuinita - thanks again. I've seen the model you refer to and they certainly do look a well engineered and robust bit of kit but I don't know about their sound/reception quality. Glad to hear you've used a similar version and I presume their performance was OK?

nightshade - thanks - yes I've been to Maplins but the salesman wasn't too keen on letting me take one a mile or so from the shop to test the performance

ron1863 - thanks for the info. I'm told that rechargeable batteries are an essential feature but that even the best last only about 16 - 20 hours before needing a re-charge.

If anyone else has used a particularly good brand/type I'd be grateful to hear about it.

Jeff

[Brocker]

Jeff - I have just phoned one of my colleagues. Apparently he has it on him at home. He lives around a mile and a quarter from the premises and they have a late team running and he says he uses it several times an evening to contact them so the signal can't be bad. He is using the Binatone 550 model and seems to recommend it. Hope that helps.

[JeffH]

Originally Posted by Brocker

Jeff - I have just phoned one of my colleagues. Apparently he has it on him at home. He lives around a mile and a quarter from the premises and they have a late team running and he says he uses it several times an evening to contact them so the signal can't be bad. He is using the Binatone 550 model and seems to recommend it. Hope that helps.

That's great - thanks ever so much for that Chris. Sounds like a good model and it's now on my short list

Jeff

[Hobjob]

I've used them on and off for years, mainly for
a. Backing a large motorhome with "her" outside to guide me
b. Skiing

Range is supposedly controlled by law but I have heard they can be tweaked !!

Range is really line of sight but will go through the odd building. In the Alps I've had one go at least 5Km from a ski slope down the valley to my camper van.
But it won't go 300yds over a ridge.

The cheaper ones only have 8 channels (which get very busy on ski slopes.)
The more expensive ones usually have 8x4 channels (Ithink, maybe a lot more - senior moment)

The cheaper ones have lousy microphones and loudspeakers

You get what you pay for, as usual.

I remember sitting on a chair lift once when a plaintiff cry from a friend's son went "Dad, there is no snow down here and the lift is not running" .........