Walkie Talkies

[R360]

Going on a road trip across the states later this year and want to get some walkie talkies so we can communicate between the 2 cars.
Can anyone recommend any that work well, and are reasonably small.
I don’t really know anything about them, just had a quick look at the Maplins site and they seem to have a few, looking to spend about £30-£60

[ErnestM]

An intro to two way radios (consumer) in the US:

http://www.bestbuy.com/olspage.jsp?guideID=1072288...

Motorola are a good brand. Specifically, The EM1000R. You can get a package of two for around $40 US. I have a GMRS license so use the more powerful bands, but the FRS is good for about a mile car to car.

HTH

ETA...

For car use, buy the Motorola PTT earpiece/mic so that you can keep two hands (mostly) on the wheel.

Edited by ErnestM on Monday 3rd May 14:28

[Eggman]

Buy them over there - what is legal here isn't legal there and vice-versa. European PMR radios may look like American FRS radios, but they use different frequencies. Similarly, European CB is FM; theirs is AM.

For the type of money you're talking about, I expect you'll be buying PMR/FRS - the range on those is pretty rubbish really (0.5 miles or so), but adequate for car to car use as long as you don't lose each other.

[Dave 500]

Do it properly and get CB's much better range.

http://www.thunderpole.co.uk/

[sadako]

Eggman said:

Buy them over there - what is legal here isn't legal there and vice-versa. European PMR radios may look like American FRS radios, but they use different frequencies. Similarly, European CB is FM; theirs is AM.

For the type of money you're talking about, I expect you'll be buying PMR/FRS - the range on those is pretty rubbish really (0.5 miles or so), but adequate for car to car use as long as you don't lose each other.

Not all european CB is FM, most countries use AM/SSB also as a choice. Here in the UK, however, we both have to use FM only and for a long time had to use a really wierd band compared to the rest of the world. As you guess though many radio enthusiasts bend this law a little so you can probably get AM CB radios here without too much trouble.

For what you want, however, pick up some American FRS radios like the aforementioned Motorolas. They will do what you want, be easy to use and so on.

[R360]

Cheers for all the advce guys, any other recomendations other then the Motorola EM1000R, if not will find somewhere in the UK to buy these from.
The reason the budget is so tight is due to wanting something we can chuck away when we leave the US, as we are not likely to use them again.