Recreational & Family - bike walkie talkie?

Hi everyone,
Has anyone heard of a walkie talkie for bikers?

I'm trying to find some device that would keep me and my wife in voice communcation during our day trips.

Hi everyone,
Has anyone heard of a walkie talkie for bikers?

I'm trying to find some device that would keep me and my wife in voice communcation during our day trips.

I've used an FRS radio with earphone/mic before. Mine has a VOX feature too but it sometimes will get triggered inadvertantly. I stick the radio in my back pocket and route the wires inside my jersey.

That's what my wife and I use. We actually fabricated a strap that we can attach the radio to our upper arm. You don't need anything super expensive. They make some radios that go up to like 7 miles. Hopefully you and your wife aren't that far away. My radios said they go up to 2 miles, but really it's only about 3/4 of a mile. Normally she is about 20 feet from me if that. Keeps me from turning my head and trying to listen to her though. They work great.

You might want to check out this radio (http://www.discountfamilyradios.com/mrc11.htm). it seems well matched for cycling and the built in intercom feature would come in especially handy if you ever plan on doing any tandeming.

nextel phones are nice. you get a phone, AND they have a direct connect function, and can be used like walkie talkies.

messengers use them often, and they're pretty durable, and quite reliable.

a friend of mine has some for his shop, one for the shop and one for their wayward owner. the owner is in nevada for the tradeshow this week. i was on the phone with my friend, and he decided he'd try to get in touch with his boss using the walkie talkie funciton of the phone, and lo-and behold, it worked. i heard the call, and response over the phone...

also, i hear they're pretty inexpensive for the basic phone and plan.

nextel phones are nice. you get a phone, AND they have a direct connect function, and can be used like walkie talkies.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong here but the Nextel/iDen walkie-talkie mode while being billed as "direct connect" is not infrastructure independent. That is to say that you still rely on being within range of the towers (and for your target to also be within range of iDen towers) for any of the service to work. You cannot really truly go handset-to-handset as you could with a real radio-transciever. Thus you will be limited to areas where there is deployed iDen infrastructure. In urban environments this is probably fine but out in the country you'll probably be cursing at the thing. Additionally, my experience with Nextel's coverage has been less than spectacular.

I got two walkie talkies at Radio Shack for $40, with a $10 rebate. They work up to 2 miles. I have used them on the road to communicate between two cars, and they work great. I have never used them on a bike, but they are lightweight and should work good. I also used them when my daughter checked into college, and they really came in handy. She'd be on the 6th floor of her dorm, and I'd be unloading the car a half mile away. It was a good way to keep in touch. Only thing is, if you're on the same channel as others, you can hear them talking. I also used them when I took a bunch of kids to an amusement park. A good way to keep in touch.

Only thing is, if you're on the same channel as others, you can hear them talking.

Yes, I recommend getting FRS models with privacy code capability. There are some cheaper models without privacy coded squelching. I have a set of AudioVox models I got from Office Depot that were selling for $12/pair. However, they don't have privacy codes thus I'm limited to 14 channels. The chances of crosstalking while in urban and congested areas is fairly high but out in the country, it's not as much a problem. In a big group ride like say the STP (8,000 riders with most of the support crew using FRS) it would be an issue. Privacy codes don't give you more frequencies however and they don't encrypt or keep your conversation secure. What they do is transmit a subaudible code to let the receiver with the matching code on the other side know when to unsquelch just for your transmission. With 14 channels and 38 privacy codes, you have 532 combinations. This cuts down on crosstalk. Think of privacy codes as subchannelling. You'll still operate on the same frequency. It's like adding a user to your ignore list only it's implicit deny with explicit accept... so it's more like ignoring everyone except for those you specifically wish to hear.

Thanks to everyone for the great input,
we decided on the
NADY MRC-11
Extended range simplex bike to bike
Two Way Radio Communicator and driver/ passenger intercom.

These also come with helmet mics.

much appreciated :p

Someone correct me if I'm wrong here but the Nextel/iDen walkie-talkie mode while being billed as "direct connect" is not infrastructure independent.

Yep, the "walkie-talkie" is routed though the digital cell nodes. It is not a true simplex operation. It is more along the lines of "store and forward". You will really notice a delay when they are used nearby one another.

The FRS with VOX operation seems to be a good fit. Hands free is the way to go.