Walkie Talkies

Gileadi

Hey,

Just booked Les Deux Alpes for the 2nd week in Jan and I'm all excited! I was thinking about getting some walkie talkies for our group of 22 to stay in touch.

Would anybody here have any recommendations? I'd imagine we would want 3-4 handsets


Cheers

G.

bcirl03

Have a look on ebay or amazon, I've used Binatones before with no problems. Aldi have them every now and then, not with the Binatone name but there the same casing etc and are Binatone.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Binatone-Terrain-Range-Radio-Black/dp/B000OUT598/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1289312520&sr=8-2

You cant beat them when there is a large group.

olaola

Yeah, walkie talkies are VERY handy. If you can, try to get 'neat' ones, nothing worse than falling with a bulky walkie talkie in your pocket
One thing to think about, if you get rechargeable ones, you need to pack the charger station too. Some of them have regular 'AA' sized battery packs (4 stuck together) so you can pop in new ones if your charge runs out before the end of the holiday.

rjp123

they're actually not as useful as you might think. from my experience with them sender and receiver need to be in the same valley at the same time.
They would be typically used when one person is on a lift. the other person generally has to be on a lift at the same time too - they are less likely to hear you if they are skiing at the time of the call.
you will mostly spend the holiday getting feedback and chatter from everyone else on your frequency/channel and annoying people in bubble with you.
just send a text! however if you are set on getting them they shouldnt be too bulky.
<beep>

Static M.e.

Same as above, we use to have them but they required line of sight so unless you were in the same valley they were all but useless.. handy when everyone was heading in the same direction I suppose.

We just use our mobiles now.

Fattes

About as usefull as a fart in a space suit to be honest! Mobile phones are mutch more practical or the good old fashioned fall back point. We will meet her at x O clock!

robinph

Found them pretty useless as well when I tried them before, was admittedly a cheap and nasty set we had. But send a text with the mobile, and the other person will then get it when they next get a signal or can be bothered to check their phone.

loobylou

Another vote for the "useless" side, more trouble than they're worth.

dan_d

Don't know, we've found them handy. Usually have about 4/6 handsets among a group of 16-18 people. Much cheaper than mobiles (obviously). We went with Lidl/Aldi ones, and a couple of stray Motorolas that we managed to get our hands on. We've had the same set for the last 4 years or so, so if you spend a bit of money on them once, they'll last a while...like I said...they're handy.

COUCH WARRIOR

yea even in clew bay, the islands can cut off the signal between walkie talkies and they are not exactly mountains:o. Mobiles seem to work well enough.

Mountain_Surfer

L2A seems to be the place to go in Jan! There are about 400 of us heading over from the 8th - 16th from TCD. Can't wait!

On topic though, also looking to invest in a set, at least, prob going to try Argos

andyd12

Old old thread resurrection?!!!!☺️

Anyone use these on trips? Was considering them this year. Phone is awkward and clumsy with gloves

blue note

Surely mobiles are just better now? Especially since they did away with roaming charges.

God, the idea of walkie talkies make me laugh. I can't believe people were still using them skiing 7 years ago!

Gileadi

I'd forgotten about this thread, we didn't end up getting any cause of price and ineffectiveness.

Agree with just using phone, especially since roaming charges are gone.

A handy tip is to have headphones with a mic in your ear or with easy access so you can answer calls without having to take out phone and remove gloves. Siri or google equivalent is handy enough for making calls

colly10

We we're thinking of getting these and using headphones-
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00JZKOAGQ?psc=1

Surely with the range on these these they'll be alright.

Mobiles are a pain, can't call cause they're skiing and can't text cause they'll rarely check the phone

willah

colly10 wrote: »

We we're thinking of getting these and using headphones-
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00JZKOAGQ?psc=1

Surely with the range on these these they'll be alright.

Mobiles are a pain, can't call cause they're skiing and can't text cause they'll rarely check the phone

I have the same set they are brilliant. I got them in the states for slightly cheaper than that. First holiday bringing them I was laughed at for bringing them and by the end the group all wanted to carry one. We find them a lot handier than phones.

Rew

willah wrote: »

I have the same set they are brilliant. I got them in the states for slightly cheaper than that. First holiday bringing them I was laughed at for bringing them and by the end the group all wanted to carry one. We find them a lot handier than phones.

The US ones work on a different frequency to the EU ones and aren't legal to use in the EU but your unlikely to run into any issues unless the frequency overlaps with something important where you use them (ie policy, military or emergency). Its both a pro and a con that they wont talk to any radios bought in the EU.

4068ac1elhodqr

BaoFeng 888 are cheap and good value with optional handsets.
For a group of 22 you'd want to group/customise into sub-channels.

Anyone handy with a PC and cable can temporary push one channel up to 5watt (better range),
but set back to regular low power when back off the mountain top!

They're generally (at or near) standard PMR 446.x Mhz EU type standard freq.
446 won't interfere with anyone else apart from public using any identical sub-channels.
Everyone else important (sea/air/business) is/should be using something way different.

US are slightly different around 462 and 467MHz.

robinph

I'm still convinced that trying to speak to each other on the slopes is the wrong way of doing things. Taking voice communication by whatever means is someone else barging their way in to disturb whatever it is that you are doing at the time, like sliding down the mountain. Text messages or WhatsApp is much more preferable as you only get disturbed by the message when you want to.

Maybe it's a mild faff to get the phone out of the pocket and maybe you don't have reliable data all the time, but you are spending a great proportion of your day sat on your backside getting carried back up to the top of the mountain. That's when I'd check what other people are up to, not when I'm heading down hill having fun.

olaola

We used to use them before the days of cheap/no roaming charges. Where you'd usually use them was if you were in a Gondola and the other gang were in separate one, so you could tell them the next run to take. And TBH they were a bit of craic. No need for them anymore with roaming... unless you're in Switzerland!!!

Rew

Rylan Old-fashioned Undershirt wrote: »

BaoFeng 888 are cheap and good value with optional handsets.
For a group of 22 you'd want to group/customise into sub-channels.

Anyone handy with a PC and cable can temporary push one channel up to 5watt (better range),
but set back to regular low power when back off the mountain top!

They're generally (at or near) standard PMR 446.x Mhz EU type standard freq.
446 won't interfere with anyone else apart from public using any identical sub-channels.
Everyone else important (sea/air/business) is/should be using something way different.

US are slightly different around 462 and 467MHz.

Any of those eBay Chinese radios are not legal without a licence. An 888 for example can be programmed to transmit across 70mhz radio spectrum at ~5 watts. A PRM446 radio is set to is a tiny subset of 0.1mhz of spectrum transmitting at 0.5 watts.

Make sure you know what your doing if you choose to use something like that, you land on an important frequency and you could really piss the wrong people off.

4068ac1elhodqr

Rew wrote: »

Any of those eBay Chinese radios are not legal without a licence. An 888 for example can be programmed to transmit across 70mhz radio spectrum at ~5 watts. A PRM446 radio is set to is a tiny subset of 0.1mhz of spectrum transmitting at 0.5 watts.

Make sure you know what your doing if you choose to use something like that, you land on an important frequency and you could really piss the wrong people off.

It arrives legal in box as standard 0.5w PMR446 standard (or very close), if you were traveling with this, to various countries you could toggle it to comply with public radio for those specific locations thereby offering better adherence than if not.

The boost should only be considered in an emergency type situation, and on a spare channel e.g. lost on top of remote mountain, at sea or desert. Also features LED light, scan channels etc.

Think Binatone used to sell a PMR with an unusual non-compliant 446 variance, think they called it the Binatone 8 channel.

Rew

Rylan Old-fashioned Undershirt wrote: »

It arrives legal in box as standard 0.5w PMR446 standard (or very close), if you were traveling with this, to various countries you could toggle it to comply with public radio for those specific locations thereby offering better adherence than if not.

The boost should only be considered in an emergency type situation, and on a spare channel e.g. lost on top of remote mountain, at sea or desert. Also features LED light, scan channels etc.

Think Binatone used to sell a PMR with an unusual non-compliant 446 variance, think they called it the Binatone 8 channel.

Absolutely does not arrive in any way shape of form legal, nor can it be changed/programmed to be legal without a licence. The PMR446 licence emption requires that the antenna be fixed, the power output be fixed (to 0.5w) and the frequency range be fixed.

Just because you can buy easily online it doesn't make it legal to own or operate. You can certainly minimise the likelihood of pissing anyone off enough to care by outputting it on the correct frequencies, channel spacing and power but you should also understand that you could still find your self in hot water.

andyd12

I just thought they would be easier. I agree the roaming and the earpiece make things easier

I severely doubt the phone package I am on will have roaming etc, I didn't have it in Holland last month.
You could carry it inside your jacket pocket as long as it's compact enough.
Faffing around with a couple hundred euro phone 40 or 50 feet in the air is not a good idea either if you need to text or whatever.

Surely if you asked the mountain rescue what channel they were operating off, and stayed off it then it would be fine??

Just my take on it anyway

Rew

andyd12 wrote: »

Surely if you asked the mountain rescue what channel they were operating off, and stayed off it then it would be fine??

Just my take on it anyway

Assuming you do that and they tell you and don't report you, you could just as easily randomly land on some tother important frequency. Best to stick with PMR446 radios or if your going to use the Chinese ones program them properly for PMR446 and don't be under any illusion that its properly legal.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

andyd12 wrote: »

I just thought they would be easier. I agree the roaming and the earpiece make things easier

I severely doubt the phone package I am on will have roaming etc, I didn't have it in Holland last month.
You could carry it inside your jacket pocket as long as it's compact enough.
Faffing around with a couple hundred euro phone 40 or 50 feet in the air is not a good idea either if you need to text or whatever.

Surely if you asked the mountain rescue what channel they were operating off, and stayed off it then it would be fine??

Just my take on it anyway

Actually, yes you do, provided you stay within the EU, and you should've had in Holland last month also. I, personally, don't see any need for walkie talkies when, as robinph said above, you spend a considerable portion of your time on a chair lift anyway.

colly10

Id always be worried of dropping the phone on the lift or dropping gloves when I take them off to use it.
Maybe i'm clumsy but ye see enough stuff lying on the ground under lifts that I think ive been warned, I don't chance it

robinph

colly10 wrote: »

Id always be worried of dropping the phone on the lift or dropping gloves when I take them off to use it.
Maybe i'm clumsy but ye see enough stuff lying on the ground under lifts that I think ive been warned, I don't chance it

Check for messages at the top and bottom of the lift. If nessecary change which piste you go down to meet others.

Otherwise crack on with your sliding.

a148pro

I've never used them but I'd say they're a lot easier, particularly if you had a mike mounted inside your jacket. The day you see ski patrols using mobile phones is the day they've become easier. As against that phones have GPS and there certainly were apps where you could see where your mates were.

I also agree with the idea of just not using the phone at all when skiing. Optimum skiing conditions are with one or two mates of similar skill and enthusiasm who you just spend the whole day with. Phones just lead to faff, fiddling on lifts, missing calls and texts and just waste time altogether.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

a148pro wrote: »

I've never used them but I'd say they're a lot easier, particularly if you had a mike mounted inside your jacket. The day you see ski patrols using mobile phones is the day they've become easier. As against that phones have GPS and there certainly were apps where you could see where your mates were.

I also agree with the idea of just not using the phone at all when skiing. Optimum skiing conditions are with one or two mates of similar skill and enthusiasm who you just spend the whole day with. Phones just lead to faff, fiddling on lifts, missing calls and texts and just waste time altogether.

My point anyway is that there's no need to spend the money on walkie talkies with the new laws on roaming. I could see why in years gone by people would invest in them, but not any more unless you know coverage is going to be an issue. If you have the money to spend on them by all means go for it, it would certainly make things easier for communicating.

As for your second point, if you were going with people of similar ability then you wouldn't need another way of communicating, but I would imagine most people go in groups of mixed ability, hence the need for some form of remote communication. And, as was said before, if you only use phones on the chair lifts/gondolas then you're not wasting time, inconvenient getting it out, yes, but you're sitting on your hole anyway.

andyd12

Back from a week in Austria. We bought the walkie talkies and they were a super investment, soooo much easier than a phone and quicker if you wanted to get a message across.
The weather was pretty crazy early in the week and kept everyone safe and helped anyone avoid super deep snow when visibility was very poor.
Highly recommend them

irlirishkev

We still use walkies on every trip.

Much quicker than phones. More hard wearing too, and I don't need to take my mittens off to operate them, unlike my phone.

We'd only switch them on if we seperate, or split into groups etc..

I also love ending my sentences with 'over'. Over.

Rew

Remote PTT makes them more convenient again as you can have it easily accessible (radio in an inside pocket and PTT clipped to the collar of the jacket)