LeoG

So when 4 and 5G go down it's dead?

I couldn't remember what channel they were on.

My wife for whatever reason has decided she likes the walkie talkies because they are "fun". Right now she mostly uses the base station and we have communication between my house and my shop. Yes, we have phones, but me being "one of them" I dislike having all of my digital communications stored forever in Utah. I like being able to lift up the talkie and press one button to communicate with my wife. No multi button presses, waiting for a pick up. At times now I have to scroll down quite a ways to find my wifes text thread because for the most part we talk on the radio. I got them because it was something I did as a child. Figured it was fun. And even if my wife didn't enjoy them I still do. We have an active repeater and I talk with some of them characters on it. It's definitely a 2nd communication source that isn't reliant on others. It's getting to the point that I carry the talkie around with me more than I do my phone.

It's been 4 months since I put up my repeater and I just realized there is another repeater 7 miles away on 600. In that 4 months I don't think I've heard them use it once. They also have a repeater on 625 and those antennas are either on the same tower or within 100 yards of one another. That repeater I knew existed because it's also on 625, the same channel as one of the repeaters on a mountain that has a 50 mile range. The mountain top repeater went up after the other 625. Probably because it's not used that often. And the mountaintop 625 isn't used that often either.

Ya... I'm 60ft above sea level and in very hilly areas. Add 40 ft to that for the antenna. The shop where the repeater is, is 160' ASL and another 40' for the antenna. I'm by the river so I'm in a valley with "mountains" on either side of me 5-8 miles out. I air quoted mountains because there is nothing higher than 700ish ft around here but that's enough to have a sharp kill to my signal. I can go north and south for 25 miles each but not with a strong signal because of multiple smaller hills and trees galore.

I put up the wristwatch walkie talkie thread and it seemed to spark some interest in radios you've had. So list'm here. Radio Nostalgia of days past when you were just a youngster or just starting out at whatever age to remember your radios of the past whether they be plain jane simple HTs to CB and ham radios of the past. Myself I had a GE pair of walkie talkies. Pull up antenna, on/off volume and PTT were what you had. When I got a bit older I ended up with a few CB radios and I think the last was a 40 CH SSB Midland. And I think this was the one I had but I'm not positive.

Maybe I was wrong about Radio Shack. Because it was this walkie talkie I owned. A GE. https://www.etsy.com/listing/1566874310/general-electric-walkie-talkie-model-no?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=realistic+walkie+talkie&ref=sr_gallery-1-11&pro=1&content_source=1e7d35687412d382575f6798675b27afaeac1be3%3A1566874310&organic_search_click=1

Or after you use it once it should store your radio parameters locally so you don't have to do it over and over.

Are you logged into the bluetooth programmer? My TDH3 doesn't show up unless I log in and have an active internet connection.

Mine were from Radio Shack. Don't remember if they were Tandy's though. Or just something they found to sell. They were olive, black and tan colored but not in a camo pattern. On/off/volume with no squelch other than built in. They took a 9 volt battery.

Or you could have a 30x20 pixel screen

Bad enough when you have a digital radio on the same frequency intermittently. Can't imagine a video stream

It's an FRS power GMRS on your wrist. I bet kids would love them. I remember walkie talkies in my childhood. They could do 100 feet to 100 yards at the very best. They were big with a huge antenna and the sound quality stunk. This little wristwatch HT would take those old fashion HT to the floor.

I think it said it was rated for 92MPH. That's a pretty stiff breeze. Can't wait to hear what you think of it. Eventually I'll get my 712EFC up in the air.

But is it worth it... 12dB during hurricanes and tornadoes.

That's how all of the low cost cell providers work. My brother was using one of these systems and it rarely shows. But during holidays and such it's dramatic. People sending pictures to their loved ones and having a good time. He sends pictures and they show up hours later, not seconds or minutes. I don't think he ever lost the ability to talk but his data moving portion took a huge hit.

It's cute. And it works OK.

You're entirely welcome

That goes for all phones. 911 will always work if there is any cell service in the area.

Had a guy up in Mass ask over the 575 if anyone else was having issues with cell service. I told him Verizon was having a large outage and he said he was on Cricket. But I reminded him that good thing he had a radio so he could ask about the outage and not get a real answer out of me

Never felt the effects in CT.

Specs say it's a 2 watt output. TRANSMITTER VHF UHF- Frequency Range 150–174 MHz 450–470 MHz 405–425 MHz➊ RF power out 250mW - 2W 250mW - 2W Spurious emissions-50dBc-52dBc Frequency stability -30°~+60°C ±1.5 PPM ±1.5 PPM Modulation 11KOF3E/16KOF3E 11KOF3E/16KOF3E Hum and noise-40dB-40dB Audio response (300-3kHz) Flat or -6dB/octave Flat or -6dB/octave Audio distortion <3%@60% deviation <3%@60% deviation Local mic sensitivity 300mV - 5VPP 300mV - 5VPP FCC Type Acceptance LRUSVR-200VB LRUSVR-200UD Industry Canada Approval 2390 195 458A 2390 212 113A RECEIVERVHFUHF Frequency Range 150–174 MHz 450–470 MHz 405–425 MHz➊ RF sensitivity.35uV.35uV Squelch sensitivity .2uV to 2uV adjustable .2uV to 2uV adjustable Modulation acceptance ±3.75/±7.5kHz ±3.75/±7.5kHz Selectivity72dB60dB Spurious/image rejection 70dB 60dB IMD response60dB60dB Frequency stability 1.5 PPM 1.5 PPM Audio response (300-3kHz) Flat or +6dB/octave Flat or +6dB/octave Audio output Local Rx Audio 400 mW 8 Ohms@ 400 mW 8 Ohms@ <5% distortion <5% distortion ➊

How so a dud? Bad SWR, shorted out?

Got mine from Chatt Radio out of TN and as far as I'm concerned it was a good experience. He had 14 in stock while others had none. Took about 1 week to get here and shipping was $15 because it is an oversized package. I thought they might have sent me the wrong antenna because of the packaging and I sent an email after 6pm and he got back to me within a few minutes. Turns out the packaging was from the manufacturer that way and modified because it was the "C" version of the 712EF. After sending the email I noticed the antenna itself was labeled as the "C" version as he has said and told me I would love that antenna. And I'm sure I will when I get it up in the air finally.