Any recommendations on Walkie Talkies ?

[MidCoast]

I am looking to buy a walkie talkie for hiking, ice fishing, pretty much for anything. I want to buy one with a range of around 35 miles.

Any recommendations? So far I've been looking at the Cobra and Midland.

[bobbymalone]

I have never seen a pair that gets the range they advertise.

I have a couple uniden waterproof 2 way radios. I think they claim 28 miles. I've never really done a test, but it looked like I was getting about 6 or 7 miles max.

I'm happy with them, but I don't buy the range. I think you need 35 miles line of sight and perfect conditions to meet that range.

[20lbSloughShark]

Just throwing this out there, but have you considered a smartphone?

[MidCoast]

Just throwing this out there, but have you considered a smartphone?

Smartphone battery life isn't the greatest especially in roaming and out of network areas. I prefer a Walkie talkie .

[bobbymalone]

Need service to use the phone... I bought the walkie-talkies for our yearly pilgrimage to northern Ontario.

[Deep]

Garmin Rihno series, we use them hunting and with gps you can see where the other person is at on the map.

[BobT]

Forget the advertised ranges of walkie-talkies. They get away with the false advertising and I'll explain in a minute. The truth is, Federal FCC regulations limits all FRS (Family Radio Service) radios to a maximum .5 watts transmit power. Two-way radios are "line-of-sight" signals which means any objects (trees, buildings, landscape, etc.) between the transmitter and receiver can and will interfere and reduce the range potential of the radio. The actual effective range of ANY FRS radio is up to about 1.5 - 2 miles. The way they get away with falsely advertising ranges like 35 miles is by testing them in areas where there are no obstructions that may interfere such as from one hill top to another.

Price doesn't matter either when it comes to range. What you might get with higher priced units is higher quality speakers, receivers, frequency control and accuracy, and features not related to the actual signalling such as scanning or the inclusion of GMRS frequencies.

GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) radios are allowed to output higher transmit power. Some base units may have up to 50 watts but most hand-held units are limited to about 1 - 5 watts due to the power source (batteries). Here again, the range is not that much more significant. Double the wattage does not result in double the range but it can improve the quality of the signal. Higher ranges are achieved using longer antennae.

FRS radios do not require FCC licensing to operate in the US.

GMRS radios do require FCC licensing.

In FRS/GMRS radios, which are most likely what you find in the sporting goods stores, will have up to 22 channels available. FCC regulations allow both radios to share channels 1-7. Channels 8-14 are strictly reserved for FRS radio use and channels 15-22 are strictly for GMRS radio use.

Bottom line? Don't expect to get much more than about a mile of true communication with any of the FRS/GMRS radios you see. They will work better on open water or where there are no obstructions to interfere with the signal.

We like to use walkie-talkies when we take our annual trip to Canada so we aren't fumbling around with cell phones while driving. Plus, everyone in the vehicle can hear the conversations. This can be done with cell phones but it's a little more hassle. Once we're in Canada international rates apply to our cell phones which is also a deterrent.

[MN Mike]

I don't really have much to add, others have said it pretty well, they come in pretty handy but I'll just say to spend some decent money on a set of radios, somewhere north of $50.

We picked up some cheap Cobras radios ( 23 Mile ) on the way out west this winter snowmobiling ( forgot my Midlands at home ), they were absolute JUNK, returned them the first chance I got, spent about $35 for the pair. Steer clear if you see those.

In my experience, I have to give the Motorolas a nod to being a little better performer than my Midlands were, both had similar ' range ' capabilities.

Garmin Rhino's are pretty neat too, if you want to spend the extra money.

Mike

[aanderud]

I am looking to buy a walkie talkie for hiking, ice fishing, pretty much for anything. I want to buy one with a range of around 35 miles.

Wow. I think companies advertising that you're going to bet 35 Miles out of your walkie talkie is like when they advertise the knife that never needs sharpening. Yeah, in 30 years of use without sharpening, that knife will be slightly better than a brick at cutting butter, but it's not going to be SHARP.

I think you'll be VERY LUCKY to get 10 miles out of any terrain. If you are in an airplane, and your partner is in an airplane, and you're both above 10k feet AGL, you MIGHT get 35 miles out of a really good one. But, that's even questionable.

[Rost]

We use the midland gtx 1050 hunting coyotes. If you are on a lake I'd expect 10 miles with these.. on land 4 miles tops.

[BlackLabGuy]

We used the garmin Rhino 655 in CO hunting, when in the woods about a mile at best, sitting atop a ridge I had contact with others with the same radio 42 miles away... The Rhino will send your GPS position with the radio message so others can see where you are and you can see where they are on the gps map. Overall they work pretty good but the radio is really dependent on the terrain.

[Mistermojo]

My experience is similar to the others, except that even on flat "land" they suck. On the lake, they even only get about 3 miles of reception, even though there are no impediments. I think they actually do better in the woods than we do on open water. Maybe look into handheld CB's if you really need that range?

[aanderud]

We used the garmin Rhino 655 in CO hunting, when in the woods about a mile at best, sitting atop a ridge I had contact with others with the same radio 42 miles away... The Rhino will send your GPS position with the radio message so others can see where you are and you can see where they are on the gps map. Overall they work pretty good but the radio is really dependent on the terrain.

That 42 mile range is impressive! I guess I shouldn't rip on the companies for saying 35 miles then. The whole world isn't as flat as Minnesota!

[Savage Brewer]

I have done over 250 miles on 0.5 watts before, but that was with the transmitter at above 65,000 feet, (I have done some research with high altitude balloons)

Here is the reality, 5 watts on a unity gain antenna (3.15dbi) VHF will get you about 6 to 7 miles at best, but I would count on about 2 miles.

To get more than that you need one or more of the four following things:

1. More ERP (Effective Radiated Power)

2. More sensitive receiver

3. Less obstructions

4. Operating mode better for low power operations

To get any of these you pretty much need to be a licensed Amateur Radio Operator (HAM)

1 is accomplished by:

Larger power output (amplification)

Better antenna designs (including enhanced ground plane and directional antennas)

Most Amateurs are familiar with a system known as a repeater, where a duplex radio is placed on a high point (tower, skyscraper, mountain...) and has a high end antenna array along with other specialized hardware to make long range communications possible.

Line of sight plays into this alot, remember that as the earth curves, two points that are 6.5 feet off the ground lose LOS at 3.15 miles.

I could go on for hours but the short end is that you will not get a handheld that does 35 miles.

I have only done it once and that was with radios that cost over $300 each and using fairly large yagi arrays, did 45-50 miles with less than 5 watts, one end was at ground level, the other was 100 feet off the ground with no mountains or buildings in the way.

[Savage Brewer]

My experience is similar to the others, except that even on flat "land" they suck. On the lake, they even only get about 3 miles of reception, even though there are no impediments. I think they actually do better in the woods than we do on open water. Maybe look into handheld CB's if you really need that range?

3.15 miles on water is where you lose LOS and VHF/UHF is very sensitive to LOS.

CB radios work on a much lower frequency 29Mhz range and use SSB (Single Side Band) which is better for low power operations.

[Savage Brewer]

We used the garmin Rhino 655 in CO hunting, when in the woods about a mile at best, sitting atop a ridge I had contact with others with the same radio 42 miles away... The Rhino will send your GPS position with the radio message so others can see where you are and you can see where they are on the gps map. Overall they work pretty good but the radio is really dependent on the terrain.

Line of Sight is your friend there for sure, I have heard of guys up in Idaho getting ridiculous range out of VHF handhelds across the ridges.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

I have a set of 36 mile Midlands that have worked to about 6 miles across varied terrain. They wouldn't have gone any farther.

[magnum mike]

Hand held VHF marine radios.