Walkie-Talkie recommendations?

[msw3113]

This time my wife will travel in a separate vehicle as we journey from New Hampshire to Florida then Texas. Cell phones are awkward for vehicle-to-vehicle communication, though we haven't tried Zello.
I seem to recall a fairly recent thread about walkie-talkies, one type on the CB band and the other on a different band. Of course I can't find that thread.
Does anyone have a recommendation as to what type/band/brand we should get?
Appreciate all suggestions.

 

[DonTom]

This time my wife will travel in a separate vehicle as we journey from New Hampshire to Florida then Texas.

How far apart do you expect to be while on the road?

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[SeilerBird]

I would use cell phones. Just put it on the loudspeaker and set it in the seat next to me.

 

[msw3113]

How far apart do you expect to be while on the road?

Despite the propensity that, ahem, one of us has for getting lost, I shouldn't think more than a very few miles of separation.

 

[msw3113]

I would use cell phones. Just put it on the loudspeaker and set it in the seat next to me.

So you mean, just an ongoing call?

 

[Skookum]

"GMRS" handheld radios are what's popular now. You'll have to look into the range of specific units, but they're great for general point-to-point communication while caravanning. GMRS/General Mobile Radio Service is a specific set of frequencies (like CB/Citizen Band) but it's not CB.

We've had a cheap Uniden set of these for a very long time and they work well enough. Someone let us borrow a Rugged Radio model while we were exploring trails on the Jeep and it was very very good.

This is the Uniden model we have:

26-Mile GMRS/FRS Radio

Stay in contact during sporting events, outdoor activities, and more with the Uniden GMR2638-2CK 26-mile 2-way radio. This 22-channel radio set boasts a durable design and a range of up to 26 miles. The radios are lightweight and easy to carry, making them perfect for backpacking, skiing and...

uniden.com

 

[1stimerver]

Typical walkie talkies are good for up to a mile..
CB's are normally good up to 3 miles.
Cell phone connections are virtually un limited..
I have used and prefer to use the cb bands...
Safet travels and all the best.

 

[DonTom]

Cell phone connections are virtually un limited..

Until you're in an area with no cell service.

Much of NV has no cell service. Same even with many parts of CA.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[zulu]

This time my wife will travel in a separate vehicle as we journey from New Hampshire to Florida then Texas. Cell phones are awkward for vehicle-to-vehicle communication, though we haven't tried Zello.

Does anyone have a recommendation as to what type/band/brand we should get?

MidLand GXT . . . we've used them for several years . . . good for about 1 mile on open road & long battery life. Agree with you about using cellphones . . . too awkward.

 

[BinaryStar]

We got a pair of Midland GMRS/FRS radios and they worked pretty well for the few times we used them. Like Zulu said they are good for at least a mile or so, and also for parking. Ours have a rechargeable battery pack but can use AAA batteries if necessary.

 

[Ex-Calif]

My kid bought these Baofeng 5R-8W units. I've got a set of Midlands.

We used them during the hurricane for inter vehicle comms. I was very impressed with the battery life. We used them with disposable AA enegizers. We turned them on at around 7am. Drove until about 9pm Live Oak-Tallahassee-Live Oak-Cocoa.

2 days later we turned them on again and drove 3+ hours to Live Oak.

(ETA - I just turned on the one I was using and it has one bar of battery left so it's probably 30 minutes to dead. 17 hours battery life isn't bad IMO.

My Midlands on disposable batteries won't last more than 8 hours.

On the freeway we were good for about 1 1/2-2 miles. Maybe a little less in congested areas and areas where we lost line of sight.

They are more expensive (especially this kit) but come with a nice array of accessories.

 

[Larry N.]

Ahhh, so your kid's a ham...

 

[Mountain high]

Until you're in an area with no cell service.

Much of NV has no cell service. Same even with many parts of CA.

-Don- Reno, NV

99% of the people in America don't live in the small towns and rural regions that our largest cell phone service companies so amazingly won't cover, but then they're investing in it, because no one should miss out. I find this difficult to believe.

 

[Ohiosnowbird]

99% of the people in America don't live in the small towns and rural regions that our largest cell phone service companies so amazingly won't cover,

Here’s a website that tracks cell phone coverage. CoverageMap.com | Crowd-Sourced Coverage Maps

The U.S. Census Bureau says that 39% of the population live in urban areas (more than 50,000) while the rest live in small towns.
“Of the nation's 328.2 million people, an estimated 206.9 million (about 63%) lived in an incorporated place as of July 1, 2019. About 76% of the approximately 19,500 incorporated places had fewer than 5,000 people. Of those, almost 42% had fewer than 500 people.

On the other hand, only 4.0% (780) of all cities had a population of 50,000 or more in 2019, yet nearly 39% of the U.S. population (127.8 million) live in those cities.”

Latest City and Town Population Estimates of the Decade Show Three-Fourths of the Nation's Incorporated Places Have Fewer Than 5,000 People

About 76% of incorporated places have fewer than 5,000 people and about a third of those have less than 500 people.

www.census.gov

Maybe T-Mobile should research at the census bureau. There are many small towns in Ohio that don’t have T-Mobile coverage.

We used walkie talkies with the kids when they went snow skiing (mom always wanted to know where they were - she didn’t ski) we used Motorola walkie talkies. They were easy to use and had a pretty good range.

 

[Tulecreeper]

I live in rural W. AR. Looking at my cell right now sitting inside, it's flickering between 1 and 2 bars...out of 5. That is normal. If I step outside on the east side of the house it will go up to 3 bars. I have to drive about 7 or 8 miles north to get out of the several valleys between me and the "big city" before I get 4 or 5 bars.

 

[Mountain high]

I have 2 bars using Verizon at our home. Our nearest incorporated town is Collbran, Colorado. Population 364. It's a 20 minute drive away. 2 bars is better than no bars. I don't expect much investment for rural places, but then it's quite a bit better than just a few years ago.

Just want the pay phones back in the remote areas where there are no cellphone services. At least there use to be pay phones near small unincorporated towns. It's better than no cellphone communication.

 

[1stimerver]

Here in NJ, I use WIFI to make cell phone calls, and connect to the internet.
The darn hills between our house and the cell tower make for a "barely there" cell connection.
The problem isn't only in Nevada!
Safe travels and all the best..

 

[Lou Schneider]

Coverage of "99% of the people in America" means there will be over 3 million people who can't get service.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

Cell coverage is static, and given the geographical area the OP will be traveling, odds are pretty high there will be areas of no coverage. Where I tend to travel here in NM and CO I can pretty much count on no coverage most of the time. The key to reliable direct communication over a handful of miles isn't about a brand, make, model of radio or even what frequency band it is - the key is an efficient antenna. An analogy I'll make is a light bulb. If you take a 100 watt light bulb and hang it from a 100ft pole, you'll see that light for quite a distance. Take that same light bulb and lay it on the ground and a few dozen feet is about all you'll get. Radio is no different. You can take an FRS radio with it's built in antenna, use it inside a car and you'll notice the signal degrading probably in a quarter or half a mile. Take that same radio, connect it to an efficient antenna on the roof of the car and with the same radio likely ten times that range will be possible. When I operate a handheld ham radio from a mountaintop, I can communicate 50 miles or more. FRS radios by law can't use external antennas though. GMRS radios can, but require a license. CB's nearly exclusively use external antennas but being AM, can be plagued with static and interference. So while the range of a CB could potentially be sufficient, an efficient antenna is harder on that band and the noise can be a problem, so I would focus on something VHF or UHF FM. Those options would be FRS, GMRS, and MURS. These are "public" bands and with some possibility of interference from other users but out in the hinterlands, where cell phones are least likely to work, there won't be anyone else around on these bands to bother you. Probably the easiest thing to start with is a set of FRS radios and experiment with what kind of range you can practically get from car to car on the road. You may find it's enough and no further effort needed for a better solution. From there it would come down to sourcing a set of GMRS or MURS radios and external antennas, and a license as appropriate.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[SeilerBird]

So you mean, just an ongoing call?

Well either that or a long cord connecting the two.