Use of 2 way radios / walkie talkies on the continent
Discussion
Hi all,
I'm off to Spa in a couple of days with some pals and Le Mans in June. One member in the group has asked about the use of 2 way radios / walkie talkies and whether or not they are illegal on the Continent or if there are any rules and regs.
Does anyone have any experience or knowledge in this field, other than "it's probably not allowed but you'll be fine if you don't get caught"
Thanks in advance,
Rich
I'm off to Spa in a couple of days with some pals and Le Mans in June. One member in the group has asked about the use of 2 way radios / walkie talkies and whether or not they are illegal on the Continent or if there are any rules and regs.
Does anyone have any experience or knowledge in this field, other than "it's probably not allowed but you'll be fine if you don't get caught"
Thanks in advance,
Rich
Have done a lot of Euro hoon organising & used comms a lot. Only issue i've had was in Switzerland 7 thats just down to the law. Can't remember the specifics but we stil used them just kept them hidden when we crossed the border & had to show docs at the crossing.
Everywhere else was fine.
Everywhere else was fine.
Echo66 said:
Have done a lot of Euro hoon organising & used comms a lot. Only issue i've had was in Switzerland 7 thats just down to the law. Can't remember the specifics but we stil used them just kept them hidden when we crossed the border & had to show docs at the crossing.
Everywhere else was fine.
^^^^^^ what he said. We have used them since about 2005 for our Euro trips.Everywhere else was fine.
Switch them off and put them out of sight if you get stopped.
Ex77
Rushjob said:
If you're using PMR 446 radios then they are legal to use in the UK @ Europe.
What he said... Depends on the type of radio, but the common PMR446 'walkie talkies' are legal all over Europe.Personally though having used them, they are a bit rubbish. Limited to 0.5watt, and once you get inside a metal and glass box, like a car, the range is terrible. By terrible I mean a couple of hundred meters line of sight if you are lucky, futher than that and you just get nothing. Ignore the silly claims on the box of stuff like "12km range!"... It's MAYBE 12km if the two users were stood on mountain peaks opposite each other with nothing but clear sky between them.
We then used CB's for a bit, and they worked great, but the smallest magnetic antenna you can buy is a foot long and you have to find somewhere outside to stick in and shut the wire in the door etc. Not a great look having a CB antenna on your car. Plus CB is easily annoying when you go past power lines etc, buzzing and crackling.
So I pushed to boat out and bought some Yaesu VX177 and programmed them to the PMR446 channels.
Rechargeable heavy duty battery, lasts all day but comes with cigarette lighter plug for extended use.
Huge 5 watts output, get at least a couple of miles car to car, and something daft like 20-30 miles standing out in the open. The range is handy when you get separated in traffic or across a town.
Drop proof, shock proof and totally waterproof.
DCS Digital squelch so it only un-mutes when a friend talks, not when it picks up interference or when someone else speaks.
Sound quality is excellent.
Absolutely fantastic. Used them for many road trips all over UK and Europe.
You get what you pay for!
We have cheap walkie talkies for the kids. They say they have an 8km range.
We dont expect the range to be that far but they do reach from within our house to some 700m away as the crow flies (lots of houses etc in line of sight) while the other was in a car.
As well as legality of using 'any' walkie talkie, check there are no regulations on what frequency can be used. I know that UK ones arnt allowed in the states and vice versa.
We dont expect the range to be that far but they do reach from within our house to some 700m away as the crow flies (lots of houses etc in line of sight) while the other was in a car.
As well as legality of using 'any' walkie talkie, check there are no regulations on what frequency can be used. I know that UK ones arnt allowed in the states and vice versa.
PMR446 (446MHz) and CB (27MHz) are "licence-free", so you can use them in Europe. For the road, if you are close enough the 500mW of the PMR446 will be a-OK. CB has more power (4 watts?) but as said before, the antennas are much longer (~70cm wavelength for PMR446 compared to 11m for CB!) and as such tend to be more impractical if you want to go walkabout...
Paul M6PBL
Paul M6PBL
plenty said:
NinjaPower said:
So I pushed to boat out and bought some Yaesu VX-177 and programmed them to the PMR446 channels.
A quick search didn't yield this model for sale in the UK...any suggestions on retailers?Have a search for that new model.
For buying new, I would actually recommend searching eBay and ordering from China etc. Thats were I got mine from as it was the best price and they arrived in about a week. If you are paying by paypal then you haven't got anything to worry about really.
These people are big UK stockists of Yaesu and other such things, but couldn't see that particular radio in their stock: http://www.nevadaradio.co.uk
NinjaPower said:
W<snip>
So I pushed to boat out and bought some Yaesu VX177 and programmed them to the PMR446 channels.
Rechargeable heavy duty battery, lasts all day but comes with cigarette lighter plug for extended use.
Huge 5 watts output, get at least a couple of miles car to car, and something daft like 20-30 miles standing out in the open. The range is handy when you get separated in traffic or across a town.
Drop proof, shock proof and totally waterproof.
DCS Digital squelch so it only un-mutes when a friend talks, not when it picks up interference or when someone else speaks.
Sound quality is excellent.
Absolutely fantastic. Used them for many road trips all over UK and Europe.
You get what you pay for!
and run the risk of prosecution by OFCOM and seizure of that (and any other radio) equipment ... So I pushed to boat out and bought some Yaesu VX177 and programmed them to the PMR446 channels.
Rechargeable heavy duty battery, lasts all day but comes with cigarette lighter plug for extended use.
Huge 5 watts output, get at least a couple of miles car to car, and something daft like 20-30 miles standing out in the open. The range is handy when you get separated in traffic or across a town.
Drop proof, shock proof and totally waterproof.
DCS Digital squelch so it only un-mutes when a friend talks, not when it picks up interference or when someone else speaks.
Sound quality is excellent.
Absolutely fantastic. Used them for many road trips all over UK and Europe.
You get what you pay for!
mph1977 said:
and run the risk of prosecution by OFCOM and seizure of that (and any other radio) equipment ...
You are of course technically correct, but the possibility of that happening is so incredibly remote that it doesn't even cross my mind.When was the last time you saw OFCOM randomly stopping cars to check for a walkie talkie in the door pocket?
Who would ever make a complaint about someone chatting on the public, licence-free, and very common PMR446 channels?
NinjaPower said:
<snip>
Who would ever make a complaint about someone chatting on the public, licence-free, and very common PMR446 channels?
other than hams, legit PMR users you mean ... and while it may seem dramatic expect the 'terrorist' shroud waving to occur if you were stopped for something else and a search of the vehicle done ... Who would ever make a complaint about someone chatting on the public, licence-free, and very common PMR446 channels?
we use £30 motorola units when we go, have about a 4-5k range apparently.....never had any trouble from plod apart from in the Gorge Du Tern when a static unit say us drive past with me (as passenger) on the walkie. They stopped us as they through it was a mobile didn't realise i wasn't the driver but then just waived us on.
mph1977 said:
other than hams, legit PMR users you mean ... and while it may seem dramatic expect the 'terrorist' shroud waving to occur if you were stopped for something else and a search of the vehicle done ...
I very much doubt that the Police know one kind of walkie talkie from another, nor do they want to. There must be hundreds of various models in circulation from all the different PMR and Argos/Maplin type devices right though to ham radio stuff.So I suppose therefore that your advice applies to anyone with a walkie talkie in the car? Expect to be branded a terrorist and cuffed until the police check out why you have one?
I know I sound like I'm labouring this point, and I apologise, but I just can't see the average petrolhead who uses walkie talkies a handful of times a year on a road trip, getting at all concerned over it all.
I would be a hell of a lot more worried about the speeding offences on the way to the destination
NinjaPower said:
mph1977 said:
other than hams, legit PMR users you mean ... and while it may seem dramatic expect the 'terrorist' shroud waving to occur if you were stopped for something else and a search of the vehicle done ...
I very much doubt that the Police know one kind of walkie talkie from another, nor do they want to. There must be hundreds of various models in circulation from all the different PMR and Argos/Maplin type devices right though to ham radio stuff.So I suppose therefore that your advice applies to anyone with a walkie talkie in the car? Expect to be branded a terrorist and cuffed until the police check out why you have one?
I know I sound like I'm labouring this point, and I apologise, but I just can't see the average petrolhead who uses walkie talkies a handful of times a year on a road trip, getting at all concerned over it all.
I would be a hell of a lot more worried about the speeding offences on the way to the destination
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff