Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Walkie talkies while traveling

8 hour road trip coming up with some friends. 2 vehicles and should be right behind each other. Ever used walkie talkies for communication while traveling?

Nope, but could keep the kids entertained

Now that CB radio is dead, a pair of Motorola Talk-Abouts makes a viable alternative to cell phones out in the West where cell coverage isn't always very good. They're strictly line-of-sight, and good for three to five miles most of the time.

Yes, before cell phones became prevalent.

Back in the day you would occasionally get a bunch of jokers cutting in too saying all kinds of crap if they were on the same channel.

Same thing with deer hunting, we just text each other on our cells, why make all the noise?

They are really handy and easier than using cell phones.

Years ago we took an RV trip with my parents. We used radios to keep in touch in the pickups. Now we have a hands free law so they'd be illegal unless you have a headset for them.

My CB works fine.

Yep. Worked great, too. When my son got out of the Army we were loaded up in two Uhaul trucks both pulling vehicle trailers. Walkie talkies were real handy, and yeah we had a couple laughs with other people on the road that were doing the same thing.

Back before cell phones....

Got a pair of these for the move from Montana back to Alaska. Worked great the entire way, even those “kids had to pee” moments when the vehicles ended up 2-3 miles apart.

https://midlandusa.com/product/mxt400-micromobile-2-way-radio/

Yes all the time and we got the cb s the talkies work in the big city. Mall to the nearby hotel to ...they can shop and I can watch tv with a beer !

They work great out here in the Big Empty where cell phone service is spotty to non-existant. Have used them several times.

Yes, I keep a pair for traveling with the kids in separate vehicles.

They go in the camper for fishing trips, for communication between the boat and camp. Or hikers and camp.

When Momma has lunch ready, I do not want to be late.

They beat the [bleep] out of cell phones for that application.

The cell is the cats ass for back up. Takes the worry out of getting separated.
Eliminates the need and risk of playing "Chase". One of the best damn ways
there are for getting in a bad wreck.

Does anybody use a CB anymore? Besides Wabi. Lol.

I remember road trips as a kid listening to all the chatter. Was like a rolling variety show.

I hadn't heard about the demise of CB radio. Is it true? My son belonged to a Jeep club (up until 2-3 years ago), and they all had CB's in their Jeeps for communication out in the boondocks. I still have a pair of Panasonic walkie-talkies my dad gave me on my 10th birthday in 1967, still like new.

CB is still alive in some applications. But it got to be a real sewer "back in the day", with all kinds of nastiness going on. That's quite a bit better now, and with much less activity. I rarely check the CB channels for activity, and almost never hear anyone.

Two other problems with CB come from its place in the radio spectrum.

At 27 MHz, a naturally resonant whip antenna is around 9 feet long. Of course, you can shorten that up with a loading coil, but antennas for this frequency are far bigger than those for UHF handie-talkies. But with CB, you're allowed to have an external antenna. With the UHF handie-talkies, you're limited to the attached antenna.

During peak sunspot years. 27 MHz often supports long distance communication. Suddenly, people trying to stay in contact while cruising through rural Utah are getting interference from folks in North Carolina. During a high sunspot year, I had a chance to operate on the 29 MHz amateur band from Taiwan. I was able to work all the US states except 2-3, if that gives you any idea of the propagation potential.

UHF handie talkies are very nice if you have families traveling together. You don't have to dial them. You just punch the push to talk button. They are great for scheduling gas and food stops, and the kids usually find them very entertaining.

Been doing that for a long time - handy, inexpensive and did this a bunch over the past several months while moving 300 miles to a new location. Two trucks with trailers on a number of trips - very easy and a bit reassuring.

Have done it a bunch of times. Works well

I use a set of Midland radios. They work quite well.