using walkie talkie's when skiing

Mr Flapjack

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Anyone ever used walkie talkie's whilst skiing? Any recommendations on makes/models? Argos are doing 6km range models for around the €130 mark for 4 handsets.Another Q: do most models come on a set frequency?Cheers,Flapper.
 
Yeah, I've used them.

First of all, I'd recommend you buy the cheapest you can get - often there are two-for-one offers, etc. Our group used a big mix of makes and none were in anyway superior to any of the others that I could tell. Also, realistically unless you're lucky enough to be able to go on lots of skiing holidays, you're not really going to get that much use out of them, so there's no real point in paying extra. They all adhere to some EU radio standard so as far as I can could make out all have the same range (presumably the regulation limits their power output) and support the same set of frequencies.

Secondly, the results have been mixed. The first year we got 'em we seemed to be amost the only people in the resort with them so they were great. Since they've become more popular, it's more difficult to find a free band/sub-band. One year, it seemed you could contact anyone almost anywhere on the mountain but last year at a different resort (due to the shape of the mountain, I guess), the results were more mixed but they were still good for finding out where people were in the village, etc.

More and more people seem to use their mobile phones as coverage on the mountains has been improved. Despite the very high roaming charges, this might be a better option if you can keep the length of your calls down. You'll probably want your mobile with you anyway as a last resort.

They are great when they're working because you don't have to arrange everything in advance and you can split up into smaller groups and still meet up for lunch or beers or whatever.
 
Thanks Drag.I'm looking at a set of cobra's. they're cheap on ebay (€30) for a pair. they've a 5 mile range on GMRS frequency. Works on UHF/FM. how do I know if (by buying them from the US) they will adhere to EU radio standards?
 
Maplin have some [broken link removed] on walkie (skiie?) talkies at the moment in case that's of any use.
 
Dunno anything about GMRS, Flapjack, except that it isn't legal to use in Europe. The European equivalent is PMR 466 - like the ones for sale from Maplin that ClubMan posted. I bought a pair on special offer in Maplin for about 50 or 60 for the pair (including chargers) but anothe one of the group got a good deal in Argus. I dunno whether you'll get a pair for 30 quid but you should get a pair for 50.
 
For what it's worth [broken link removed] are €32.99 (pair), [broken link removed] are €98.99 (pair) and [broken link removed] are not listed in the Maplin's current Irish special offers catalogue.
 
I bought a set of cobra walkie talkies when in America on my last trip ,they costed about 50 dollars and I had to buy a voltage converter which came to be 25 dollars , all in all the it cost 60 euro's for everything.
Anyway I can not fault cobra, they are highly recommended over other brands most notably uniden. The rang on them is very good, I took them away on holidays when I was in spain with the family and we were all able to keep in touch easily upto a mile away taking into account buildings and heavy shrubbery.
 
Thanks allDigger,Do you know if your walkie talkie's are GMRS or the other PMR466? Since Darag pointed out that GRMS is illegal, I confirmed that online. So was wondering had you any issues using Cobra in europe on GMRS?
 
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