A group of us will be traveling in Holland, Belgium and France in May of this year. We had discussed using the walkie-talkie radios common here in the US to communicate between the two cars we will be traveling in. Are these legal in Europe and what restrictions would we face? The radios we would be using are: Motorola Talkabout 250 Motorola TalkAbout, FR60, 250, 280 & 289 Specifications Channels - 14 CTCSS Interference Eliminator Codes - 38 Frequency Range - UHF - 462.550 to 467.725 MHz Bandwidth - 12.5 Kc Talk Range - Up to 2 miles with no obstructions Power Source - 3 AA Alkaline Batteries
Battery Life - Up to 24 hours (5/5/90 duty cycle) Thanks for any info. Ron
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9363 posts
The ones used here in the US are illegal to use in Europe because they use the same frequency as emergency systems there. Your best bet might be to buy a cheap set of walkies when you get to where you are going. The ones you would purchase there would be legal for use. The idea is a great one, though. On our first trip to Ireland, not knowing about the legalities, we used them and they were more handy than calling each other on a phone.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32219 posts
Ron, I WOULD NOT recommend using North American FRS two-way Radios while travelling in Europe. As the previous reply mentioned these often operate on the same frequencies as European emergency services, so if you're caught interfering with those severe penalties may result! While the specifications state "Talk Range up to 2 miles with no obstructions", this is based on an ideal "line of sight" situation and actual range will probably be far less than that (especially with a shorter 70-centimetre wavelength). Factors such as transmitting from inside a car, buildings, distance, interference and harmonics from other radios in the area will all affect the range and "useability" of the FRS radios. Your best best would be to buy a couple of inexpensive PAYG Cell phones when you arrive there, and use either short voice calls or text messaging to keep in touch with the other party you're travelling with. Not only will the range be much greater, but texts provide much better flexibility. Happy travels!
Posted by
Honolulu/Seattle, HI/WA, USA
2788 posts
First, I agree with what Ken says. Second, we took two US walkie-talkies with us to Europe the first time we went there only to find out from fellow travelers about their conflict with local emergency networks. We put them away as I can not imagine interfering with an emergency network. Since we go to Europe every summer, we are thinking about getting local phones over there along the lines that Ken mentioned.
Happy travels
Posted by
Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
1 posts
The Motorola radios seem to be type accepted. So therefor you might want to make sure they have a CE label inside.
Posted by
OP
Midlothian, VA, USA
3 posts
Thanks for the information and suggestions. I did some more brousing and learned on Wikipedia that a system simular to our Family Radio system exists in Europe. It is the "PMR446 (Private Mobile Radio, 446 MHz) is a part of the UHF radio frequency range that is open without licensing for personal usage in most countries of the European Union." It appears to have a shorter range than units here in the states and quite a bit more expensive. The increased cost may be due to the VAT. Thanks again
Ron