# Walkies



## urbanprepper (May 15, 2012)

Hi Everyone, I had a couple questions for you all. I'm looking at getting a set of walkie talkies to keep in my bag. I've used some before, mostly when I was younger just to play around with. Does anyone here have any comments on some of the more popular brands out there?

Thanks everyone!


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## ComputerGuy (Dec 10, 2010)

I have 6 Motorola ealkie talkies and they are pretty good. They are the Motorola Talkabout MR350R FRS/GMRS 22-channel Two-way radio


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

I have two-sets of rechargable Cobra FRS-radios that give me a line-of-sight range of about 10km (10,000 meters or 10,000 yards), but, when deep in the bush with hills-and-trees between the members of my group, I normally can keep clean signal for about 5km.

I like the rechargable units because they use standard AAA-batteries and have the built-in charger that I can use off of a solar-panel, auto power-port or even the wall-charger at home for 120-volt connection ... 

They seem to be compatable with every other FRS that is out there which is a great thing.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

I also have a couple sets of the Motorola 350's. They work well and very durable. My son has a shoe box full of various radios he has gotten from garage sales, friends and other sources. Brands vary from Cobra to Midland to Radio Shack. To be fair they all seem to work regardless of brand. I just trust the Motorola brand from person experience. Although Midland has a crank powered "base station" radio for $90 or so that really interests me.

http://www.buydig.com/shop/product....=1503877813&catargetid=1558195212&cagpspn=pla


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## talob (Sep 16, 2009)

I'd be interested in the respons's myself, I have several different sets in wish list on Amazon been looking at revieus trying to decide witch one.


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## Indiana_Jones (Nov 15, 2011)

Batteries are the biggest hurdle to over come with hand held walkie talkies. If you keep them on standby they will only last a few days to a week. Of course if you use them frequently they will die much sooner.

I have an emergency radio with a solar collector, hand crank, and rechargeable batteries. I can also use my radio to power my hand held walkie talkies. One drawback to my arrangement is that DW and I need to have two emergency radios.

Each family in our "planned community" has solar collectors on our roofs with 12V DC wet cell battery banks for our 12V DC items and inverters for our 120V AC items. Something that I have been experimenting with is using a small motorcycle style wet cell 12V DC battery to power my walkie talkie. So far the battery has lasted 4 weeks on standby with occasional full power use. The battery is small enough to be mobile.


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## truecarnage (Apr 25, 2010)

I've had good luck with the Motorola FRS handhelds, I think you will need to drop a lot of cash to get better performance and that better performance comes at a cost of additional equipment like towers repeaters and stuff Like that, but I'm no expert so like i said i've had good luck with the handheld FRS type units.


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## Fn/Form (Nov 6, 2008)

The FRS/GMRS radios are a first choice for a lot of people. Affordable, handy, accessories availabile. The only problem is that a whole lot of people us them. They will be able to hear you, and during a big event you'll be vying for airtime with everyone else. That's what happened during the last big hurricane evac.

Amateur radios are the next step up. The cheap Chinese radios (Baofeng, Wouxun, IIRC) are a common choice nowadays. It's best to get licensed so you can use them at any time. The biggest drawbacks is that you get what you pay for in build quality, reliability and accessory quality.

The next rung up would be quality amateur radios that comply with some of the commercial or mil standards for tough use or water resistance. Icom, Yaesu and others are common choices.

My personal choice are the Standard Horizon HX370S (recently discontinued) or HX400 models. They cost 4-5x the price of a quality FRS radio, but they offer: huge battery compared to FRS, commercial quality accessories, waterproof ratings (they are marine radios), a quick charger included AND they are legal for marine use, amateur radio use AND land mobile use. The HX400 includes the voice scrambler module. It used to be a $100 or so option for the HX370s. The best bang for the buck, in my opinion. Standard Horizon is a sister company of Yaesu and Vertex Standard--quality companies.

Another thing the amateur radios offer is external antenna connections. For vehicle or BOL. A decent magnet mount vehicle antenna works wonders for these radios, and an affordable omni (such as Arrow Antenna J-pole) is a tough, high-gain upgrade for your BOL. Heck, even a longer handie talkie whip antenna helps.


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## Fn/Form (Nov 6, 2008)

Forgot to add: Get an earpiece for your radios, maybe a VOX boom mic setup, too. It can come in super handy.

The earpiece offers privacy, security (no blaring radio to draw attention when you're trying to be quiet, and reduces missed radio contacts.


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