Long distance Walkie Talkies

[Raven]

Hello! I could really do with some advice as this subject is a weakness for me.

Personally I don’t see the point in keeping a general radio to listen to others etc. It doesn’t fit into my personal plans and focus. After a brief discussion with our group they agreed that our priorities are the same and that doesn’t fit into what we need to get straight away.

A) But I want to have long distance walkie-talkies so our group can contact each other and communicate as we are making our ways to the rendezvous point. Problem is, I want a walkie talkie to be able to travel at least 500 miles Ideally 1200miles in case we are on holiday etc - is this possible? We will need at least 6 walkie talkies in the group.

B) Can you get them that work on the natural radio frequencies in the air? I know there is something that does, but can walkie talkies?

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide

[Yorkshire Andy]

For that your wanting satalite phones but they ain't cheap

[Arwen Thebard]

At under £400 the Thuraya XT satellite phone seems to be the cheapest option with plenty of others out there for £1000 plus.

[preppergb]

Possibly and only possibly a decent portable ham radio unit but connected to an EXTERNAL wire di-pole antenna set up for use at pre arranged times with the rest of your team, EG Radio watch at 23.58 to 00.02, and 11.58 to 12.02 hours each day. I have no idea about how far you could reach but I do know of preppers with portable Amateur radio equipment who organise " Scheds" ?? between each other from hill tops across entire countries.

My own radio wallahs have UV5rs and UV8s that they connect to the wire di pole thingys when they are pratting around in the woods and dales.

I believe the antenna is like this 10/11 meter CB / ham antenna??

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11-MTR-Mono- ... 2253606456

As I said above I'm no radio geek but I think regardless of what kit you use to get 500 miles RELIABLY you will probably need to access the Ham Repeater thingies.

[preppergb]

Darn it another one I sourced from the US, apologies , will try and find UK sourced equivelent.

[Raven]

Reading through all of the kind and detailed responses (thank you btw) my mind is blown, I Have a lot more to learn i guess.

Haha! I went on a long journey this weekend and answered my own question - the radio stations change depending on how far you drive so that would happen with walkie-talkies - they’d go out of range. So they are limited.

I then thought maybe pagers could work long distance but it requires radio transmitters.

I need something reliable, very low tech so no need for satellites etc, but I guess there’s no such thing

[Appin]

Radio comms over certain distances are difficult.

Most handhelds will effectively be line of sight. Though from a good position that can be quite a distance.

If you rely upon repeaters you are also relying upon power supplies.

Radio amateurs do have techniques to bridge the gap between lineof sight and the skip distance. Nothing is perfect so the correct equipment and skills are important.

NVIS + Near Vertical Incidence Skywave is a technique to use radio over distances up to about 400 miles.

Please see the links below.

Skip distance

https://www.electronics-notes.com/artic ... e-zone.php

NVIS

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_vert ... ce_skywave

[Stonecarver]

Reading through all of the kind and detailed responses (thank you btw) my mind is blown, I Have a lot more to learn i guess.

Haha! I went on a long journey this weekend and answered my own question - the radio stations change depending on how far you drive so that would happen with walkie-talkies - they’d go out of range. So they are limited.

I then thought maybe pagers could work long distance but it requires radio transmitters.

I need something reliable, very low tech so no need for satellites etc, but I guess there’s no such thing

Comms should only be a last resort. Plan ahead for eventualities and share among your group

[Raven]

Comms should only be a last resort. Plan ahead for eventualities and share among your group

Radio comms over certain distances are difficult.

Nothing is perfect so the correct equipment and skills are important.

I think you both summed it up quite nicely there.

[mallie99]

Why don't you use Zello on your mobile? You can set up a channel and have everyone in your group talk to each other wherever they have a data signal on their mobile. If you really want a "radio" look and feel, you can pickup an Inrico T-199 or something similar.