Advice on hand held walkie talkies

[catch-22]

I'll have the UHF with the big ariel in the car when travelling but when we walk about wherever we're staying I'd like the family to carry a walkie talkie.

So the criteria - Must be really simply to use - turn it on, set the channel, push the button and talk. Must be robust - able to be dropped at times on rocks. Must be powerful enough for when we're apart or one of us goes for a walk.

What do you recommend?

[87County]

I think it is worth having 5w radios
GME example:
GME TX6150 CommKit 5W 80CH UHF CB Handheld Twinpack (http://www.prestigecom.net.au/gme-tx6150-5w-80ch-wproof-uhf-cb-handheld-radios-hardcase)
https://www.gme.net.au/catalogue/hand-held-radios/tx6150tp.aspx


But if you think 2w would be enough (personally I think you'd be disappointed)...
GME example:
GME TX675 Twinpack 80 CHannel UHF CB Handhelds (http://www.prestigecom.net.au/gme-tx675-twinpack-80-channel-uhf-cb-handhelds)


If you need a cheaper option Oricom (often sold through Repco on special) is a brand that works OK

Mostly any established brand will have similar performance, most incl some GMEs are sourced from China

Watch out for the claimed distance achievable - this assumes ideal conditions which rarely exist in practice.

For example 5w handheld in steep country = 4km line of sight or less

[Strangerover]

I bought a couple of these:
:: Uniden Australia :: (http://www.uniden.com.au/australia/p_uh076SXnb_index.asp)
Alloy body, very tough- although my workers managed to smash off the belt clip on the first day... Apart from that, it's a great unit. Comes with a proper car cradle with 12v adapter so you can use it in the car if you wish. Speaker mic is good and loud, no distortion. Good rubber aerial that can be unscrewed to fit a larger fixed aerial for in -car use, though an adapter is required. 2 LiPO batteries, everything you need. I got a pair in the tradies pack, comes with a nice weatherproof case for under $500 on fleabay.

[Toxic_Avenger]

I've had a uniden like that for the past 5 years and has been great. Sturdy and good quality too

[Mick_Marsh]

Whatever you get, try it out first.
I have a great old Uniden. (UH077 I think.) I decided to get one of those kits of two. Uniden, of course. I bought a cheap kit, made in China. Under $100. I was very disappointed with the quality or lack thereof.
Whatever you get, see if you can try it out first. In store should give you enough of an idea.

[scarry]

I think it is worth having 5w radios
GME example:
GME TX6150 CommKit 5W 80CH UHF CB Handheld Twinpack (http://www.prestigecom.net.au/gme-tx6150-5w-80ch-wproof-uhf-cb-handheld-radios-hardcase)
https://www.gme.net.au/catalogue/hand-held-radios/tx6150tp.aspx


But if you think 2w would be enough (personally I think you'd be disappointed)...
GME example:
GME TX675 Twinpack 80 CHannel UHF CB Handhelds (http://www.prestigecom.net.au/gme-tx675-twinpack-80-channel-uhf-cb-handhelds)


If you need a cheaper option Oricom (often sold through Repco on special) is a brand that works OK

Mostly any established brand will have similar performance, most incl some GMEs are sourced from China

Watch out for the claimed distance achievable - this assumes ideal conditions which rarely exist in practice.

For example 5w handheld in steep country = 4km line of sight or less

We have the GME TX675 twin pack.We use them at work and when away as well,found them to be great.

Their range is so much better than the old 2w GME we had for ages.

[catch-22]

Cheers all. Ended up buying the tx6150 kit with the water proof box. I'll get round to using them soon. Better do a little reading on what channels to use but more importantly what ones not to use

[87County]

That's what we got too - we've found them quite good except the scan isn't fast (not much need to use it for the purpose we got them though).

The sep mic/speaker is good as well if you've got the radio in/on a backpack or belt.

We've found that the battery time is at least as good as what is claimed.

Very good piece of kit for when a group splits and takes different paths.

[cafe latte]

I know the OP has already bought his radios, but I thought I would add my 2c
In the fire brigade both town and rural and on the farm I have used most radios, simco and Icom are the best IMO and my fav is Icom (ic-41s) I use these in Brigade and also I have two of my own on the farm they are small and really tough. Mine have been wet covered in cow poo and dropped on rock more times than I remember, my misus dont ask how many times :eek: They are super clear too.
Best budget radios are IMO Quansheng, they are a programmable dual band (vhf uhf) radio. Clarity is not at the level of an icom, but it is still very good. When you bear in mind that you could buy a stack of these for the price of a single icom radio it is very good indeed. I have a couple of these as spares for the farm and they have had a bashing too, not as tough as an icom, but for the money they are stunning.
Simco are a bit big, GME are not as clear as the icom and I dont think as tough either, icom my clear fav
Chris

[Keithy P38]

I agree with cafe latte. I have used Icom and Tait 5w hand held radios for over 11yrs in the mining industry. They get buried in slurry, chemicals, dropped from height, soaked in rain. I've never had one replaced in that time due to failure. The Icom ones recover from a soaking quicker (the speaker goes quiet when they get wet), but both are definitely a true IP68 and can handle anything you will throw at them in a lifetime.

Battery life on the Icom is normally 36hrs with constant (ab)use and someone talking on it nearly all of the time. On standby (switched on but no activity) we often get 5 days out of a battery before recharge. Both have a clear 14km range with my use which is better than the ones in our vehicles.

Cheers
Keithy

[Bushie]

Best budget radios are IMO Quansheng, they are a programmable dual band (vhf uhf) radio. Clarity is not at the level of an icom, but it is still very good. When you bear in mind that you could buy a stack of these for the price of a single icom radio it is very good indeed.
Chris

I agree re the Icoms, but with regard to cheap programmable chinese radios, I hope with the proliferation they don't start coming up on channels used by emergency services, causing interferance.


Martyn

[cafe latte]

I agree re the Icoms, but with regard to cheap programmable chinese radios, I hope with the proliferation they don't start coming up on channels used by emergency services, causing interferance.


Martyn

I know for sure that they do work on those channels but you need to know the code to transmit which is not that hard to work out. All emergency services are getting new digital radios soon so it wont be a problem when they arrive it will be very difficult indeed for anyone to transmit on an emergency frequency.
Chris

[Bushie]

Maybe going digital, but it wont stop others transmitting on the frequency and causing interferance. Not too many services have gone digital on fireground/tasking (generally vhf) systems so they will be very open to interferance.

But now we've gone well off topic. :)


Martyn

[cafe latte]

Maybe going digital, but it wont stop others transmitting on the frequency and causing interferance. Not too many services have gone digital on fireground/tasking (generally vhf) systems so they will be very open to interferance.

But now we've gone well off topic. :)


Martyn

Not many have gone digital yet, but soon all radios will swap to digital. In the rurals we just got some new simcos, but they were existing stock. I have had a presentation on the new digital ones in the urban's already.
Chris

[Aaron IIA]

I agree re the Icoms, but with regard to cheap programmable chinese radios, I hope with the proliferation they don't start coming up on channels used by emergency services, causing interferance.


Martyn

They are not type approved for uhf cb use, so can only be used if you have an appropriate license and frequency allocation.

Aaron

[cafe latte]

They are not type approved for uhf cb use, so can only be used if you have an appropriate license and frequency allocation.

Aaron

Might well be true, but I doubt anyone in Aus has been busted for using one. Also it they where it would only be for messing about on emergency channels not likely if radio is used for legal purposes.
Chris

[3lud13]

I just recently purchased done radios for such a purpose my biggest issue was range as the kid is starting to get confident on his motorbike and venturing further away do got some from jaycar $130 each with 240&12volt chargers with a 10 or 20km claimed range though that does depend on location as I have picked up people over 40km away with them when both on top ofhills

Sent from my SM-G900I using AULRO mobile app

[Zeros]

I agree with cafe latte. I have used Icom and Tait 5w hand held radios for over 11yrs in the mining industry. They get buried in slurry, chemicals, dropped from height, soaked in rain. I've never had one replaced in that time due to failure. The Icom ones recover from a soaking quicker (the speaker goes quiet when they get wet), but both are definitely a true IP68 and can handle anything you will throw at them in a lifetime.

Battery life on the Icom is normally 36hrs with constant (ab)use and someone talking on it nearly all of the time. On standby (switched on but no activity) we often get 5 days out of a battery before recharge. Both have a clear 14km range with my use which is better than the ones in our vehicles.

Cheers
Keithy

Great to hear how rugged the ICOM handhelds are.

Does anyone have a handheld UHF in car cradle? I'm interested in the portability of the ICOM 41pro 5w handheld, but also want to mount it in car with bullbar mount aerial. Can't seem to find a good car cradle / attachments for it though.

Any advice welcome...

[Tins]

I agree re the Icoms, but with regard to cheap programmable chinese radios, I hope with the proliferation they don't start coming up on channels used by emergency services, causing interferance.


Martyn

One of the main reasons that unlicensed 2 ways are limited in power. But, don't most emergency services use restricted digital channels?

[PeterJ]

Great to hear how rugged the ICOM handhelds are.

Does anyone have a handheld UHF in car cradle? I'm interested in the portability of the ICOM 41pro 5w handheld, but also want to mount it in car with bullbar mount aerial. Can't seem to find a good car cradle / attachments for it though.

Any advice welcome...

Yes made this mount using the supplied wall clip at the top and 12V cradle at the bottom. A bit of double sided tape aluminium bracket and a ram ball mount I had floating around. The aluminium tube that is inserted into the cup holder is actually the bottom of an aluminium water bottle. I wanted to see if the concept works before I make something more permanent and seems ok so far but does make gear shift dial hard to get at.https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/03/526.jpghttps://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/03/527.jpghttps://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/03/528.jpg