Guest Alf W Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Searching back over earlier posts there are a number of references to Walkie Talkies, with references to Maplins and to Ebay, but has anyone recent experience of a particular brand, having in mind battery life, battery charging time, and ease of use. I want to purchase for use in convoy driving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ray Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 We purchased a pair from maplins, about £30. The practical range on open ground, line of sight was about half a mile. and battery life can only be described as pathetic, they need to be sitting in the charger to give more than a few minutes talk time. We carry a spare set of rechargeable batteries for when they fail. Would suggest a pair of CB radios if you want to keep in touch while in convoy, there should be plenty of second hand ones as CB has almost died in many areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mystery caller Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Ray Funnily enough I have a couple of new spare sets of walkie-talkies (2 in each pack) which I was just about to put on the Classified Ads! If you want more info just send me your email address to: micromaniacsclub@yahoo.co.uk I'll then send you details. Sorry to everyone who doesn't like people advertising etc on here but if the question hadn't been asked I would just have put them on the Classified Ads anyway and at least this way someone else can benefit by getting them cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clive Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 If the requirement is Convoy driving then I would seriously suggest you do NOT use handsets. We have been convoy driving for the last 15 years on the Beaujolais Rally (Charity run for Leukaemia Research) and what you need is something that works without being reliant on charged batteries and keeps working when one of the team heads down the wrong lane on the Paris Periferique!(is that spelt right?) Get some CB radio,s and antenna,s properly installed in all the convoy vehicles. They run from the vehicle battery and have so much more power and range compared to a license excempt UHF handset. Get modern 2781 spec CB radio,s and these can also be used legally on the continent. I don,t think that a license is required any more, but if it is its only fifteen quid a year. Oh, and make sure that the Passenger is in charge of the radio! The popularity of CB has much declined since its boom and its now quite easy to find quiet channels. Keep on truckin Good buddy! 10-4 on that, Pick a window? If you must! Bye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ray Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Hi Clive, felt sure that you would agree with me. The only reason that I bought a pair of the hand sets was that while I enjoy walking, Thelma is not able to walk any distance so though that with the three mile claimed range I could could use them to keep in touch but have been very disapointed. They are OK if I stay within a couple of hundred yards but need recharging after about 10mimutes transmitting. The altenative is to get licenced and use 2mtrs but sets are relatively expensive but as you point out the CB band is hardly used so wonder how long it will be before we loose it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest trixie Posted February 14, 2006 Share Posted February 14, 2006 We bought a pair of these 2 way radios from Maplins but they were not the cheaper ones.They cost £80 and after a full charge lasted very well. Didnt charge them for the whole weekend we were at the show.Thursday to monday. Very plesed with them Trixie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alf W Posted February 14, 2006 Share Posted February 14, 2006 Thanks everyone, any more ? CB radio sounds too technical and expensive for me. I wonder, Trixie if you could be a little more specific for me ? Brand and model ? Do they use stadard AA batteries or built in rechargeable jobs ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alf W Posted February 14, 2006 Share Posted February 14, 2006 Thanks everyone, any more ? CB radio sounds too technical and expensive for me. I wonder, Trixie if you could be a little more specific for me ? Brand and model ? Do they use stadard AA batteries or built in rechargeable jobs ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alf W Posted February 14, 2006 Share Posted February 14, 2006 Sorry about the double entry - twitchy finger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ray Posted February 14, 2006 Share Posted February 14, 2006 Hi Alf ours were Nikkai and use four rechargeable nickel metal hydride AAA bateries 600mAh capacity. Spares are 800mAh from Lidl £1.99 for 4. It all depends on the amount of time you want to have them switched on, occasional contact while on walking about on a site would be different to keeping in touch while driving in convoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brian P Posted February 14, 2006 Share Posted February 14, 2006 I bought a pair of Cobra Microtalk about 3 years ago for use on our motorbikes(with headsets of course)They were good for about 1 1/2 to 2 miles on reasonably flat terain before they started to get too crackly.The rechargeable batteries would last for about 3 full days of riding.They werent cheap at about £130 the pair.We still use them in the motorhome or at shows etc.Bought from the Tamms cataloque.Worth going for the quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trixie Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Hello Walkie Talkie6 Midland G7 XtraTalk Each has a mains rechargeable battery via a dual stand. I would think you could recharge using an inverter in the motorhome. Thats other halfs domain Trixie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacerunner Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 Argos do a reasonable twin set. Uniden at £59:99 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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