Comms, talkie walkies

[jdizzy]

Abit of a noob to radios ect, but will any make/type of talkie walkie work with another? Obviously Aslong as they are both set to the same frequency?

[Swift]

Re: Comms, talkie walkies

As long as you both have a pmr radio that is set to the same channel and sub channel then yes you should. So a motorola will work with a kenwood, midland etc.

[Mickydoos]

Re: Comms, talkie walkies

Unless you have a licence to do so you must use PMR 446 radios below a certain power (0.5w IIRC) which should all work together. PMRs have 8 channels and many many sub channels and will work fine together. I have used Binatones and motorolas together in the past.

[jdizzy]

Re: Comms, talkie walkies

Thanks guys

[bobthebuilder]

Re: Comms, talkie walkies

Just keep in mind that sub-channels won't always work properly on all radios cross manufacturer. My understanding is that there are a couple of different techniques used to achieve them (CTSS or DCS) which basically use special tones to identify transmissions on that "sub channel".

CTSS tones won't work with DCS tones, and vice versa, and more basic radios have smaller sets of sub-channel modifiers, which may lead to issues (for example, I have a TTI TXL-446, which has 104 DCS and 38 CTSS tones. somewhat more than my old cobras, which had 8 CTSS and no DCS). The good news is that CTSS is the more basic of the two, and DCS is almost always added alongside, so if you don't have a choice, you are using CTSS.

Apparently, although I've yet to experience it, not all companies use the same sets of tones on the more basic radios, so you may not always be able to use every sub channel. But even then a bit of experimentation can find a sub channel that does work (might just be some radios need to be on setting 3 while others need setting 4, for example)

[No1_sonuk]

Re: Comms, talkie walkies

It's CTCSS, not CTSS.

My Motorola TLKR7 has CTCSS, but not DCS.
However if you set no CTCSS or DCS "subchannel" code, you will hear everyone operating on the main channel. They won't be able to hear you, though.

[Rich83]

Re: Comms, talkie walkies

As far as I am aware all CTCSS sub channels are the same. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continu...Squelch_System

Generally, all PMR446 radios operate at the same wattage, same frequency and uses the same tones. Should also use the same frequency steps.

[No1_sonuk]

Re: Comms, talkie walkies

As mentioned, not all radios have all the CTCSS or DCS codes.

[Rich83]

Re: Comms, talkie walkies

No but that will only be a problem if your mates refuse to use the main channel lol.

[No1_sonuk]

Re: Comms, talkie walkies

No need to. Most have at least some of the lower CTCSS codes, so you could just use those.
Where the difficulties come is with people using radios with no display, or no easy-change options.

[bobthebuilder]

Re: Comms, talkie walkies

It's CTCSS, not CTSS.

I stand corrected!

[swarm_airsoft]

Re: Comms, talkie walkies

Get yourself some pmr 446 radios and nice headsets, go for boom mic though if i were you, and try to have all your guys with the same ones/type otherwise if one guy for example HAS to be different and have a throat Mic, he can come through sounding quieter than the rest of you, which can be a bit irritating haha.