What is a Walkie Talkie Radio?

Walkie-talkies are battery-powered handheld two-way transceivers, meaning they can both receive and send radio messages. Only one such instrument can transmit a signal at one time because they have a half-duplex channel. However, other walkie talkies can receive the same signal. Its development took place during the Second World War. The engineering team at Motorola along with Henryk Magnuski, Alfred J. Gross, and Donald Hings hold the credit for developing this communication equipment. This gadget derived its name from the fact that you could both walk and talk at the same time with it, which is not possible with fixed-line phones.

Who uses walkie talkies

Since these instruments use their specific channel to transmit and receive signals, one can even use them in places where there are no mobile signals. A typical example is the captain of a ship issuing orders to his crewmembers when his ship is hundreds of miles away from land. Police and security forces along with construction companies, use the gadget that resembles a cigarette pack sized box with an antenna. Despite the popularity of mobile phones, walkie-talkies are still widely used in industries as well as organisations that require instantaneous group communication. The device is used by transportation industries, the military, security services, emergency services, and other sectors such as manufacturing, hospitality, and construction.

How to use a walkie talkie?

How they work: You first need to ensure that you and the persons you wish to communicate with are sharing the same frequency band or channel. All handsets are set to receive, and the same speaker is used as a microphone. To talk with someone else on the same band, you have to depress the push button. It switches the speaker to microphone mode. You can now speak whatever you want to say to other sharing the same frequency band. When you release the switch, the microphone reverts to speaker mode, and you can hear anything being said by your friends.

Do walkie-talkies all work the same, or are they different?

All brands of these instruments work in the same way. However, there are two different categories. The first is the FRS or the Family Radio Service, which does not require any licensing, have a legal limitation of 500 milli-watts and are relatively inexpensive. These models can transmit and receive signals up to a distance of two miles. If you are looking for a recreational model, this is the one for you. However, if you are planning to purchase a model that boasts of multiple channels, then you need the GMRS or General Mobile Radio Service. These models are costlier and can send and receive signals up to 30 miles.

What are the advantages?

Suppose you want to convey an urgent message to a group of people, you need the walkie-talkie. There is no way that you can use a mobile phone for this purpose. They are useful because you can use them in areas not covered by mobile signals. Hopefully, you have now understood the details of this equipment and how to use walkie talkies.