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Small Cabin Forum / Useful Links and Resources / Looking for long range walkie talkies
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Rifraf
Member
# Posted: 19 Jan 2013 23:09
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Guys I have made friends in my rural area and would like to share a walkie with one .. he does not have a cell phone and I worry about his health, hes an older man and works outdoors a lot.. he lives a few miles away though, and said if I got him a walkie he would carry it.

The walkies that claim 10 + mile range dont have user reviews that reflect a decent range.


Can anyone recommend a set ? I would like to spend 100.00 or less if possible.

MikeOnBike
Member
# Posted: 20 Jan 2013 00:23
Reply 


That range is usually only for ideal conditions. At that frquency you have to a line of sight between the two of you. I think that frequency also requires a GMSR licence but nobody bothers to get them.

We use HAM radio (2 meter) at our place to stay in touch around the area and also phone patch back to our home ~90 mi away. The license is not hard to get, no more morse code.

MtnDon
Member
# Posted: 20 Jan 2013 01:57
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We've had three of these for about 3 years now. They work well for us.

MikeOnBike
Member
# Posted: 20 Jan 2013 02:00
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mtndon,

What kind of range do you get out of the walkies?

MtnDon
Member
# Posted: 20 Jan 2013 11:18
Reply 


I forgot the link

http://www.powerwerx.com/wouxun-radios/kg-uv3d-dual-band.html#desc

The furthest apart we've been was almost 5 miles and it was pretty good.

MtnDon
Member
# Posted: 20 Jan 2013 12:09
Reply 


Clarification...

We're wooded and the cabin is on a ridge. Mostly we use them on our property so if we are apart we can converse. That works fine as we are on the south side of the ridge... If I go over the ridge we might get a couple miles on 5 watts from hand to hand.. The 5 miles was from cabin to another ridge. Signal bad at places in between. Range varies with terrasin, trees, etc.

Rifraf
Member
# Posted: 20 Jan 2013 13:43
Reply 


Thanks MtnDon,


Hes about 2 miles away , a little more if hes deep in his land with his horses or something.

Hes 78, good shape for his age but it would be nice to know he could reach me if something happened out there.

fpw
Member
# Posted: 21 Jan 2013 09:48
Reply 


Not a walkie talkie, but I use a service called www.findmespot.com which is a satellite message service. You can't recieve but you can send periodic messages to folks you program in to indicate you are OK. There is an emergency message for help from friends and family and there is also a 911 service that calls out the mountain helicopter rescue crew.

Since I spend much of my time working alone miles into the woods, this service keeps my wife calm.

TomChum
Member
# Posted: 21 Jan 2013 10:07
Reply 


We bought some $40 Motorolas at a sporting goods store that said "25mile range" on the box. This was an xmas present,. What we needed was about 1/2mile range to keep in contact with the kids at the cabin.

So we tested these in town. Down the paved road, (straight, line of sight, visible, in the middle of the street) it was crackly and at the edge of usefulness at 1/4mile.

If I stepped back off the street such that ONE BUSH was between the two radios, the usable range was about 1/8 mile. Anyway, point being, these said 25miles, and 2 or 3 other brands on the shelf said 20miles or more, but they were kids toys so don't pay attention to what the box says, get only tested/recommended units.

2 miles, thru trees, possibly with earth between you? That's what you need to test for.

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