I know this is the wrong forum, but... Family Band Radios in Europe

[Scott Rosenberg]

hey y'all...

i know this is probably not the right place to ask this question, but i figured there might be a user of this site that could help.

i'm traveling through hungary, austria, and italy this summer and my soon-to-be wife thought it a good idea for us to take a pair of those family band radios (walkie-talkies) they sell here in the states. that way if she wanders off while i'm composing a shot, we could easily find each other later.

being an fcc licensed radio operator (kd4pir), i was concerned that the frequencies the radios work on here, which are designated as 'family band' may not be over there and we might end up transmitting on a frequency that is prohibited.

has anybody out there dealt with this?

thanks, scott

[wfwhitaker]

Since you're already a licensed amateur, perhaps you could contact some amateur radio operators in the countries you intend to visit. Surely if anyone would know the anwer to your question, they would.



I'd thought at first that it might be possible to find some information by going through the FCC. However, I work for a government agency myself and quickly saw the folly in that idea.



Have a great trip!

[tim atherton]

When I went to Cuba at Christmas there were a couple of families took these along without thinking. You should have seen the Interior Ministry Police haul them out of their bags... (your bags are xrayed on the way in as well as out of the country).

Last time I looked, the airwaves in Europe were a lot more tightly controlled (though rather more permissively...) than in the US.

These things are usually sold a lot in outdoor equipment catalogues - I get a couple from the UK and don't remeber seeing any in there recently?

But then again I just found this for starters:

http://www.amherst.co.uk/walkie-talkie-faq.htm

http://www.amherst.co.uk/walkietalkie.htm

you'll have to do some hunting to see if the frequencies etc are the same.

[Bob._3906]

If you wife is licenced, I believe you could use the 2m or 70cm bands anywhere with obvious advantages over cheap "walkie-talkies". Check the local national Am-Radio societies. If not, I belive the CB bands are the same throughout Europe (but may differ from the U.S.).

Cheers, (ex-G7FZY)....

[Scott Rosenberg]

thanks everyone... i guess i'll start the arduous process of seeing which frequencies are open in the countries i'll be in.

bob: sadly, my wife is not yet licensed, so we were thinking the family radios, if legal, would be the way to go. 73's!

scott

[Brian C. Miller]

I just did a Google search on "frs europe +radio" and came across this site:

http://www.two-way-radio.org.uk/frs-and-pmr446-walkie-talkie-radios.htm

"PMR 446 is a Europe-wide standard for radios that can be bought and used by anybody for business or leisure purposes."