Board logo

Two way Radio
JimM - 20/4/12 at 12:26 PM

Good lady is part of a hill walking group (gives me free blatting days )

On the hills, mobile phones don't work - now looking for alternative communication method.
Any suggestion for mobile hand sets? Rough costs etc ....

Maybe 2 up to 4 hand sets that can communicate with each other when out of site.
Also .. any recommended SatNavs for walker?

cheers

HowardB - 20/4/12 at 12:36 PM

there are some licence free radio's available with reasonable claimed range, my experience of these is not good.

The only real solution is to have a licence and use amateur radio frequencies, not as difficult as it once was, and there is a whole new hobby too,... see radio linky

designer - 20/4/12 at 01:01 PM

Small walkie-talkies sets are readily available.

mcerd1 - 20/4/12 at 01:30 PM

quote:
Originally posted by HowardB
there are some licence free radio's available with reasonable claimed range, my experience of these is not good.

The only real solution is to have a licence and use amateur radio frequencies, not as difficult as it once was, and there is a whole new hobby too,... see radio linky


second that

some of my mates have amateur licences (and marrine ones aswell) great for up in the hills or even just car to car coms

steve m - 20/4/12 at 02:09 PM

I bought a pair of Pmr 446 off ebay, claimed they were 8km range
using them in cars range was about a mile, and between houses was about 2 miles,
But from my daughters back garden to my parents garden was about 3 miles, and they were fine

So outside they are pretty good

ChrisW - 20/4/12 at 02:19 PM

As said, get an RSGB license. The basic one costs about £30 and lets you use most of the bands (certainly all the ones you'll need) and at a suitable power. Also amateur equipment tends to be a lot better than your average license-free system. If you've got some technical common sense it's pretty easy, but there is an exam at the end.

You'll also be able to access repeaters to gain range and [give you a much better chance to] get hold of someone in civilisation who could raise the alarm in an emergency, especially if the radio is echolink enabled. There is a lot of coverage in areas that hill walkers frequent as the hobbies tend to be related.

APRS may also be interesting, which is a technology built into higher end amateur radio gear. It can transmit your position at regular intervals and this information (eventually) feeds back to the internet. Have a look at http://aprs.fi - search for '2E0NCW' (me!) if you like.

Anyway, enough about RSGB. If you're determined to go for license free I've had good success with the Intek MT-5050. Not the cheapest by a long way, but a very good bit of kit. We use them on the way down to Le Mans. They can also be easily modified to enable 'international mode' which can be used in certain countries that allow higher power and more channels. Of course, being a license holder, I couldn't possibly recommend you used that mode in the UK.

Intek: eBay Item

Example of an all-signing, all dancing amateur band unit: http://www.lamcommunications.net/shop/product_info.php?products_id=71 (I have one of these and it's fantastic but expensive - there are much cheaper ones!)

Chris

theconrodkid - 20/4/12 at 02:43 PM

i got a pair from here,
http://www.409shop.com/shop.php 400-470 mhz for about £30 each so can be used on low power on PMR.
i have reached 5 miles car to car and you can get speaker-mics so they can be cliped out of the way with just the mic on your collar

RK - 20/4/12 at 04:15 PM

Why? Are the badgers particularly fearsome in that area?

theconrodkid - 20/4/12 at 04:18 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcxKIJTb3Hg

RK - 20/4/12 at 04:39 PM

It's just a harmless little bunny. You got us all worked up.

mookaloid - 20/4/12 at 07:01 PM

quote:
Originally posted by JimM
Good lady is part of a hill walking group (gives me free blatting days )


Also .. any recommended SatNavs for walker?

cheers


There was a bloke on the telly got lost in the hills because his sat nav failed and he hadn't thought to pack a map and compass as a back up - apparently he nearly died

Draw your own conclusions but for me you can't beat the good old OS map and Silva compass

RK - 20/4/12 at 10:29 PM

I would seriously, not trust GPS for walking. They send you all over the place when you use them in the car. I know they've been around a while, but I would get maps, myself.

mcerd1 - 21/4/12 at 02:27 PM

^^ a basic GPS is handy to have as a backup

I'd always use a map first, but that gets a bit tricky when you can only see 2ft infront of you and you've had to detour a hundred yards of the compass bearing......

[Edited on 21/4/2012 by mcerd1]

Peteff - 21/4/12 at 03:59 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mcerd1
^^ a basic GPS is handy to have as a backup

I'd always use a map first, but that gets a bit tricky when you can only see 2ft infront of you and you've had to detour a hundred yards of the compass bearing......

[Edited on 21/4/2012 by mcerd1]


Me and a mate were walking in the Peak and it dropped foggy, we ended up following a line of pylons on the map to a road to get our bearings. It wasn't a life threatening situation but it put a good few miles on the walk.

mcerd1 - 23/4/12 at 08:37 AM

quote:
Originally posted by PeteffMe and a mate were walking in the Peak and it dropped foggy, we ended up following a line of pylons on the map to a road to get our bearings. It wasn't a life threatening situation but it put a good few miles on the walk.

^^ had to do similar myself loads of times, its not much fun