 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all, I am looking at buying some radio's (walkie talkies) for the slopes so would appreciate any info anyone has of the best types, pros / cons, etc. Have looked at some on the web but could do with hearing from someone with 'hands on' experience. I am looking at spending lesss than £100, many thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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Erm maybe not a "Bend Ze Knees" question?
But, from what I've seen with reasonably priced radios is that you get a lot of interference from other radio users who are on a similar frequency and when you do make contact it's usually too distorted to understand.
Although it may cost a bomb from certain networks to make calls (my orange plan is fairly reasonable), I would chose my Mobile any time over radios for their reliability.
From experience however, a device similar to this has never let me down...
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Leeds_Skier wrote: |
| From experience however, a device similar to this has never let me down... |
Yes and probably better range than the cheap walkie-talkies.
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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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altis, thanks for the link, (and the english lesson). Leeds skier, thanks for the info. Re. device picture, I am currently using such an item so thought it was time to upgrade, also apologies for posting in the wrong area, I'm just gettting used to the website 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I have a set of four walkie talkies that I bought in Argos for £80. They have a claimed range of 8km line-of-sight and multiple channels so choosing one without any users is no problem. I bought them for when I was doing offroad camping trips in the Middle East and they were very useful for car to car messages, better than phones especially in multi-vehicle convoys since everybody gets the message at once. The actual effective range was reasonable (several km), as long as you didnt go over the top of a major hill - remember they are line-of-sight devices. I have since used them to let the kids go playing in the woods, etc. I have not tried them skiing but have seen several people doing so in France.
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I hadn't thought about it till seeing this post, but has the fashion for talkie-walkies passed? I don't remember seeing anyone with them this year so far.
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MontriondSkier,
So I would assume that these Walkie Talkies are only useful when all your group are skiing together?
Our group is of very mixed ability so we don't ski together much but try to meet at lunch time at the same restaurant, but the chances are we wouldn't be able to make contact on these radios.
I think to get any effectivity out of radios on the ski mountains one would need to pay a fair bit of money as there is always going to be obstructions in the line of sight unless the users remain as a group (which would surely make the radios obsolete) 
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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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Leeds_Skier, it doesn't matter how much you pay, VHF is line-of-sight.
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Even more so UHF (300MHz - 3GHz) - which is where these radios operate!
There is no chance of getting anything significantly better that is licence free (and legal). You might try 27MHz CB radios but unless you use an enormous whip aerial I doubt you will see any improvement. The next step up is Business Radio that requires an annual licence and can probably not be used abroad.
http://licensing.ofcom.org.uk/radiocommunication-licences/business-radio/
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Only one thing to say when it comes to radios
Intek MT5050 with the long arial conversions and frequency mods
Ive now had an 80mile connection and they have talked from Tignes to Val d.isere (lucky cloud reflection)
Our group now have 5 of them and they work so well. With 1500 mah batteries they last 80 hours standby and 6 hours of 4Watt transmission (not legal!!! but very useful)
http://www.thunderpole.co.uk/intek-mt5050.html
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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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LeedsSkier - Regarding line of sight - this means the radio signal will not bend over the horizon but minor obstacles such as trees, normal buildings, even small hills, etc will not significantly affect the signal.
As I said, not used them skiing so the following is speculation. I can think of loads of possible uses:
- If one person is at the back door of the restaurant and the other is at the front you have a good chance of speaking to each other (as long as the building is not a mega-reinforced concrete bunker).
- If you have a mixed ability group and some people ski down the red run and some down the blue run that start and finish in the same place but take different routes you will probably be able to call each other.
- If you are in a mixed ability group and some ski down the blue run faster than others you should be able to call back to find out whether the laggards have 1) crashed out 2) stopped to take pictures 3) turned off onto a different piste 4) dropped their radio in a snowdrift, etc.
- If you are on different chairs on a lift you can chat to decide whether you are going left or right at the top.
- If you are off-piste and skiing down one-by-one you should be able to talk to discuss when the next person should start and if there is anything they should know.
- etc.
Mobile phones also need line-of-sight to a repeater mast so there will be areas with no coverage and they also cost for every moment you speak. Having more tools means it is more likely that one or other of them will be the right one in any particular situation.
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Been using PMR radios when Skiing for many years, the normal rules are
1W legal PMR radios. within 1 mile in the open and must be in same valley
4W tweaked PMR's. Anywhere within same valley and if conditions right over into next valley
Some good connections with my 4W MT5050's
Tignes Le Lac to Top of Glacier Cable car
Tignes Les Brevierres to Val d'isere (Perfect weather)
Tignes Le Lac to skier on Le Face (in appaling weather)
Staines to Box Hill
Livingston Nr Edinburgh to Rotterdam (Ionic Bounce) Amazing!!!
These where with the 39cm SMA airial fitted. I normally have the radio in the rucksack with the airial curved up inside the top of the pack and a mic fed out to my shoulder with my Giro Tunes ups plugged into the mic. Can extend reception by having the airial straight up out of riucksack. Best reception when in chirlift and high
Low cloud and snowfall do decrease signal. High level cloud acts as a reflector and can help. Snow absorbs radio waves (its water!)
The cheapo PMR handholds are just about usefull for when you get to a particular meet point and cant see your mates, and to talk to each other while your all skiing the same run together. But no use for longer ranges. Cant recommend the Inteks enough for more distance and real communications. You will have to take the wire cutters to them to up them from UK legal and adding the SMA airials is very worthwhile. Build quaility and durability is superb
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You know it makes sense.
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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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FAQ
. I don't doubt that radios can be useful in some circumstances. I just think they are a tad unreliable.
