Can anyone recommend best walkytalkies to buy?

[Scooby]

I have seen a few people with the little walkietalkies, i thought it was a good idea for comunication while using locks rather than shouting at the wife and her still not listening ...

 

Where did you buy them from and how much should i spend?

[mayalld]

I have seen a few people with the little walkietalkies, i thought it was a good idea for comunication while using locks rather than shouting at the wife and her still not listening ...

 

Where did you buy them from and how much should i spend?

 

Devise a system of hand signals.

[Dutch]

Devise a system of hand signals.

Thats great if the person is out of site

[mayalld]

Thats great if the person is out of site

 

IME, PMR446 are pretty flaky without line of sight too.

[Naughty Cal]

Mobile phone if out of sight?

[ChrisPy]

when you are at the tiller and need relieving or a cuppa, and SWMBO is dozing or on the loo, hand signals are not much use.

[Scooby]

i found these on argos website, will they do the trick or should i buy some better ones?

 

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/part...LKIE+TALKIE.htm

[Naughty Cal]

when you are at the tiller and need relieving or a cuppa, and SWMBO is dozing or on the loo, hand signals are not much use.

 

Air horn?

[Scooby]

these sound good to me

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Binatone-Terrain-R...162&sr=8-50

[stickleback]

We bought some from Lidl - can't remember how much much but they were very cheap. They work really well and have quite a good range - it feels a bit silly saying into it "Lock's set and there's no one waiting" or whatever, when there are people standing about watching, but it is very effective!

[Dutch]

We bought some from Lidl - can't remember how much much but they were very cheap. They work really well and have quite a good range - it feels a bit silly saying into it "Lock's set and there's no one waiting" or whatever, when there are people standing about watching, but it is very effective!

We have the same from Lidle and very pleased with them .

[Guest User]

I've got a pair of the Binatone Terrains .. they're fine. We've used them occasionally, but not for lock working, there's simply no need once you've got a routine worked out, an occasional thumbs up is the most signalling usually required around the locks, if anything they'd be more of a hindrance.... something else to have to keep an eye on and not drop in the water.

 

They sometimes got used if one of us was going for a wander, say at the end of the day out in the sticks, to look round the next bend to see if there was a better looking mooring spot .... but nowadays we scarcely even remember to carry them, let alone keep them on charge. Also we're on the same mobile phone network with unlimited calls to each other so the phone option is there too. But again rarely needed.

 

If anything we just played silly bu**ers with them ... but now the novelty has worn off they've been consigned to the back of a cupboard.

[tomsk]

Horn toots? 6 short blasts for come and take the tiller, I'm busting to lay a cable?

[cotswoldsman]

Devise a system of hand signals.

 

Guess that the only thought that went into that reply was based on some sort of way of looking round corners etc!!

I bought mine from Aldi and they are very good.

The reason I have walkytalkie is that I cruise single handed along with another boat also single handed and the walky talkie is very good to be able to advise the boat going second through the locks if another boat is aproaching and saves having to close the locks.

[Machpoint005]

We bought some from Lidl - can't remember how much much but they were very cheap. They work really well and have quite a good range - it feels a bit silly saying into it "Lock's set and there's no one waiting" or whatever, when there are people standing about watching, but it is very effective!

 

I've never quite understood the need for communications in this scenario. If I'm on the back of the boat, I wait for the gates to open. If they are shut, I have to wait. If they are open, I go into the lock. I don't particularly mind whether the wait is 2 minutes or 10. I spend my working life chained to the clock, so I've no wish to do the same when boating!

[ChrisPy]

Air horn?

she'd be well impressed - I don't think.

 

Horn toots? 6 short blasts for come and take the tiller, I'm busting to lay a cable?

nothing like telling the whole world !

 

Guess that the only thought that went into that reply was based on some sort of way of looking round corners etc!!

I bought mine from Aldi and they are very good.

The reason I have walkytalkie is that I cruise single handed along with another boat also single handed and the walky talkie is very good to be able to advise the boat going second through the locks if another boat is aproaching and saves having to close the locks.

when I'm single handed I can talk to myself on the WT, to keep me company.

[stickleback]

I've never quite understood the need for communications in this scenario. If I'm on the back of the boat, I wait for the gates to open. If they are shut, I have to wait. If they are open, I go into the lock. I don't particularly mind whether the wait is 2 minutes or 10. I spend my working life chained to the clock, so I've no wish to do the same when boating!

 

That's fine if the person on the back of the boat is the sort who pays attention and would notice the gates opening. BUT - if it is the sort of person who could be watching a field full of cows moving around for 30 minutes, or watching another boat mooring up, or looking at some interesting view - I could be waiting at an open gate until someone coming the other way wanted the lock. The walky talky thing at least makes a loud sound which alerts the back of boat to the fact that they can move - words are not always needed!

 

And there are plenty of times when I am ahead of the boat, around a corner or beyond a bridge or for some other reason out of view when the ability to say come on , or don't hurry or whatever can be quite useful. Not essential; just useful. And - I LOVE gadgets!

[Keeping Up]

We find them extremely useful. Whichever you get make sure that it has the sub-channels, to avoid getting interference from other people, and that it has a "call" button to attract the other person's attention (believe me they won't hear you yelling and whistling into the microphone, if they are standing near the water-flow at a lock). It helps if they have rechargeable batteries, and a charging cradle that they can both rest in.

[Semitrad]

We bought a pair of Midland WTs and found them very useful, they were supplied with an earphone/mic unit which we used in order to keep coms as private and unobtrusive as possible.

 

These were not that sucessful as they were difficult to keep in position, we were looking to replace with a single earphone with headband similar to that used in Tesco, these allow you to hear the outside world at the same time as receiving lock info etc.

[Steve King]

I have seen a few people with the little walkietalkies, i thought it was a good idea for comunication while using locks

I bought a pair of Cobra Micro Talk w/t a couple of years ago, I think they were about £40.

 

We used them recently on the Marple flight and they were very handy. We were a crew of four and I had gone ahead to help a single-hander through the locks and was some distance ahead (and out of sight!). When a boat came up the locks I was able to advise our crew not to shut the lock gates so as to leave them a good road. Also to let them know where they would pass this boat.

 

Going down the Bosley flight we made good use of them again in a similar situation.

 

The range was adequate and the sound quality surprisingly good. Sometimes it was necessary to call the other person more than once to get their attention given the ambient noise, and in future I might obtain a strap so that the unit can be worn outside of clothing where it could be better heard, but these are minor quibbles. I wish we'd had them five years ago on the Huddersfield Narrow instead of using our mobile phones to discuss the level of the pounds, it would have been much better.

 

I think w/t's are like mobile phones, if you haven't got any you can't imagine why you'd need any, when you've got them they can be very useful in certain circumstances.

 

 

Steve

[Machpoint005]

There are plenty of times when I am ahead of the boat, around a corner or beyond a bridge or for some other reason out of view when the ability to say come on, or don't hurry or whatever can be quite useful. Not essential; just useful.

 

That's what mobile phones are for, though.

 

I wish we'd had them five years ago on the Huddersfield Narrow instead of using our mobile phones to discuss the level of the pounds, it would have been much better.

 

Mobile-to-mobile costs nowadays are next to nothing, though. It would take us a long time to spend the cost of a walkie-talkie system on phone calls.

Personally, I'd feel a right pillowcase using a walkie-talkie in public, but I'm OK with a mobile.

[Phil Ambrose]

Horn toots? 6 short blasts for come and take the tiller, I'm busting to lay a cable?

 

6 short blasts? danger of collision!. on second thoughts probably just as urgent. LOL

[Dyad]

Why is when someone wants to talk about 2 way radio communication the responses turn to other ways of signalling and communicating?

 

May I suggest Motorola Tlkr T5 as they have a 12v input and the Ariel is looped for hanging up or clipping onto.

Maplins do an Alan radio that is designed for worksite use and is more robust than the usual ones you see in the shops however they are far more expensive.

 

Kev

[Nickhlx]

Why is when someone wants to talk about 2 way radio communication the responses turn to other ways of signalling and communicating?

 

May I suggest Motorola Tlkr T5 as they have a 12v input and the Ariel is looped for hanging up or clipping onto.

Maplins do an Alan radio that is designed for worksite use and is more robust than the usual ones you see in the shops however they are far more expensive.

 

Kev

 

 

Quite, Dyad....

 

People know I am quite a supporter of useful gadgets which includes these radios. If you feel like a pillock using one, would you feel even more of a pillock by acting inappropriately from being unable to hear essential/vital information if you are too far away to hear or see signals ? ....

 

If you think cellphones are fine, well, they take several seconds to "connect" to the other person, who may have left it a bit out of reach, and by then the info may be past useful. If they are always to hand, in earshot, a quick instruction can be got across in one or two seconds and for free. I think they are invaluable, cheaper than a cellphone if they got dropped in, and warrant a place on board.

 

As for makes.... generally you get what you pay for - Binatone are generally not very good, German ones generally are quite good ( Lidl / Aldi etc), Motorola and Icom are probably "too good" but all the same are good. From Lidl, they infrequently do the "Twintalker" sets for approx £20 for a pair of rechargeable ones, which for the money is nothing short of superb.

 

I am comparing these with commercial handies, costing £100 to £200+ per set, which although are better in some ways, these PMR sets are really too cheap to not be having on board..

 

Radio helps for a more relaxed cruise by all being in touch with the others - which is why I also suggested it should be used more "openly" a few months back, so that "pecking order" at locks etc can be modified if necessary, without time-consuming walking between boats etc. You can use the fairly "covert" earpieces if you really do have a hangup about such things, but I don't see the problem.

 

Seems like there are still many Luddites around, dissuading people from perfectly effective and cheap solutions to everyday problems, which I find quite wrong....

 

Go for it and use them - you really aren't a pillock - I would say "sensible"

 

Puts on flack suit and awaits incoming ...

 

Nick

 

Nick

Edited October 6, 2009 by Nickhlx

[RLWP]

Quite, Dyad....

<snip>

 

Radio helps for a more relaxed cruise by all being in touch with the others - which is why I also suggested it should be used more "openly" a few months back, so that "pecking order" at locks etc can be modified if necessary, without time-consuming walking between boats etc. You can use the fairly "covert" earpieces if you really do have a hangup about such things, but I don't see the problem.

 

Seems like there are still many Luddites around, dissuading people from perfectly effective and cheap solutions to everyday problems, which I find quite wrong....

 

<snip>

Nick

 

As a technophile luddite (?!) my issues is in the two red bits. I don't recognise the problem you are solving, and I don't want my relaxing cruise interrupted by a bit of technology. So I choose not to use these things and find simpler ways of doing things.

 

Richard

 

But then I don't have an Axiom prop, a galvanic isolator, a tv on the boat, 240 volts, a bowthruster, an accumulator.....

Edited October 6, 2009 by RLWP