# Walkie-Talkies



## Clarice (Aug 19, 2010)

As I have stated before we live on a busy state hwy. You never know who will be knocking at our door. I would like to purchase some walkie-talkies for Hubby and I to use. If he is out the back of the property and I am in the house and a problem arises I would like to alert him without alerting everyone else. Is there one that is powerful but quiet? How much should I expect to pay for a good set? Thanks for your help.


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

I'm a big fan of the Motorola's.

For what you want to do, I'd get a model with the built-in rechargable batteries. You just drop them in the cradle at night and they're ready to be on the next day (all day).

If you select a model that uses AA batteries, I'd get some rechargable batteries. These models are nice in a SHTF scenario since you can drop in new batteries instead of generating a 110v AC service to charge the aforementioned.

I would get a model with the sub channels. There's the primary channels but many radios have sub-channels for more privacy.

Since these are somewhat line-of-site, if you're in hilly terrain, their range will be limited. I've had no problems at ranges up to a mile through woods but if there's a valley on the other side, reception is hit-and-miss.

Oh, I didn't mention models as they change relatively frequently and mine are a couple years old. A decent set probably runs $50-100.


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

I agree with what BCZ said. The FRS/GMRS radios will probably do okay but don't get excited about the advertised range. The only time I've got even near those ranges is when it was from one ridgetop to another. They are pretty much line of sight. The bad thing is that many of them have scanners and will pick up your transmission frequency in a heartbeat. They won't be able to talk back unless they have your privacy code but they can listen in easily. Mst crooks aren't that astute though. 

We've had very good luck with Motorola. The units we own that were made by Cobra are junk. 

You can also get small CB units from radio shack. They seem to have a better range but cost more. If you want to go "whole hog" get your Ham radio license. They're the best by far. Our hand-held units were about $100 each and we easily have a 20 mile range with them at 5 watts power. (Unless someone parked a mountain between us!)


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## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

*Police codes*



mosquitomountainman said:


> I agree with what BCZ said. The FRS/GMRS radios will probably do okay but don't get excited about the advertised range. The only time I've got even near those ranges is when it was from one ridgetop to another. They are pretty much line of sight. The bad thing is that many of them have scanners and will pick up your transmission frequency in a heartbeat. They won't be able to talk back unless they have your privacy code but they can listen in easily. Mst crooks aren't that astute though.
> 
> We've had very good luck with Motorola. The units we own that were made by Cobra are junk.
> 
> You can also get small CB units from radio shack. They seem to have a better range but cost more. If you want to go "whole hog" get your Ham radio license. They're the best by far. Our hand-held units were about $100 each and we easily have a 20 mile range with them at 5 watts power. (Unless someone parked a mountain between us!)


If I was going to use Walkie Talkies to communicate with a pardner , I would assume that someone was going to overhear my transmission.

When I was a Deputy Sheriff, we used police codes. Everyone is familiar with police codes now but you can work out your own codes that you and your pardner can use to convey various messages. They could be as simple as 
a number code , such as.

code 1 = Come eat

code 2 = well everyone knows what number two is. You get the idea !

You can even use code names for members of the famiely.

I'm Lone Wolf ! My wife is Lone Sheep !


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## Clarice (Aug 19, 2010)

Thanks guys, you've been a big help. I really like the code idea.


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

BillM said:


> If I was going to use Walkie Talkies to communicate with a pardner , I would assume that someone was going to overhear my transmission.
> ...


The thing is that so many of the FRS and GMRS radios have the built in scan feature that any time you use one you should assume that someone will be listening. Plus with the popularity of the FRS/GMRS radios it seems everyone has them.

We have a neighbor who listens in on ours (FRS) at times so when we want more privacy we use the Ham rigs running simplex. (They aren't into radios enough to know how to scan on those channels.)

Even when we set our radio to scan the 2 meter band it takes awhile to get through all the frequencies. We somtimes use all three Ham radios plus the scanner if we're really being nosy but each one tends to get stopped on repeaters or the frequencies used by club members or local government channels. When it's fire season we keep the scanner at hand and turn it on if we see smoke. We have a setting where it will only hit the emergency/government frequencies so it goes through the search pretty fast. If there's a lot of radio traffic well get the Ham into use with pre-programmed channels too.


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