I am in Australia and carry a similar item which is rechargeable, has 5 watts output Is an handheld GME UHF 2 way radio. It has 80 useable channel including 8 repeater channels. You do not require an license for them. I mainly use channel 40, which is the truckies channel, as they keep you informed of road conditions, and road accidents or other emergencies. Our monitored emergency channel is channel 5 (also a repeater channel) so gives you good range where ever you are. I have approx. a 20 klm range on non repeating channels and up to 350km on repeater channels. It is very useful as our mobile phone system is next to useless especially in the outback.