Walkie Talkies

[PGD]

HI, thinking of getting a pair of these, does anyone have any preferences on which brand is best ?

Cheers

Peter

 

[DepSol]

Looked into this as it would be handy for when I dropped the wife offf in Herm and went off fishing. FYI Herm is a mobile phone dead spot. Looked into the various ones on the market and found that they have gone down my urgent list, the wife will have to wait till I get back. Still too expensive for the amount of use I'll get from them. I will wait until my son is older and wants to explore on his own before I buy unless of course the price drops. 2 4 1 offer would be good.

Dom

 

[paulineb]

How much are they in Guernsey? At The Link, they're about £49 per pair.

Pxx

 

[DepSol]

Your kidding I was looking @ £79 each

Dom

PS details of The Link pls

 

[jfm]

One of the boatie mags did a test last summer. Praps PBO, can't remeber. To be honest, there's not much to test, they're dead simple. I use the original motorola ones, the yellow and blue jobs, they're excellent imho

 

[paulineb]

www.thelink.com

Pxx

 

[Geoffs]

I've got a pair, got 'em from Argos, paid about £60 for the pair. Binatone I think they are called. They're OK, but not much range, about a mile accross the sea is all I get. Less inland with buildings etc. I think they quote 2 miles, that's a bit optimistic in my experience. VHF better, but not really leagal, of course.

 

[PGD]

Argos was was first point of reference but wanted to do a reality check before I bought some.

 

[Geoffs]

Looked at The Link as recommended by Pauline, they have them for £29.99 for a 'twin pack', post free as well.

 

[Steve_D]

I use the original Motorola ones as well (I've got three), solidly made, simple enough for the kids to use and a decent battery life - main uses so far....

Car to Car intercom when touring in France - Kids can chat away to the other car
Skiing trips for when we get split up/want to meet up
Clip one to the kids when out for a walk and let them off the leash a bit

we use the rechargeable ones at work as an intercom and for when we are working in different bits of the office V usefull. we've had no problems getting 2+ miles in good conditions.

regards

Steve D

 

[BarryD]

Having bought some of these about three years ago for around £130 and sent them back as cr*p, I've just been convinced by this thread (and SWMBOs real-time shopping orders via a mobile - expensive after the 3rd call) and purchased a set from the Link for £29.99

I shall report back on their quality and functionality. If they are deemed unsuitable "short person" has some 250mtr. line of sight Thomas the Tank Engine ones I could try <G>

Havoc, fire, confusion, and mis-trust, yes my work here is done...

Barry D

 

[longjohnsilver]

I bought a pair in Dixons a week or so back for just under £40. Haven't actually used them yet but they had a good write up in the PBO test.

 

[oldgit]

Prices on all the 446 radios varies a great deal from Icom f22s @ £165 + each inc batts charger etc, to £30.00 pair stuff.but cheapies have only 2 channels instead of 8 and you cannot select any of the 32 possible ctcss tones.everone and their granny has got these things now so the ability to change channels is fairly vital.They all have same power output.Realistic range is about 1k on land with buildings etc and about 3k over water.Inside car you might get 3-500 mtrs.You cannot legally add an external aerial but it is possible with the better quality radios.If you break the cheapos chuck them over the side they are not repairable.
Pretty good for flybridge to foredeck etc use with handsfree kit.
Do not not believe anything that is written on box regaerding range.We sellum

 

[bryantee]

I have a pair of Eurowaves, by the time you have bought the charger,and batteries.about a £ton.use rechargeables now .very good 2 to 3 km range.handy for shore parties.when anchored off.

 

[jfm]

Also try headset version?

Mebbe also consider the headset/boom mike version, with voice activated "transmit" mode. Good for crew to wear while docking, so you can give em orders from the helm, and they keep 2 hands free. De riguer on big boats with crew in monaco etc. And only £35 from Tandy

 

[MarcusMan]

We have a pair of the Motorola ones. Quite expensive (£79 each I think) but good reception and quality. Much better than our last (Binatone?) ones. Message here is that quality really varies.

We use them a lot around the marina, though herself still thinks there is a black spot in the local chandlers when she tries to check if I'm spending money again - strange that!!!

 

[ToMo]

Nah just take a couple of boy scouts and tell em to practise their semaphore!....also good if you want to light a fire - jest rub em together.
Call me old-fashioned ;-)
TôMö

 

[KevB]

Bought some a few months back to keep track of 10 year old whilst in the marina. £49 from Dixons, Good for about 1k. They do the job.
All the other kids in the marina have them so all keep in contact.
Saves a small fortune not having them phoning each other on their mobiles.

 

[brianrunyard]

Re: Also try headset version?

When did you buy from Tandy?
I thought they were bought out by the Carphone Warehouse, and only sold mobile phones now.

Brian
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/brunyard

 

[jfm]

Re: Also try headset version?

Oops yes you're right. I should know that, as CPW is my client and I advised them on buying Tandy. Dang, losing my memory. It must have been a couple of years ago. But someone must sell the headset jobs, Maplin I spect.