Motorola T82 Extreme walkie talkies

A snowHead

Thinking of getting some walkie talkies to communicate with the kids who will be 5 and 8 next winter. Generally to check on them during break times when they are in lessons or as a safeguard when we are skiing as a family. I’ve seen the Motorola T82 units at almost half price on Amazon. Anyone have any experience with these or other good walkie talkies in general they could recommend? Also happy to hear from other parents who have gone down this route to see if worthwhile.

Motorola Talkabout T82 Extreme PMR446 2-Way Walkie Talkie Radio Quad Pack - Yellow / Black https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B077XTVFHQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_dOFoDbN03KPJ3?tag=amz07b-21

A snowHead

We'vw tried WTs. I an not sure they would suit that age. Ensuring you dont talk at the same time, pushing buttons to talk, changing channels if there is interference (you need to be careful re emergency frequencies). At that age you might be better looking at those single button devices which use a mobile SIM to talk over an open phone line.

Is there a particular worry or need for comms?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Ozboy, I had something similar about 10 years ago (not for kids), and gave up on them. They are essentially line of sight and about 3Km range - if you're in one valley and they're in the next, they won't work. All radios in the EU are subject to a frequency and power restriction to be licence-free, so all of them will perform very much the same and any price difference is either for the badge or for better battery life.

In practical terms, this is something for the kids to lug around (it looks very big on a 5 year old - the equivalent of you carrying a house brick) so you can use it twice per day to check up on them. And you have no idea whether your call will be during their lunch stop, or if that has been delayed for some reason so you're calling them mid-piste and the last thing the instructor wants is one of their kids to stop and pay attention to something other than them.

Give the instructor and ski school your mobile number. Get the mobile number of the instructor. Text them if you are worried, so they can answer when convenient, e.g. on the next lift. Trust the ski school - if you don't, why leave them there? They are very experienced in managing the kids, and they have a reputation to protect.

When skiing with the kids as a family, agree who will lead and who will come down last, and if one of the kids strays then make sure you are stopping frequently enough to realise that they are not behind you when they definitely were 20 seconds ago. That narrows the search area considerably on what it could be when you saw them at the top of the run and they weren't there at the bottom.

Also brief your kids on piste safety and what is expected of them - "stay together, follow me, and if you get separated from each other or from me stop and wait for the last person in the group. If they don't appear within a couple of minutes, ski to the nearest instructor/alm/lift and wait there". Give the kids a piece of laminated paper each of credit card size, on which is their name, the flag of your country (choose UK or Australia as appropriate), and at least one mobile number for their parents/guardians. Make sure they know where it is (lift pass pocket is ideal), and what it is for - if separated, present this to the instructor/alm staff/lift attendant and ask them to call it. Also make the 8 year old explicitly responsible for the 5 year old. They may suddenly become very sensible as a result.

Our kids learned from aged 4, and were skiing most of the mountain by 6. At 8 & 7, they rejected ski school because they were able to keep up with us, and didn't want to be with strange kids. They survived, and are now 12 & 10 and confident skiers who are happy to lead but still stop at each junction, crest or lift to confirm which way they should be going and whether everyone is still with them. We still start each run by saying where we are going, the name of lift we are heading for, the piste number(s), and any hazards or junctions to be wary of, and so far it has worked very well.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Also, if you do buy them, get ones with a lock function to prevent changing channel or volume or turning them off unless you press 2 or more keys together or confirm with a third key.

Then give them to the kids in the summer holidays for a week, and after that have them teach you how they work. wink

Yes, you know already - but it demonstrates whether they would be competent enough with them.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Line of sight. Used them some years ago and threw them away. Not much use really. Get some cheap mobiles with single push emergency buttons programmed to your phone.
Something like this
https://www.amazon.co.uk/sk=big+button+mobiles+sim+free&crid=1EKZKMJJEVZW3&sprefix=Big+button+mobiles%2Caps%2C160&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_18?tag=amz07b-21
Probably even cheaper on ebay

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We got a set of four of the Motorolas from our daughter for Christmas. At first, I was sceptical, but I'm now a convert and think they'e a useful additional capability. We tend to use them to complement our mobiles. Yes, a mobile is fine if you can stop, take your gloves off, see the screen, and make a call. But the advantage of the Motorolas is they're easy to handle with gloves on. We do tend to use them more for those situations where someone doesn't arrive as expected at a lift or bottom of a run, and you're worried they're separated or had a fall, so they work fine. And as an insurance for when the mobiles run out of power.

The suggestion to get a pair and then try them out at leisure is a good one: I'd also suggest you have a protocol and vocabulary. We number each of the sets and have worked out a set of standard phrases for common situations. remember, you may find yourself sharing the frequency with other people. We were recommended to reset the channel to #5 from the default #1 to avoid sharing with other people.

After all it is free

If there is free wifi or a phone signal, then a push to talk option is much better.

If you are in close proximity, then something motorcycle instructors use may be an option - that is what my partner & I use. So she gets to bitch & moan at me even when the skies are blue, the pistes are white & a belly full of food & wine.

Most of us have a drawer full of old mobile phones these days, and if you don't you can get yourself down to the local CEX/Cash Converters/similar and pick up some basic Android handsets without breaking the bank. Add a couple of PAYG sims and away you go.

Install something like WhatsApp and you can also set up a family chat group and set everyone's phones to share their live location.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

We've used Motorola WT's for a number of years. Have helped a number of times (wife lost in Whiteout, loosing ski buddy, rearranging meet up, chatting when we are on separate chairs, easy comms on off-piste), Definitely worth having as a safety precaution.

As @ousekjarr, says ensure that the channel and code can be locked. My kids loved carrying therm, they don't weigh very much and fit easily into a pocket or backpack. We tended to meet up some lunchtimes if we knew where the instructors were going to stop, but kids always seemed to manage ok if they didn't hear from us between 9am and 3:30pm, mixing is part of growing up.

However if you just want to catch up with the kids at lunch or on a break, its probably easier to give them an old mobile phone. If they are with an instructor they will be well within a cell, and you are likely to be also in a cell, If you are way away the Wt is unlikely to be an effective comms device anyway due to the terrain and/or distance.

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Always found other people’s conversations much more interesting than ours...Gave up using on day 1.

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For your use, I agree radios are probably the wrong solution.

Those specifically are expensive for what you're getting. If you really want radios then the Chinese programmable ones are way better and can be used legally both sides of the Atlantic if you set them up correctly.

You may find that the local piste patrol actually has a repeater or two, which is how they communicate.... but you'd need to know the frequencies and settings for that wink

You know it makes sense.

Addendum: the Motorolas worked well for us in the village. Mostly when in the supermarché etc. and wanting to call home to clarify something important ("Lima Foxtrot 5 to Lima Base, Roger that - The Gruyere salé, not the standard Gruyere"). I was surprised they worked so well when each of us was inside a concrete building, albeit only 500m apart.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

What are there affect on Avi transceivers? I know i must have my phone a decent distance away. I have a phone.pocket I. Mt salopettes near the knee.

A snowHead

@GlasgowCyclops, phones transmit regularly to maintain a connection in the local cell, where radios are passive until you press the button. Mobile phones typically have to transmit up to 30 miles, and use 800/900/1800/2100/2600 MHz depending on the carrier and whether it is 2G, 3G or 4G.

Avi transceivers operate on 457KHz, while the licence-free PMR radios in Europe are on 446MHz (UHF) so being low power and a long way away spectrum-wise they are unlikely to cause interference with other known uses including emergency services, which is one of the reasons this range was chosen.

Having said that, see http://www.alpine-rescue.org/ikar-cisa/documents/2019/ikar20190101006179.pdf - professional grade radios are a different matter, as they're typically VHF for longer range and have higher power outputs, so there is potential for interference if they are close together, and the technology in use can have a big impact.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

An interesting paper. I've never noticed any issue from the BC ~160Mhz VHF stuff in the real world, but then if you're talking you're not searching. I'd kind of expect those to interfere with most things if you're right on top of them. Their guidelines seem moderate - if you have your radio in a pocket (or like the BCA ones, which I don't like, in the pack), then you're pretty much at the 50cm advised range anyway, even if you can talk and search at the same time.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

@Mjit, i think that's a great solution - thanks for the recommendation.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Thanks all for the feedback. We will probably go down the route of getting basic cell phone handsets which sell for under £20 on amazon or look at a basic smart phone <£50 which will allow us to run whatsapp live location to track them. The PDS has good cell signal throughout and already wear wrist bands which include our mobile numbers.

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@Ozboy, we’ve got BCA ones, held off for a couple of years whilst our ski buddies messed with them but then took the plunge. Really impressed with them. Bought them in Sport Conrad sale last summer, work really well all over resort but mainly when we are offpiste use them.

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@philwig, which I don't like, in the pack), then you're pretty

Why?

Works well imo

After all it is free

i have a pair of T80s which we use in Andorra as mobile calling/data is non-EU and therefore extortionate.

They are OK for non-urgent use. As above, line of sight. Which can be a long way, provided it's not interrupted.

Your use sounds a bit more pressing (eg you'd panic if they didn't answer) so I wouldn't recommend them as primary solution.

They also can't legally be used in North America I believe which authorises different frequencies to Europe (so we didn't take them to Canada).

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

We've always used radios skiing. The kids always had one in their pockets, which proved very useful on occasion, eg when they dive into the trees and don't come out where expected, etc. They were probably 6 and 7 when we started using them. It's true, they aren't great if there's a hillside in the way, but when you are skiing as a group they are great for checking up where people are, or letting the person in front know that someone has wiped out. Much easier than a phone in some respects because if you position them in a sensible pocket you can operate them with your gloves on, whilst still in your pocket. I find I don't hear my phone when I'm skiing, but I do hear the radio. Makes drag lifts much less boring when you can chat! Also, phones don't react well to being dropped in the snow, whereas the radios you are looking at will be fine, that's what the Extreme bit is all about.
Everyone has their opinion, and it may be that we still use them partly out of habit because when we started using them mobile phones weren't an option, but I personally would give them a thumbs up.

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Motorola T82 Extreme walkie talkies

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