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I need to buy some 2 way radios for a job coming up.
I thought it would be a chance to get something for riding and ski/board trips too.
I have been looking at the Motorola TLKR range, T40 or T60 (5km or 8km max range).
Has anyone else got these? Anything better in the same price range (£20 to £40ish)?
That's a big 10-4 good buddy. I'm gonna be on the side, gettin' some bear reports. Come on back to me.
You is a dude. Over and out.
IME whilst the cheap motos get ok range (for the power output, don't expect advertised ranges) the audio quality was poor and the volume not loud enough for clarity above wind noise etc. We ended up with some Mitex units instead (probably a fair bit pricier).
If you're not relying on the cheap Motos to do your job or for safety, or the range is short and the environment quiet - they'd be ok. Damning with faint praise I know - buy somewhere you can return them if they're no use.
as long as your ski/snowboard trips are in Europe (well most of it) you are ok. No good for the US/Canada
Be realistic with yourself about your likely range requirements, longer range is no always better, you get more traffic from other users.
Thanks for input.
For a one off job, I need to be able to communicate over three floors of the same house, with me being in the roof space.
For fun, my GF would need something very simple to operate, usually within the same valley, but possibly outside of line-of-sight.
European use only.
possibly outside of line-of-sight.
You'll not get this (at all reliably) on your budget. You'd really need something higher power (which requires licensing to use, fairly straightforward for lower power bands in the UK, not sure about Europe).
In the same house over three floors, it'll depend on the construction of the house but they'd probably do the job. Should be a fairly quiet environment so that's not so much an issue.
longer range is no always better, you get more traffic from other users.
Most kit that does longer range also lets you code the channels, not had this be an issue other than on the cheap sets (cos they're pretty common for leisure use).
Though rather than spending money, would mobiles not do the job? And if you have wifi, skype/google hangouts/facetime audio calls for free?
Binatone Action 1100 Two Way radios are coming up on Amazon Black Friday deals at 2pm.
No idea how good they are, but may be worth a look.
BAOFENG UV-3R or a clone of it.
Source: Ex Mi6 comms/countermeasures guy
Though rather than spending money, would mobiles not do the job? And if you have wifi, skype/google hangouts/facetime audio calls for free?
I'm on a dumb phone, one of the almost indestructible versions, and used it during the first inspection, For the main job there will be many infrequent instructions needed so not ideal.
For mountain use, we used to go in a group, but now mostly just the two of us and sometimes ride different runs and routes. So I'm looking for a back up when we miss each other.
The Baofeng seems to get good reviews and 2w output for £20 a unit. Thanks GFS.