Walkie Talkies
 

Anybody here know about walkie talkies? I think it was Maggie who was the expert there, but does anyone else have some radio knowledge?

I was cleaning out a workroom here at work, and came across a garbage bin full of stuff. A million wall warts, which are of little use to me, but also a box labeled "old walkie talkies" full of 10 or so nice looking walkie talkies. I rummaged through it and found 4 walkie talkies and charger bases. Took them home, and started playing around with them. I expected the signal to drop off a little bit as my son and I got on different floors and sides of the house, but they were really strong. He went way out in the back yard, and it was like he was standing next to me.

So it suddenly dawned on me that maybe these were the real deal, and maybe we should stop playing with them until I found out if I needed a license. When I looked at the battery compartment, I saw they had FCC ID numbers. I didn't want a black van with a radio dish on top to pull up in front of our house. So I put them away for now.

These guys are Motorola Spirit HP UHF walkie talkies. I found a sales brochure here: http://www.123radios.com/manuals/hpbrochure.pdf

It looks like it's saying I need an FCC license to broadcast with them. Is that something that's hard to get?

I also stumbled across some web pages that talk about narrow band vs. wide band rules that went into effect at the beginning of this year.

Were these walkie talkies in the trash because they are flat out illegal now?

It says here:

"For UHF and VHF business radios, the FCC asks that all users obtain a licence. 95% of people do not acquire a license, but they are supposed to. No license is required to purchase the radios.

License fees vary widely, but the most common licence for the radios Tech Wholesale sells are typically about $70 total for a 5-year license, no matter how many radios you have at your site."

eBay Completed Listings will tell you their value.

Five mile range!

I would like a million wall warts.

I know! 5 miles is really cool.

Looks like they are worth less than $45 for one. That $45 "buy it now" auction went for "best offer" instead.

Do you know anything about narrow band vs. wide band rules? I'm most concerned that the radios are obsolete and illegal under new rules.

Looks like the narrowbanding answer is somewhere in here.

This is it: the radios are now only semi-legal. The FCC is not permitting use on the 25khz frequency spectrum, only on the 12.5khz.

Your radios can be set up to only use the 12.5khz spectrum. At that point they still require licenses, but one source said that if you aren't pissing anyone off (messing with their usage) it's not a big deal. But if you are messing with their use, you may be messing with someone doing something important/critical. I.E. not just screwing with the McDonald's drive-thru, but making it harder to manage a warehouse, or calling for help running a helicopter landing, communication between firefighters, etc. etc. etc.

Since you live where you live, just imagine what you could interfere with five miles away! I mean, if you don't hear anyone on the frequency, it's probably OK, but still!

Maybe I save them for use in the zombie apocalypse.

I just did some measurements with Google Earth.

The West Wing is 4.9 miles away.
The control tower of National Airport is 4.75 miles away.
The guard shack at the entrance to the CIA is 4.7 miles
Pentagon courtyard is is 3.75 miles

and so on

I would not want to live in your detonation pattern! (Except that I spent my childhood ten miles from Three Mile Island, and most of my life since within five miles of another nuclear plant. No place is safe.)

?

Those are nice ones, we used them doing field service work at power plants. Tell the crew what to do and go fishing (all power plants have water) then have them call when they were done.

We had strict orders not to screw around though, because they were licensed to Group-W Broadcasting.

Tape the transmit button down on one walkie talkie, tie some helium balloons to it and set it adrift. Then listen in with the other walkie talkie to see if you can hear the bullets whizzing by as they try to shoot the first one down.

Then watch the black vans and SUVs pull up in front of your place once they've shot the first one down ...

Nevertheless, these are VERY cool. I want a couple. For the zombie apocalypse, of course.

Licnses were typically assigned to companies such as an apartment complex, factory, or YMCA. Open one up to get the frequency from its crystal (or whatever they use in that handset). The FCC database can determine who has licensed on that frequency.

Five miles is ideal best. Doing up to a mile is more typical.

These were obsoleted by Nextel and then by even smaller cell phones.

I would repair these things. A most common failure point was at the base of its antenna. Metal inside would routinely crack because of that 'exposed to movement' antenna.

NiCds would further 'date' the radios. Considering the age, I am surprised it has the narrower bandwidth option.

Narrower bandwidth means (among other things) a shorter range.

You're slipping, Grav


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