 Can anyone recommend a two way radio set for the hills that has decent range and works well!
Want to use when group splits or in seperate groups where varying levels of skill and fitness come into effect to maintain contact.
Thanx
Kev
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I dont think there are many 2 ways that work well in the hills Kevin. You may just as well take mobile phones. I suggest you also plan routes suitable for the groups depending on age, fitness and experience. What sort of groups are we talking about here kevin and how qualified are the leaders?
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 Kevin, you could have a look at these Motorolla jobbies available from Cotswolds. Their range is about two miles... I'd be wary of relying soley on Mobiles as the reception can be crap. If you want to use mobiles then SMS text is often a better way of getting a message through instead of speech, as the text only needs a short period of a signal, wearas using speach means that you need to maintain a signal for the whole of the conversation (obviously...) Mind you the use of two-ways is limited as they are mainly line-of-site and if you have a bloody big mountain in the way you have no chance of picking u pa signal. Hang on I think Jon did a review of them...
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Sorry that first hyperlink to Cotswolds didn't work for some reason: I'll try again
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Thanks for that info Alex & Dave, skill levels from mountain leaders, down to novice so no worries on all those fronts. They are just for our group use (7-10) but rather than buy and try, best get top advice for the best from users on this site. We did try some Binatone things but you hear each other shouting better than the radios.
Done the phone thing but as said so unreliable as signals go.
Thanx
Kev
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 The Motorolas seemed pretty decent to me, but range is very variable, good over line of sight, less so when there are big rocky bits in the way - excellent for short range stuff, like multi-pitch climbing and they'd be brilliant for, say, the front and rear of a large group. They work really well for mountain bikes where people can go sailing off oblivious to the flat tyre at the back.
I've only ever used the Motorolas, so my context is a bit lacking, but I'd guess that they're par for the course and as good or better than any of the others. Ultimately you just have to work within the limitations of these things and accept that in some situations they simply won't work. Depends on the distances involved and the terrain.
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 We bought 10 Multicom Pros from www.wildtalk.com who gave us good discount as well.Rechargable, car vgargers etc available as well.Tough and weatherproof.Used from Beacons to French Alps.Line of sight problem whatever you buy but on a planned route with enough helpers you can run relays off the high points.
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 We use Motorolas, nothing to add to what the others say except you can do lots to improve reception,
line of sight is best but reception can be good in rolling countryside.
put a large ground feature behind you to reflect the signal in the required direction.
signal improves over water or waterlogged ground.
try and get in the habit of transmitting with the antennae aligned vertically, and keep them vertically aligned when walking etc.
hth
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 The problem with these particular "PMR" sets is that they are in the UHF band around the 460 mhz. This means that they are vey limited in range due to the high power required for the relitively short distances that they can transmit at these higher frequencies. They are also very much affected by the "line of sight" issue also due to the wave length.
If you want to be able to communicate over longer distances and "around corners" so to speak then you might be better getting hold of a couple of old UK "citizens band" 27 Mhz hand held transceivers as the range for power ratio is much improved by the lower wave band. Most of them were rated at 4 watts power output which can transmit over a much greater distance at these lower frequencies that the PMR sets can rated at a half watt at 460 mhz.
They ONLY down side with this is the physical size of them and the fact that most take a dozen aa size batteries (10 + 2 dummies
You can still get them if you ask around!!
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As an example I still have two of them and back in the early eighties I was on top of Twmbarlym mountain with one which is situated 1500 feet above and between Cardiff and Newport.
I was able to communicate with a Naval Officer, sitting in his car on PORTLAND bill on the south coast of England some 84 miles away!
Admittedly he was using a car based CB set, but at 84 miles he could hear me "strength 5" and it was n way "line of site!!"
Also in the early eighties, when I was a member of a rescue unt, we used hand held tranceivers in the 80-90 mhz band also rated at 4 watts, and had no problems covering the whole of the Brecon Beacons with them, with of course the odd "blac spot."
Remeber also, these PMR sets are realy nothing more than "executive" toys, and were never intended as serious communication aids!!!
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 Have used them for multi-pitch climbing, which is made much less of a faff, especially when there's a wind, you're out of sight of the belayer, and it's a long route. Saves all that shouting or trying to interpret rope tugs.
Also used a set skiing in Alpe d'Huez this year, where the problem was channel congestion, rather than range. Admittedly, they were rather nice Entel Eurowaves:
http://www.entel.co.uk/product.php?product_id=15&range_id=5#
I've ordered a Goodmans set from eBay, should be arriving soon (£37 inc p&p). I'll try to report back when I've had a play. Coincidentally, a mate bought three Binatone ones from Argos, also for multi-pitch work. He's found that he can't test his on his own...
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I use NTL radios, find them very reliable and not to expensive. Try Argos but avoid cheap and cheerful(Buy cheap-Buy twice).
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try oregon scientific argos, stacks of bands ect........
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Hey, same like i have heard about the two way radio battires, is it the same as the normal one radio battry.......?
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Batteries in two way radios (nowadays called mostly PMR's) are mostly rechable AA batteries or one rechable battery witch can replaced wit rechable AA batteries. Range has improved over time as well. Current models have a range from 8 to 10 km. I use a Topcom Twintalker 4810 set with a range of 8km. It works just fine for the purpose I'm using it (kids who are walking behind or in front of the route). Range in a forrest is good. So a literal line of sight isn't neccersary. real disturbers are buildings and high hills or mountains. You then have to be on the same mountainside for a good range. Topcom Twintalker sets are decent starter sets, fair prized and good specs.
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 I know a couple of guys who use some 2 way radios by Midland when they are out on their motorbikes, the range seems really good, with line of sight they claim that 30miles is a realistic limit. They use the VHF Marine band, rather than the PMR that most 2way radios use, so I'm not sure if you need some sort of licence to use them, they also pick up transmissions from boats...
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| Edited: 29/12/09 13:01 |
You might want a look at the Motorola XTR 446 radios: http://www.netradios.co.uk/productdetail.cfm?product=Motorola___XTR_446_Twin_Pack&theProductID=C16134CE-15C5-F4C0-99839FD280BE6938 They're meant to achieve a range of about 5 miles. You're going to be wanting to use either citizen's band or PMR 446 kit, the other possibilities are to pay for a licence to use a section of the spectrum and buy the appropriate radio for it or you could get the Foundation Ameteur radio licence, be warned that there might well be other traffic using the frequencies though. If there's a citizen's band in the VHF range of frequencies this is probably the frequency you'll want to use, no licence needed, again there will probably be other users and be prepared for a bit of colourful language. If you need further information on any of this just post or PM me.
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| Edited: 25/01/10 23:51 |
