Community Forums

Boeing Guy · 08-20-2015, 07:30 AM

My 2004 Winnebago Journey came with 4 walkie talkies, stored in a compartment at the bottom of the cockpit, on the passengers side. The charger quit working a long time ago, and with cell phones, etc, I can't think of a good reason to fix it. Does anybody who has walkie talkies still use them? Has anybody figured out a way to utilize the space for other reasons. It seems to be a convenient space that if modified, would be a good storage space for something. I assume that if I take out the walkie talkie guts and replaced the front, it would still look nice but could be opened to access some unused space.

Skip426 · 08-20-2015, 08:51 AM

Can't think of any reason to keep them if they don't work and you don't have a use for them. DW & I used a pair for parking our 5ers. Only reason for having 4 would be to track your kids in the RV park.
Good luck trying to get a kid to carry one these days.

LSC9901 · 08-20-2015, 09:25 AM

We still use them occasionally for backing up but that's about it.

BeachDude · 08-20-2015, 01:08 PM

It's still legal to talk on a "walkie talkie" while driving.

We use them all the time when travelling in a convoy, especially in places without cell phone coverage. They work reasonably well within one or two miles if you have a line of sight. We let the kids roam the campground or RVParks, where no cell phone coverage exists.

We used them last year at Disneyworld, (and at the Fort Wilderness RVPark). There are so many that it's more like a big party line, on every channel. So, no personal information.

Libero · 08-20-2015, 01:34 PM

Beach Dude. Where is it legal to use a hand held "walkie talkie" yet unlawful to use a cell phone in the same circumstance?

Most laws prohibit the use of hand held devices while driving. Thus a walkie talkie would also be illegal for a driver to use while the vehicle is in motion. You may be correct - just don't know where this is permitted. We still carry "WT"s as we do the CB, 3 cell phones and a SAT phone. Each has its own strength and weakness but Walkie Talkies do complete the communication package for us. We use them on occasion when cell phones do not work or it is more practical to use the WT.

DW generally handles comms & GPS when I drive and we are seldom without comms. My advice - keep the WT charged and ready.

BDWEAK · 08-20-2015, 01:43 PM

We have them, used to use them all the time while parking the Travel Trailer, but now that we upgraded to a Class A, with all the mirror's and cameras I feel we no longer need them, but the DW seems to think she does, so I don't argue. Still only used for parking rig in site.

LSC9901 · 08-20-2015, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeachDude

It's still legal to talk on a "walkie talkie" while driving.

Illegal in VT to use any hand held device. Like many states and communities,I'm sure, we've had some extremely nasty incidents with texting and other hand held toys. That specifically includes deaths.

Bumps · 08-20-2015, 06:55 PM

Quote:

...Does anybody who has walkie talkies still use them? Has anybody figured out a way to utilize the space for other reasons. It seems to be a convenient space that if modified, would be a good storage space for something. I assume that if I take out the walkie talkie guts and replaced the front, it would still look nice but could be opened to access some unused space....

Boeing Guy: We have the same set of Walkie Talkies. I think ours still work, but I disconnected them. If you undo the four screws on the face, the whole assembly comes out and there is an in-line fuse behind. I did not want the phantom draw and so removed the fuse.

The cavity behind the Walkie Talkies is pretty small. I like your idea about re-purposing that space for "something." I will give that some thought.

Having said all of this, we do use Walkie Talkies quite a bit. But we needed something a little more powerful than the ones that came with the motorhome, and waterproof, and that could be re-charged outside the coach. In fact, we find Walkie Talkies quite handy. We just did not elect to use the ones that came with the motorhome.

\ken

Mr_D · 08-20-2015, 07:08 PM

We have a couple, have yet to use them in the years we've had them. I haven't even put them in the rig we have now.

FIRE UP · 08-21-2015, 12:06 AM

Well Gang,
We must be different than most. We use them on fairly often basis. When arriving at a campground that's either known or, unknown to us, the toad is disconnected and, she takes off as "Point man" to scout out potential sights for the big beast to reside in. Yeah, we could use cell phones but, heck, we got those nice little WTs and, all four of them still work just fine as well as the charging unit.

We've given them to other travelers with us that don't have C/Bs too. So, for us, they still have their place and value. We'll keep them around. And, even if I wanted to get rid of them and use that space, what in the world would fit in such a small space that I cannot fit in just about anywhere else in or, outside the coach?
Scott

the_vfox · 08-21-2015, 03:58 AM

We have a set we use occasionally when my baby is following me in the toad. We don't chat with them, just use them when there is an emergency or a stop is needed. We both have the same routes in the GPS, so getting lost is not usually an issue.