 Poster: A snowHead
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Has anyone ever purchased / used the walkie talkies from Aldi? If, so are they any good?
Just thinking if the other half wishes to chill reading at a mountain hut whilst I go off and try a few runs.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Would be interested in this also....
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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If they are PMR radios, they will only really work in line-of-sight in the mountains. The range is significantly reduced when you introduce a mountain. I've got some Kenwood and Motorola ones and find they are better than cheaper models, but still not great. The most I use them for is if I'm skiing in a group (especially off-piste, or if we're wanting to take some photos or video), the lead and back-marker has one but beyond that I find their use is limited.
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PMR??
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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PMR446 is it's full acronym, (Personal Mobile Radio, 446 MHz)
It's the digital, free-to-use, unlicensed radio frequency that these radios will be operating on.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PMR446
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| Quote: |
The range is significantly reduced when you introduce a mountain.
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They just don't go through mountains at all, do they? We used walkie talkies at one point, and they were occasionally useful, but mobile phones are better - texts are cheap and the occasional short conversation doesn't cost too much.
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Certainly wouldn't be venturing too far if we were to do this. Problem is.... my mobile is also my work phone, so wanting to leave it in the UK or at worst the hotel room.
Maybe picking up a cheap PAYG is the best option if these are limited?
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Very limited range and the few channels are full of inane chatter (most often in English).
Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Now stay in cupboard.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| altis wrote: |
Very limited range and the few channels are full of inane chatter (most often in English).
Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Now stay in cupboard. |
newer ones have far more channels, 16 rather than the old 8, so less chance of finding one full of inane chatter 
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| theone wrote: |
Maybe picking up a cheap PAYG is the best option if these are limited? |
Got it in one 
In the mountains, 2 way radios fall into two catagories. Those that work(used by resort staff), and those that don't (used by everyone else!).
Plus, any radio will be bigger,and heavier,than any mobile. Guessing that the rest of your party will be mobiled...that's the way to go.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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We have motorolla ones for the kids. Fine for a mile or two. Works through buildings/trees etc, but useless if you introduce a small hill between you.
To give you a rough idea -
Val Thorens, Arinsal, GM we could talk to them anywhere.
Les Houches, Le Tour, Killington we could be 100 yards away and not be able to communicate.
Varying success in other resorts. Les Contamines, if we all stayed in the south bowl (which is fairly extensive, Pam will give us the name ) we had no problem, but if we dropped into the Northern area for more than about 20 yards they didn't work.
They are about the size and weight of a golf-ball, so I would have to disagree with snowskisnow on the size thing.
All that said, now the kids are bigger and can be trusted not to leave stuff sitting on tables, we will probably take own phones and buy PAYG SIMs next time
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Can I have some egg and chips with that Spam?
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You know it makes sense.
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You could get all of your group to pass an amateur radio license (full license with CEPT priviliges so you can use them abroad) and then use higher powered handhelds. You'll still be limited by line of sight, but it'll go further through the trees, and hey mountains are reflective so you may get lucky with angles.
Of course, there's the other option of just using a mobile phone, which can be really quite inexpensive in roaming nowadays (e.g. for £2/day I get to use my home Vodafone price plan anywhere in Europe). My wife and I are both licensed hams, but the phone is much more convenient and just works )
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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On the OP, I would suspect that most people who ask the question you're asking end up buying the toys. Then you can just either throw them away immediately, or after the first trip when you realize it's not worth the hassle. The good news is that they're cheap.
Radios are common on the "service" side of the snow sports business for lots of reasons.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I've got some Motorola ones, they came free with something, and they are great for keeping tabs on the kids on campsites.
For skiing it is phone calls and txts - far easier we've found. Kids have cheap PAYG phones so use them for emergencies only, Mrs B and I just pay the few quid to get calls.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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given the temporal discontinuity in the thread...
I'm gonna go and get my HAM SPAM Radio Licence. Really looking forward to using my 2m dipole on piste.
we use PMR on the hills in scotland for retrieval of rockets in areas of zero 3G, and pretty dire GSM coverage. most of the time we're hopping channels on 446 because so many kids in the next village, or local taxi or pizza delivery firms are clogging the channels. most of the time we end up back on GSM. Because it works, even when coverage is poor. and in the ski resorts, generally it's pretty damn good.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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If you hear "Broadsword calling Danny Boy" it is probably me or Richard Burton. If it's me, Talk to me because I must be bored & invite me for a pint, it will be appreciated. If it's Richard Burton I would be impressed with the Aldi Radio. 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I assume last christmas' spider man two ways won't be much use either?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Go for the radios. Great fun and dead cheap. Now that most folk tend to use phones in the Alps, the airwaves are pretty empty for PMR. Also if you drop your iPhone off a chairlift you are going to be fairly pissed off.
They are also more reliable in the UK where mobile phone reception is poor........ie. Everywhere remotely hilly 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Peter S wrote: |
| ... Also if you drop your iPhone .... more reliable in the UK where mobile phone reception is poor |
I think you may be holding your phone incorrectly.
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As mentioned above by another SH they are toys so will perform accordingly and last even less. So buy them as they'll be brilliant fun! 
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| Peter S wrote: |
| They are also more reliable in the UK where mobile phone reception is poor........ie. Everywhere remotely hilly |
I wish. Sweated my way to the top of Helvellyn once to find someone in the little shelter speaking endlessly and pointlessly on his bloody phone. I kept thinking, five minutes more and he'll stop. No. It rather negated the wild mountain experience.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Doesn't anyone else use their radios to chat when you're going up really long antisocial drag lifts?! Do this all the time when I'm skiing with one particular friend. Doesn't work with my family though cos I can't persuade any of them to put their radios in a chest pocket so they can operate them without having to get them out.
Ease of use is the main advantage to me of a radio over a phone - using the phone involves stopping, getting it out, taking a glove off so the touch screen works, taking your goggles off so you can see the screen, assuming it's not so bright that you still can't see it. By the time you've done all that the phone has always stopped ringing, if I even heard it in the first place.
But you are all correct, they only work if you're on the same side of the hill as the person you want to talk to.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Littlerob, thanks for pointing us to that obituary.
Two of my favourite films of all time 
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