Cheapest seen at other stores is $55 all the way to $99. Starts this Thursday.
Model: PMR1260
Features
Pack Includes
Perfect for the zombie apocalypse or to simply use around the camp site.
Good enough if the other station is nearby your location - Usually the audio on these handhelds is only fair when motoring down the highway therefore you may need an external speaker for better audio.
Perfect for Christmas Road trip. Thanks
this is better than aldi models?
The NSW sales manager for Oricom told me they were tendering to Aldi for 2-way radios, the Aldi models could well be the same thing as these!
I was wondering whether the Aldi models were similar as the old man had bought a pair and if these were better was going to get him to take them back.
Thanks, Rasta!
Models or mobiles?
Wow, up to 7km range is a lot for 1w. Will have a look & see.
7KM would be the ideal situation, i.e manufacturer test environment, which is never going to happen with us!
If you manage to get clear transmission up to a 1KM in suburbs, I would consider this a bonus.
They measure from the top of a mountain to the other on the ground. With both on flat surface with obstacles you are looking at much much less than half distance specified.
I've had a 2w uniden one from DSE…couldn't hear my mate next to me on the highway doing 110k/h
the 5w one i currently own works like a charm.
Something seriously wrong with them then. We bought the $30 ones on here a while ago, from one of the auto stores - they're always red. Only 0.5W I believe. My wife and I were driving different cars and could still hear each other when we weren't in sight of each other.
Ha! Recently bought two Disney 'Frozen' branded Walkie-Talkies for my twin nieces for $15 each knowing they'd be complete and utter garbage (the Walkie-Talkies, not the nieces). To summarise they consist of a dollars worth of electronics that hasn't changed since it was designed in the 70s enclosed within $14 worth of licensed Disney plastic however that poisonous combo has unfortunately provided a good few weeks of absolute bliss for the girls even though they're close to unusable.
Bugs me that if I'd spent that amount of money on these Oricom units that would be far more functional they probably would've thrown them away as soon as I turned my back :( Kids eh?! No wonder I chose not to have any :p
simple solution, take that $14 of Disney plastic, glue to this radio, solved for both you and kids!
Nah, I should've just bought a pack of unlicensed 'Frozen' stickers and just stuck them to radios like these :p
is it good enough to use whilst on a journey with several other dudes through land, mountains, and hell to destroy a small object?
Should be fine, im hoping with a few small mods with old toy parts it will be powerful enough for ET to phone home… Was waiting for the price to hit $30, cheers OP
I only need one so If anyone wants the other one let me know!
only one…sounds like Mr ET is a lucky alien…im buying one for Mr Frodo
maybe one for Mr Sauraman..so he doesnt need to yell and bring down mountains etc. nice guy though
I have been thinking of getting some of these to use on a cruise ship (having seen others using them). Would they get much interference when on different levels and at opposite ends of the boat?
Will work in most factories/warehouses/workplaces/offices. Will work on most cruise ships based on multiple amazon feedback of 1W 440MHz GMRS radios
My experience on a cruise ship wasnt good. I have some GME Electrophone 2W models and they were useless on a cruise ship, unless both parties were on the top deck, or open areas within a couple hundred meters (e.g. back of the ship). For someone in a room, trying to talk to anywhere else on the ship, just didn't work.
Depends on the size of the ship. A small one, yes. A large one, no way. All the metal on those ships will trap the signal better than a rat in a trap. You'll find for a massive ship you're looking more towards the 3W/5W models.
Picked up the 2x PMR1280 pack at Repco for a similar price a few weeks ago. Works pretty well for the price.
what does two way mean - speak and listen at the same time?
More like they can speak and listen (but not at the same time), not just listen. Your radio in the car can only listen, not broadcast.
I also don't understand. So if i bought 2 of these and use it at the same time with one on my ear and another to speak on I can basically speak and listen at the same time? If so then why the hell not incorporate these two functions into one unit. I'm lost.
So you want to hear yourself talk? (kidding)
I'm not 100% sure but I think it's been this way for decades and think it's related to power consumption and quality of communication. 'Listening' really doesn't need much power however as soon as you hit that PTT (Push To Talk) button the power consumption skyrockets and if you were to hold it down I'd say the batteries would only last 30-60 minutes vs several times that if you were just listening in. Also, if these worked like telephones you'd get people talking over the top of each other all the time and that would obviously be an issue on say a construction site or in a critical situation.
The reason is bandwidth. Think of a single lane road - you can have one-way traffic (eg FM broadcast radio station that you can only listen to), or two-way traffic with a traffic controller but only one direction at a time (two-way radio comms).
Both people listen to the same frequency, and either can transmit on it. If multiple people transmit at the same time on the same frequency, the transmissions mash together making it unintelligible or even cancel out the waveforms.
These days the technology has advanced to make use of higher frequencies, and using two channels for duplex communications is quite common (eg mobile phones).
However, the radio spectrum is a finite and expensive resource. A tiny part is reserved for CB use.
The old 40 channel allocation (36 usable voice channels) would have been halved for duplex use.
For clear communication, it is best to have a single person transmitting on a frequency, so half-duplex makes the best use of the bandwidth.
@SteveAndBelle: as you say, it's been this way for ages (actually over a hundred years). The original and long-standing reason is that it's a lot less complicated to design a transceiver for half-duplex.
Though nowadays modern electronics makes the filtering comparatively easy (a number of current ham and commercial handhelds are full-duplex capable, although the feature is often promoted as a cross-band repeater function or for listening to a 'priority' channel whilst communicating on another) and modern modulation techniques can make efficient use of the spectrum,, the "old way" works well for radio comms, so there's no real incentive to change.
Sry, know very little about walkie talkies. Is this compatible with my current Uniden UHF?
Don't you just adjust to the same channel…?
We know very little about your current Uniden UHF, but if it is a UHF CB then yes.
If your Uniden is an older 40-channel model, you will only be able to communicate on those 40 channels (these radios have 80 channels).
I have a half watt Uniden - 40 channels. Would this be a big improvement in terms of power or do you really need to look at 3 or 5 watts ? Just want to listen to general chit chat on the highways.
The wattage refers to the transmit power, so the receive won't be much different unless one has a larger antenna
Thanks, I'll give it a go. I think you are right, says 0.5w and 40 channel on the box. I bought a pair ages ago but lost one lol
isn't this the normal price?
yeh what is normal price? is this the cheapest these models get?
Could these work as a baby monitor?
If your baby knows how to press the transmit button whilst crying into the microphone for food, then yes.
Otherwise, no :)
I think they're referring to the fact that most commercial UHF radios these days include a baby monitor function in which it uses VOX and cuts off the transmission on the other end entirely, saving battery.
As far as I found though (there isn't any easily-found tech sheets for this exact model) the model below and above it don't offer this feature so I'd say this one doesn't either.
I would hazard a guess that it can operate as a baby monitor. It states it has a monitor function and so does the 1280 version which instructs:
You can use the Monitor feature to check for weak signals on the current channel.
a. Press and hold the MENU and DOWN buttons at the same time. “RX” icon will be displayed on the LCD screen.
Your radio will pick up signals on the current channel, including background noise.
b. Press the MENU button to stop the channel monitoring.
If not, just tape the PTT button open and use the on and off switch.
The "monitor" function simply opens the receiver's squelch- nothing to do with the transmitter side of things.
The radio automatically mutes the speaker until it receives a strong enough signal, rather than just output the constant white noise. A weak signal might not trigger this noise gate, or might just be on the edge so you get clipped/choppy audio. This feature allows you to temporarily bypass the noise gate.
These radios aren't designed for constant transmit. This will not only drain the power quickly, but will also probably overheat.
And with the limited number of CB channels, it's also open to general interference (noise, general chit chat, and burping/swearing from potty-mouthed types with too much time on their hands).
A more effective baby monitor would probably be tying a string between two paper cups.
Do these use AAAs? If so, avoid as per the linked article if you are going to use it for a road trip.
I have an older Oricom twin pack 1W unit running AAAs and one has packed up. It only works for a short while and then the unit shuts down when I transmit even though the battery indicator still shows full.
I now have GME TX670 2W running 3x AAs and it lasts an entire extra long weekend. The unit also works well with 7 car convoys. They cost quite a lot more than the deal above but as the saying goes, you get what you pay for.
Not sure why the battery matters. In fact I wouldn't buy any that didn't use AA/AAAs. Because you've got to buy only their proprietry battery when it dies. With AA/AAAs you can keep eneloops in the car and never run out.
AAAs have 1/3rd the capacity of AAs. Simple as that.
Because commercial AAA/AA batteries are crap. Here is a brief explanation;
For one they will not be powerful enough (usually under 1W), but more importantly, their size will be unfeasibly small. Size is important but having a half decent antenna is also important. They also tend to come with mediocre receiving circuitry and have really crappy unclear speakers. 0.5W on a bigger unit is very different from 0.5W on a small AAA walkie talkie. AAA batteries max out at around 700mAH. But radios are high drain and will drain batteries quicker than their mAH rating will suggest, especially in subpar environments (read: cold / ski slopes). Kids toys.
I'd say these use 4 x AAAs each as the 1200 and 1280 models do.
Grabbed a pair on the way home from work.
They use 3x AAA. They come with 1.2V 600mAh NI-MH rechargeables.
How are they? Any quick review for us ozbargainers?
the thing comes with a recharger which i suppose is pretty decent
Personally, I am not keen on buying electronics good from China direct. I might be a bit paranoid as these electronic device emit radiation. All devices sold in Australia have to pass a standard. Not sure if the above device has passed any.
Please correct me if I am wrong.
These are 'radios' so they emit 'radiation' as part of their normal operation! Without it they simply wouldn't work. It's radiation at uber-low levels but if you're worried about that then you may need to wait for an OzBargain on tin foil hats because nearly everything electrical you use emits some kind of radiation, even lights, the power cables running through your home and the clock radio you most probbaly have right beside your head while you sleep!
It's good to be concerned about all types of radiation but in this case that's being a little paranoid :)
Mate, what I was trying to say was that devices like UHF radio sold in Australia passes Australian standard test which assures the radiation levels are at safe level.
Can you confirm if these devices bought directly from china passes Australian standard?
Imagine, you will putting these devices to your head/brain and what if they are emitting more than they should be? Am I still paranoid?
Example of Australian Standard: Helmets sold in Australia must pass Australian standard AS 1638
http://www.mcnetwork.com.au/faqs/faq_images/sticker1.jpg
@itsandhu:
Fair enough but I still think it's a little paranoid TBH. These are very low power transmitters, about the same power as a mobile but at far lower frequencies.
This is already set up to use on Australian CB frequencies and very easy to use.
It's type-approved for CB use, so no worries about using it legally in Australia.
You get two hand-helds, rather than a single unit.
This looks like it might be a better deal? Bigger discount off RRP and better radio?
I bought 2 sets of these. Yipee, what a bargain. 1 set will be for a gift for somebody. They come with Rechargeable NIMH batteries AAA size. Thanks for posting this OLDBUGGER you bloody champ. I'll put the .5 watt ones in the closet.
Snapped up one from Brighton store here in WA.
Wasnt marked as a special and the staff hadnt a clue it was $30 which meant the second trip to the store I asked for a price check.
Picked up two from Cranbourne Vic store. Great price thanks OLDBUGGER!
Good enough to listen to channel 40 on the highways?