Walkie-Talkie recommendations?

[John From Detroit]

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.

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I do agree the Baofend UV-5R is a nice radio there's one behind me as I type
YOU NEED A LICENSE TO OPERTE IT and you don't want to know the fine if you don't have one (35 bucks for 10 years. and yes I have one).
The web site advertises it as 8 watts.. NO it's 5
(The one I have was advertised as 10 but I knew better before I ordered it)

it's not type accepted for GMRS/FRS and 8 watts is illegal on FRS
Bofeng does make some nice GMRS radios that are Type Accepted for GMRS and again the license is 35 for 10 years (You only need one for the family) and yes I have one of those too.

One option. this one takes a bit more work, is an Amateur Radio license.(The UV-5R is type accepted for amateur radio in the US) still 35/decade but you need to take a one time test.
In addition to the low power hand held.. I have the ability to run higher power radios (Mine are 5/26/r50 watt and variable 5-100 watt depending on which radio I use) and on many frequencies (Too many to list) plus we have some amazing technology.. GMRS now has local repeaters so you can talk hand held to hand held across town... Ham has LINKED repeaters so I can and have talked hand held to hand held across the planet.. I kid you not I've had two conservations with hams where when I ask what time it was they give me the same time as on my local clock. only AM on one and PM on the other.. The hand held I was using runs 100mw in Super low mode or zero in terminal mode (I am not sure the first time which mode but terminal the second) Terminal it talks to a raspberry pi (10 bucks when I got it) and from there to the internet and from there to whatever is on the other end.. super lot.. well I have a few pi's and 3 of them have radio "HATs" (Hardware Attached Technology) ... It's an amazing time.

 

[Doc Roads]

Midland Handheld radios should do the trick … however … Check out GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) (not Ham)… must have a license ($35, 10 year renewable, FCC call signal)… however, there’s no test and your license is good for you and your family (wife friendly, no test) … look at MYGMRS.COM … you can get handheld radios of varying capabilities … some do repeaters, programmable; you can go simple too. The GMRS community is growing and becoming more popular with the off road clubs. YouTube videos help too.

 

[Ohiosnowbird]

Someone was asking about walkie-talkies, I saw this if you’re interested: The 5 Best Walkie Talkies For RVers

 

[garyb1st]

We've had 3 different sets. They all work find for a mile or two on a flat, uninterrupted areas. Otherwise pretty much worthless. Go with your cell phones if it's important to stay connected.

 

[jymbee]

Go with your cell phones if it's important to stay connected.

Ah, but as I expect you know, ideally you have both especially if you travel in areas with limited/no cell signal.

 

[Junkyly]

I get it if you’re looking for walkie-talkies—they're super handy! For casual use, I’d recommend checking out the Motorola Talkabout series. They’re user-friendly and have a solid range, which is excellent for hiking or a big family gathering.

 

[rvlifer]

We regularly travel in 2 vehicles and cell phones didnt work as well as i expected. We installed cb radios and those worked well but they had issues as well. They were prone to interference and worked best when we were in line of sight of each other.

We tried using walkie talkie type handsets on motorcycle rides but they never worked well for us

 

[jymbee]

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.

That may have been a thread I started about some radios we recently purchased? No need to repost what I wrote there and I don't know that these inexpensive radios are any better/worse than similar brands, but we've been very satisfied.

At home we had a wireless intercom setup but trashed that when we saw how well these worked. As others have pointed out, range is relatively short but that's never been an issue when we travel in circumstances where we're not connected or backing in at a park or even when one of us is out on a hike. If one gets beyond range, cell is a fallback.

Just always on and sitting there and as you mention, less awkward than constantly dialing a phone. I especially like that these particular radios have separate charging bases. Much more flexible than systems where all radios need to be plugged in at the same place.

 

[PancakeBill]

Never really looked much into the GMRS systems, I followed the link, mygmrs.com and found some info, including a repeater directory. Much like Ham repeaters, some open some closed. Looked for my area, one open in my town, and a membership one between here and Tucson. So without a usable repeater, you are essentially just simplex to whatever your range affords, based on landscape. For traveling the repeaters don't seem all that usable as you would constantly be needing to switch between, set ctcss etc.

The BaoFang handhelds are cheap for sure, Saw on Amazon 2 with a bunch of accessories for less than I bought a 2m HT from a friend way back. I have been licensed from 1964 till now with a short break in there.

Not sure what the answer is. Stay close, if you lose contact speed up or slow down depending on position. Midlands, or any FRS radio will work, CB will work. CB mu=ight be. little better if you get a mobile instead of handheld, so you can use an external antenna. Then just holding a mic instead of the radio.

 

[NMDriver]

Baofeng 5R-8W unit as EX-Calif mentioned. Yes you should not use them if you are not licensed but they work great and there is no enforcement. Sort of like speeding 5 miles over 75 in NM. Much better than FRMS or CB for clear understandable transmission, even without the external antenna. Just remember to say "over"

 

[John From Detroit]

With a GMRS license I just got a Btech GMRS-Pro it's a 5 watt and is programmable
There are 22 GMRS channels 14 shared with FRS 8 GMRS only and those 8 are also used for GMRS Repeaters. A repeater station is usually on top of a tall building or tower so it has Range and by Range I mean RANGE.. for example the one near me is on Flint's west Side (McLaren Hospital) and I"m two townships EAST of there. Total air distance about 25 miles from me to repeater.
And I"m well within range

Plus the repeater is part of a linked system or was last I checked (There is some discussion on the legality of that but I do not belong to the group that owns the repeater)

So I transmit on one frequency and listen on another (The repeater in/out) and can talk to most anyone in Genesee county. or well one of the linked repeaters (Detroit) reaches all the way from mount Clemons to Cleveland Ohio.

The reason the radio is Programmable is that you need a "key" to use the repeater. this "key" is a Continuous Tone of a specific frequency. all 8 repeaters on the likned system I use are the same tone. But other systems might use a differnet tone... THe radio has banks of 30 menories.. So I can program differnet tones into differnet banks and use it no matter where I am.

This is very much like Ham Radios only linking of ham Repeaters is legal, always has been.. The FCC is cracking down on Linked GMRS systems. But even if they outlaw all linking. I'll still be able to cover the county.

Yesterday.. There were people who could not use their Verizon cell phones on the system.

(I offered help as.. Well I don't have Verizon I use T-mobile)

 

[Junkyly]

I get it if you’re looking for walkie-talkies—they're super handy! For casual use, I’d recommend checking out the Motorola Talkabout series. They’re user-friendly and have a solid range, which is excellent for hiking or a big family gathering.

The battery life is impressive, too, so you won’t be left in the lurch.
The Midland GXT series is a good choice if you need something more rugged. They’re built to handle a bit of rough and tumble, plus they come with weather alerts, which can be a lifesaver if you're out in the wild.
The best option depends on what you need them for. Ensure they have good battery life and a range that suits your activities. You can check out 2 way radio for more options and reviews.

 

[DutchmenSport]

I did not read all the posts. We have a walkie-talkie set we purchased from Wall Mart. It's suppose to have a 26 mile range, but that is simply a pipe dream in someone's underware! Actually, it has good range for 1 mile as we've tested them at home (flat Indiana where we have have mile square county roads and we live on one. Took the walkie talkie in the car, wife stayed at the house and I drove until we lost connection. Corn and bean fields were down, and I had a visual of the house all the time.

In the mountains of North Carolina where I served as a camp host, we use them all the time. But the mountains and valleys block the signal, but it works quiet well when we are on the same side of the mountain.

In Louisiana (flat ground) we use them at the Historic Site (Plantation) where I'm serving as a camp host too. It has a good range, over a mile here. But when getting too deep in the trees, the signal is shortened.

We've never used them driving two separate vehicles together, but in North Carolina, we leave them turned on when charging. Where the trailer sits in the campground we are about 3/4 of a mile from the main highway outside the park. We pick up conversations all the time on channel 1 and when I asked the park rangers about this, they said it was traffic on the main road and we were picking up their conversations when they passed by.

Ours cost around $99 for the set. I really don't know what the name brand was, but we got it at Wall Mart. Look for something that has a long range, and maybe it will work good for 1 miles between 2 cars, provided there are no obstacles between the two vehicles, like mountain curves or inner city building.

 

[Larry N.]

It's suppose to have a 26 mile range, but that is simply a pipe dream in someone's underware!

It probably said "up to 26 miles"-- but in any case, if true, that would probably be from mountain top to mountain top on a very good day, and very weak copy at that.

You don't say but they are probably FRS units which, in their GMRS mode (needs license) might have enough power with very high antennas.

So a mile would be very good indeed, under more normal conditions. Your performance descriptions could be for CB handhelds, though, which still don't have a lot of range, though it might have a little more power.