Cheap Walkie Talkies Work!

[ak2000]

Here are the gubbermint rules for personal radios:

Personal Radio Services

Personal radio services are short-range, low-power radio communications using devices that operate much like walkie-talkies. Personal radio services include one- and two-way voice services, data services and remote-control transmissions that operate equipment.

www.fcc.gov

For family channel radios like my new ones, 2 watts is the max and no special license is needed.

About two miles of useful range on the new 2 watt radios seems to be the norm.

I follow the law.

I require everyone I invite to my farm also follow the law.

It’s not I’m a do gooder, or holier than thou, following the law is a simple way to live to comb gray hair and not dread anything.


My farm is a mile long, and a half mile wide. 2 watts is plenty.


By deer season every hunter at my farm will have one of these issued.

In Polk County Missouri a hunter can buy Unlimted antlerless deer tags, $7 each.

I do not charge my friends to deer hunt. If I did I’d disgrace the memory of my ancestors who tried to legally kill every deer on our place since 1876.

My farm was a dairy farm, and you can have alfalfa or deer, not both.

We haven’t had alfalfa or dairy cows since 1971, but deer are still considered varmits by me.


Besides, all deer go to the poor and needy.


Old time sons of the pioneer farmers, of which I’m one, don’t eat deer, and I’m too old to develop a taste for it now.

I stand corrected, forgot that 2W was okay on FRS. Had a lot of fun with family and friends using Realistic and Cobra CBs when I was a lad. I'm actually in the commercial/ industrial/Public Safety radio communications business for the past 25 or so years.

 

[huntertrw]

My, my but technology have gotten smaller, hasn't it? Especially when you consider this:

 

[ak2000]

The current military radios aren't much smaller. Man pack radios are still large and heavy since they have to cover a very wide range of frequencies.

 

[Briar Lee]

Sorry, nauzetobserve, but commercial links from new posters get deleted. I see you've joined here two years ago, so a belated welcome! But step up a post a year and become involved! Maybe start with an introduction.

Well, you scored a great deal! I had a similar experience with a pair of << Snipped bits out >>

I picked up a while back. They were on sale and, for their price, worked way better than I expected. I used them on a camping trip with friends, and even with some distance between us, the reception was solid. It’s impressive how much technology has improved. Those ONN walkie talkies sound like a fun find, especially if they're holding up well. It's cool to see how much enjoyment you can get out of something that seems so simple.

Technological development is a rachet.

Once upon a time in Humansville, Kenneth Ireland was the undisputed oracle of all things automotive and provided us kids a warm place to smoke before and after school inside the temple of Ireland’s Car Clinic.

Once after school I went inside Kenneth’s garage and he said

Come ere’ Lookie at this thing!

That’s a computerized electronic ignition module

Now you tell me, how the owner is going to be able to take an emery file to the contact points and get home when that bastard quits?

Kenneth lit a Lucky Strike and declared electronic ignition unreliable.

And he did have a point, about the ability of points to run hurt , you know)

 

[ssjones]

We used the Zellos app during the hurricane when cell service was interrupted, it's a walkie-talkie for your phone.

 

[huntertrw]

When I was a lad, my father was an executive with Arvin Industries, Inc. and they made, among other things, walkie-talkies. I received a pair for a birthday or Christmas (I disremember which), and I spent countless hours playing with them.

One summer day I was in the field behind my elementary school, calling and calling (seemingly in vain) to see if anybody had a copy. Finally a woman's voice boomed out, "Hello, walkie-talkie!" That voice sounded vaguely familiar as we chatted. She asked for my 20, and I responded that I was in the field behind the school. I then asked her for her 20 and she informed me that she was in the school!

It turned out that the woman was the school's beloved custodian. She had a powerful table-top rig set up in the basement (up to that point I was unaware that the school even had a basement), and a large antenna on the chimney.

This was a little thing, but it made that summer magical, and a memory that I cherish to this day.

 

[warren]

I use the walkie-talkie setting app on my phone when shooting with other photographers. One less piece of equipment to lug around.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I was thrilled to learn I could walkie-talkie with my son on our iPhones. Tried it once, and never again. I can see where the feature would be useful, but we're not in that situation- say in the country with open fields and poor cell service.