Walkie Talkie

[BugzyCan]

aliexpress has a lot of this kind of stuff really cheap. Search for two way radio and you end up with a lot of walkie talkies that could fit in a pocket, and then add a shoulder mic/speaker, kind of like what the police use, or go with a throat mic, which would likely work no matter how windy it gets.


https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale...y+radio&page=2

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by FabioC

The Sena have also good reviews in terms of audio quality, but a lot of reviews say that they break very easily (the plastic seem to have a weak spot).

Has anybody here had issues with them breaking?

We have not, but then we've only used ours for a year or so...

-Chris

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

We have kid's toy walkie talkies. Cost very little, from Toys R Us, a long, long time ago. We refer to them as "inter-galactic communicators."

The headset has a mike built in, and we put a little bit of sponge over it to cut down wind noise, fastened with a rubber band! Yes, mickey mouse, but works fine. Still need hand signals for the rain. I'm certain they are not water resistant.

However, I would exhaust the children's market before i went to motorcyclists headsets for hundreds of dollars.

Ann

My thoughts exactly.

I had a Batman set picked out a while ago, can't find them again unfortunately but we have managed to work a twin decked 60fter as a couple for near 3 years with no problems.

[Reefmagnet]

Originally Posted by FabioC

I have been doing quite some research on all the solutions that were proposed on this thread so far. This is my take so far.

I see that the Eartec have generally great reviews, but there are some concerns on the fact that they easily come off.

The Sena have also good reviews in terms of audio quality, but a lot of reviews say that they break very easily (the plastic seem to have a weak spot).

Has anybody here had issues with them breaking?

The Bao Feng seem to be an amazing value, and have a very devoted following, but they need much more tinkering than the other solutions.

I am still on the fence on whether it makes sense to invest a few hundred dollars on the Eartec or Sena for this, but if they indeed could solve our problem, they may be worth it. What really makes me hesitate are those reviews on them breaking or coming off, it would be very disappointing spending that much money for nothing...

The Bao Feng are very inexpensive, so it would not cost much to get them, it is more an issue of investing a considerable chunk of time on them, I am sure to really make them work flawlessly in our application would take some tries and adjustments...

There are several other solutions and brands that have very good reviews and will likely work, including the Motorolas, but I think the Bao Feng may have an unbeatable value, if one decides to go that way, and the Eartec/Sena seem to have an edge if one decides to go for the high end.

Re the Baofeng.


If you spend 5 bucks for the programming cable, download the free CHIRP application (it's supposedly better than the software included with the radio) and then google for the appropriate channel CSV file to load, it takes all of a couple of minutes to program once installed. These things are the #1 prepper radio, so no shortage of channel files "out there" (it just might pay, though, to cross reference a few to check for errors). I'd recommend the UV-5R model as a starter because these seem to have the most information available on the Internet. There's also a 16 channel model that is favoured by security guards and the like that is reportedly very tough and easier to use with limited channels then the 128 channel keypad models.

[peteh007]

Here is a good solution:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

it's the best solution for this problem.

You need a "full duplex" radio system.. not a "Push to Talk" ( PTT) so you have both hands free to the knots and hold on and pick your nose etc...

The apps out there are weak and buggy.Why? It's not so simple to assign two concurrent bluetooth channels on a single thread.

- but it is do-able. Just no one has written one yet.

Lots of PTT apps out here - but not full dupex.

Peter

[decodave]

Hi we use handhelds on our Motorboat for Anchoring etc.

My wife and I have amateur radio licences and programmed Baofengs with low power PMR frequencies for ease of use.

In a wind Walkie Takies are pretty rubbish but we use a pair of F1 style headphones with a Mic and foam cover.

If you always cruise in an area with Mobile Phone coverage you could use a Jawbone Bluetooth headset with your mobile if you have one each. The Jawbones use bone conduction for the sound so make wind noise less of an issue.

May sound daft but if you have a VHF station in the cockpit using a handheld marine VHF would be fine on low power and the appropriate frequency. We have a standard horizon waterproof handheld with DSC and GPS built in, we can use it with a tender and gives us some kind of backup for our VHF (albeit limited range).

If the weather is rough or it’s dark we use the VHF handheld without the headset in case one of us goes overboard. In a MOB situation it can be helpful to have communications with the person in water.

Hope that helps kind regards Dave

[spsell]

My wife and I use some basic off the shelf PTT devices (I believe we got them at Best Buy or maybe even Walmart), while on the boat, but use them primarily when I am going up the mast and my wife is handling safety ropes and other needed support below, where hand signals are not routine. The communication is typically a little more complex then drive forward or back or wrench in or out, etc. The cheap radios are great for going above, so I am not yelling down below to have clearly explain what to turn on and off breakers or testing lights, etc., especially when she is below deck and can't see hand signals. The only frustration I have had with the basic units is bumping the channel changing button on the way up the mast and I found myself talking to some 10 year old nearby, with my wife sitting below decks wondering why I wasn't telling her to turn on a mast light breaker or not. But besides that small little snafu, they work great for the small price they were. We have found that the hand signals when dropping anchor or doing any bow sail work, the hand signals are sufficient to get the message across and don't even use them when doing those types of activities any more. The fewer things you have to use your hands on when under sail and on the bow, especially in heavy weather the better you are, we have found.

[swrich]

https://www.panbo.com/full-duplex-wi...rriage-savers/

[Ozmirage]

Many cordless phones (for landlines) have an intercom mode. Depending on the model, they can operate as speakerphones and / or have a headset jack.

[Tornadosailing]

I bought a set of the Sena SPH-10's. I got to use them for the first time last week. Not cheap, but worked well. The range seems to be good for onboard use, but I don't think they'll go very far off the boat. Not that I would want to walk around town wearing a silly looking headset. When I was at the top of the mast ~70 feet, and I sent my helper below to grab something from my storage room, the connection was sketchy. Otherwise the audio was good, and they didn't get bothered much by wind noise.

Full duplex and no push to talk meant great hands free operation. One thing I noticed right away was the lack of sidetone. Having been a Com-Nav tech in the marine corps, I always notice when sidetone is missing. My brother in law on the other end didn't know it was supposed to be there, so it probably won't bother most people.

[Brian guthrie]

Don’t do that get marriage savers SENA UNITS blue tooth hands free wind protection works great and my wife & i sail along a lot now in Bahamas and we have a spare pair for when we have crew aboard and you can pair all 4 together.
Light weight and uses usb type charger.

Brian & Rebecca Sunny Skye Lagoon 42

[Cheechako]

https://www.sailfeed.com/2019/03/ful...rriage-savers/

[solecollector]

This is the best solution that I have used. And it is an amazing tool for training a third or fourth person. We use it going up the mast or working on the helm / engine room when line of site is gone.


http://www.ceecoach-us.com

[sdj]

Originally Posted by Reefmagnet

Cheap half watt UHF CB radios that have rechargeable batteries installed are our radio of choice.

Be aware that these are now prohibited items in most countries, and as such will be confiscated on sight, or worse.

Try importing a pair from aliexpress and watch the sparks..

If you're a ham radio operator you will be allowed to possess them, with paperwork, with local license and callsign if you have one....

Why not just use a marine VHF?

[Reefmagnet]

Originally Posted by sdj

Be aware that these are now prohibited items in most countries, and as such will be confiscated on sight, or worse.

Try importing a pair from aliexpress and watch the sparks..

If you're a ham radio operator you will be allowed to possess them, with paperwork, with local license and callsign if you have one....

Why not just use a marine VHF?

Fortunately, Australia isn't "most countries" and class licensed 80 channel uhf radios of up to 5w output are perfectly legal. On the subject of legalities, you cannot use a Marine vhf from shore unless specifically licensed to do so which makes the uhf a good general purpose solution (where legal, of course). Besides, no one else uses them in anchorages, so there's little likelyhood of needing to compete with others for bandwidth, and, if by some chance this becomes a problem even relatively cheap units allow pairing of two or more devices which filters out other transmissions on the selected channel.