Handheld Two-Way Radio's

The two-way handheld radio's are great for keeping in touch with your friend's on a hike or with your family in the mall. These are the newer versions of the walkie-talkies, that we had as children. If I remember correctly we started out with two tin cans and a string of wire, before upgrading to a walkie-talkie set. The cheap ones cover a distance of ten miles or less. And the upgraded types go for 12 to 18 miles, or more. This is a great way to carry on a conversation in the woods.

Some people who have the proper licenses use the ham radio's, but they are less likely to work as well in mountainous conditions in getting a signal out. Unless of course your sitting in a National or local park setting.

Have you ever used hand-held two-way radios? If so, how well did they perform under forest conditions and in wet weather?

Please share here.

 

I actually own a set of these, I think they are made by Motorola. Our family used them when we were on vacation in another country and didn't want to use our cell phones to reach each other when we were seperated at the mall or somewhere in the hotel or wherever. I can see them being helpful in a camping situation but I usually don't bring them along because the group I'm with tends to stick together camping.

It is however probably the most practical and cheapest way to talk over short distances.

Edit: I think these were the ones actually, let me know if they look similar to yours.

 

The brand I have are Bell South. They look about the same although the antenna's are shorter. But most work pretty well in communicating over short distances. We used them in the malls in Florida, when each of us had another part of the store to explore. It sure saved that problem of having to search the isles looking for family members.

Used in the woods, the same outcome would save hunters and hikers alike from it taking days to find someone compared to a few hours, unless the batteries go dead.

 

Well that is interesting to know because I too am a licensed amateur ham radio operator and listen and talk on the 2-meter bands. What area are you from? Do you ever use your computer in connection with the radio to talk longer distances?

 

Is the license necessary just so that people are not polluting the airwaves with improper information? Or is it more of way to fund the organization that maintains the spectrum?

And how does it work with your computer? That is something I've never heard of before.

 

While there is a National club, The American Radio Relay League, anyone can get a license to communicate with people all over the world. It is controlled by the FCC, and yes it keeps people from polluting the airways with bad language and hogging the airways as well. But the main use is for ham radio is another form of communication in the event of disasters. During Hurricane Katrina hundreds of ham radio users helped save lives and provide vital information. Each week those who wish to be a part of such a network of help in case of any emergency do a systematic call in, taking turns in a orderly fashion. Then in an event such as loss of electricity these members team up answer the call of those in need.

If interested in studying for the ham radio license you can go to www.hamtestonline.com or www.arrl.org/home for more information.

In normal times it is a great way to visit with other ham radio operators, and by the use of repeater stations all over the country and world, we can talk with people close by or far far away. The computer program is called EchoLink. It provides a means of using your computer through the linking up of repeaters to talk to people and see where they are and it acts something like instant messaging. I have never personally used the computer program yet, as I have a good base radio and handset, that serves my purpose quite nicely. But I hope to get more involved in using it the future.

 

Well, Hikinghans, unless your repeater got connected with ours I doubt I would hear you over here in the north east. I got my small handheld Wouxun U.V. Dual Banded 2-meter to use for emergencies in our area, and for using in my car when traveling. I also have a base station with a antenna attached to my house for talking with friends and helping those in need. My handheld is just about worthless on it's own as the battery has a very short life. But I noticed the company has come out with a much longer lasting battery for it.
Just have to get around to ordering it.

 

I really like it, otherwise because it is easy to program. It comes with a computer disk, and you figure out the channels you want and then using the cable transfer the info from computer to radio. The instruction are pretty straight forward and being a duel band radio I have greater reach. It comes with a charger and and you can buy the part to use it in your car using the cigarette lighter for power. I also have a mike to use with it. Recently the company came out with a better battery for it. I will post the link here for you, where you can read all about them.

 

I finally found the link for the radio I have that is a hand held model. So now you can see what is available for this radio. I like it but hope to get a different set up for my car where the numbers are displayed in larger sizes and the display stays lit. http://www.mtcradio.com/wouxun-handheld/

 

Why do you need to program it? You can't adjust which channel to send/receive on unless you use the program to reconfigure it?

 

It does not come loaded with channels. You use the software to pick and load the local channels in your area. That way you are sure to pick up the happenings and people you know, plus by adding in the receiver stations around the country that commonly pick up the skip from around the world, it enables you to pick up calls from far away and also weather channel alerts. If you learn all about the ham radio sport and study for a license it will be easier to understand. It is lots of fun to be a part of something so useful in times of emergencies, as well as, all the new friends you meet on the radio.

 

I still don't really understand... Radios have been around a lot longer than laptops with USB ports have, what did they used to do to get the right station. If you know the frequency of the station you want, is it still possible to tune in manually?

 

Yes, if you know how you can still load all the frequencies manually. I think radio's have gone the way of everything else, making quicker and easier, ways to do something that was not all that hard to begin with.