Affordable walkie talkies

[Unrustle_Thine_Jimmies]

Eh,No problem. I'm more inclined to believe you since you're obviously more experienced with this sort of stuff. I only bought one to serve as a temp for a MILSIM game before getting a fancier Motorola or Baofeng. I did hear a few reports of the newer binatones like the 'action' and 'terrain' (What stupid names ) series working surprisingly well in forested areas.

 

I think I;ll run this one I have 'till I get me a Hicapa and sort out all my other funds,then move on.

[Ian_Gere]

Yeah, at the end of the day, they all transmit 0.5W and their antenna are very similar. You get some which manage a blim better reception by using a better chip managing the squelch/pre-amp interaction, but you're not really going to notice it unless you spend enough for XTNi / XTNiD sort of quality. The main difference between the sub £100 ones is bells & whistles which we, as airsofters, hardly ever, if ever, use. The cheaper and/or crapper ones suffer more and more from distortion, but it matters where the majority of it enters the system: in the amp stage is better b/c keeping the volume low increases the signal to noise ratio, whereas before that and it's there whatever you do - the thing is the pre-amp is part of the main chip, which is why Motorola have the edge when it comes to cheaper handsets - they brand their own chips.

[TacMaster]

I own a pair of Motorola TA-200s and they're very good despite the bright colours, although I use the dark blue one and I let my mate use the bright yellow handset when we go skirmishing. He has a pouch big enough for it anyway.

[murph]

I've found XTR446 radios to be fine for outdoors. If you want to look like the real deal, get yourself a faux PRC152 radio case and try a fancy PTT setup. At least that's what I'm attempting!

[Namaco]

Why not - http://www.airsoftworld.net/tactical-equipment/comms-and-radio/twintalker-9500-airsoft-edition-pmr-radio-single-radio-set.html ?

[Baz JJ]

As Ian said, they are all much of a muchness in that they have to conform to a standard.

I doubt the Twintalker was designed for Airsofting. I suspect this has more to do with the fact that they have added some bits to the package. Also I wish suppliers would stop quoting 10Km range.

You will never attain that in practice and I think it is misleading. There seems to be a lot of BS and misconceptions about PMR 446 radios. I work with the professional stuff on much higher powers and different bands and PMR446 is basically a low range radio for the masses.

 

However, its fine for short range team comms - typically a few hundred metres in woodland, but remember its not secure. Anybody can listen in.

 

Personally I would worry more about which mic and headset to use.

[clumpyedge]

dont all jump on me at once...........but.........

 

 

 

i went for a binatone deal that i found... was £100 for 4 radios plus battery docking stations.

if they dont work out ill sell them on just needed something quick and easy to use really.

 

 

thank you all for your advice though i have kept all the info so when i choose to upgrade and get better comms ill keep all this in mind.

the only reason i got these binatone ones is because they were being sold so close to me i would have to pay any extra for postage etc and im only paying for 1 of them essentially.

[Baz JJ]

Really?

 

Oh well, give them a try, see how you get on.

 

Be careful when you buy a headset/PTT for them as if you upgrade to a better radio, you will need to match the connection which can be a bit limiting.