Which set for car to car use and monitor for child

Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 5

We are going to tour Scotland in a few weeks in 2 cars. We'd like to use radios for communication between cars. Ideally we would also want to use them as a "baby monitor" for our daughter who will be sleeping in a campervan whilst we are having a meal at a pup etc.
I am new to the idea of radios. Is it private to use them or will everybody with a radio in range be able to listen? What do scramblers do?
Any help greatly appreciated !
Stef

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 7:57 pm

S.T.E.F. wrote:

We are going to tour Scotland in a few weeks in 2 cars. We'd like to use radios for communication between cars. Ideally we would also want to use them as a "baby monitor" for our daughter who will be sleeping in a campervan whilst we are having a meal at a pup etc.
I am new to the idea of radios. Is it private to use them or will everybody with a radio in range be able to listen? What do scramblers do?
Any help greatly appreciated !
Stef

Hello Stef

1) PMR446 is fine for comms between cars (in a 'convoy') as long as you don't get too far out of sight of each other. Have mobile phones with you as well (I imagine you will anyway) in case you do get out of range.

Unfortunately the Scottish glens with their steep sides and soaring mountains are a bit of a worst case scenario for PMR446 - you'll be able to talk some distance along the length of a valley, but not to the next one around the corner or over the mountains.

2) Some radios have a mode of operation described as 'baby monitor' mode where the radio automatically transmits any sounds it hears, so yes, if you look specifically for a radio which has this mode, you can do this. HOWEVER, you'd need to do a bit of testing to make sure the radio link worked between the two places in question before leaving a radio to watch over the baby. If the camper is parked outside the pub, there will never be a problem with range but if you leave it at a campsite two miles away you will really be pushing your luck.

3) PMR446 is a public system and no matter what radio you have the chance that someone may be listening ranges from extremely high to merely possible. You should generally assume someone might be listening just as you would when talking in any other public forum (like a pub or a cafe).

Radios with scrambling (only a few models have it) transform your speech into unintelligible squawking noises, and then convert it back into normal speech at the receving end. They offer reasonable privacy from casual listeners with ordinary radios, but anyone with radios which have a similar kind of scrambling MAY be able to listen to you, and anyone with the SAME radios as you WILL be able to listen to you.

-GrahamG

Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 5

Thank you very much Graham,
we really only need a PMR446 for a convoy, so it seems there are no problems with that. We will have mobiles, but people in the convey will be from different countries so mobile costs would be high.
The "baby" is 9 years old, I was just wondering if other people could contact the radio that is set to monitor the inside of the campervan. The van will always be parked close to us, so again no problem with range.
The scrambling option seems to be enough for us, so I will look out for that.
The only thing I am worried about is that my daughter is contacted by strangers on her radio that is used as a monitor. I don't want her to handle the radio, but I want her to be able to just shout out when she need us. The baby monitor function will do that, but will she be safe from strangers?
Or can they talk to her ?
Do you have any suggestion which radios I could buy ?
I looked at the obvious places like argos etc, but they don't seem to say much about the radios functions etc.
Stef

Joined: 29 Aug 2006 Posts: 211 Location: France

Hello,
Baby monitor is only a way to transmit without having to press the PTT button. Your 9 years old baby won't need this feature ! (my kids 5 and 7 handle the radio easily after 5 minutes training)
Remember you have 8*38 channels to use (read about CTCSS in the FAQ if you don't already know what it does)

If you continually chat on the radio, you may be heard by anyone scanning around (he wont understand you if you scramble). If that person is a wally and wants to speak to you, he will have to select the same CTCSS and you will hear him an all your radios. Now its up to you to tell him to get off politely or change channel if he doesn't understand (he will scan again and won't be able to find you as long as you stay silent).

Personaly i think scrambler is not required for personal usage.
I only found twice annoying users during ski holidays (kids playing with their new toy and a wally saying bad things) but it's easy to escape both by changing channel and waiting a few minutes before transmiting again (you have to agree on which channel to go without saying it on radio).
Anyway most users are not wallies and won't bother you eaven if you share the same frequency.
Cheers

Joined: 18 Jun 2006 Posts: 168 Location: Isle of Arran

Stef,

You'll find the Challenge Activate GS100 will do everything you want. There's not a baby monitor, but they do have a VOX mode. They were available on special offer for only £14.99 a pair at some Argos outlets, but they may all be gone by now. You can search the Argos website for a store with stock. That price includes rechargeable batteries and mains charger. They have both channel and CTCSS scan as well as a scrambler.

HTH

John

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 4:45 pm

boatman wrote:

Stef,

You'll find the Challenge Activate GS100 will do everything you want. There's not a baby monitor, but they do have a VOX mode. They were available on special offer for only £14.99 a pair at some Argos outlets, but they may all be gone by now. You can search the Argos website for a store with stock. That price includes rechargeable batteries and mains charger. They have both channel and CTCSS scan as well as a scrambler.

HTH

John

Boatman: Questions about the GS100

1) Does the VOX mode operate without any additional audio accessories?

2) Is the VOX sensitive enough to work with normal speech at arm's length or more away from the radio? (normal Vox usually assumes that the mic will be quite close to the speaker's mouth).

3) Can the receive volume be turned right down to zero?

-GrahamG

Joined: 18 Jun 2006 Posts: 168 Location: Isle of Arran

GrahamG wrote:

Boatman: Questions about the GS100

1) Does the VOX mode operate without any additional audio accessories?

Yes it does. The accessory socket is a single 3.5mm stereo audio jack. Tip is mic, ring is speaker and sleeve is screen. connecting a 2.2k resistor between tip and sleeve through a switch will give you an external PTT.

GrahamG wrote:

2) Is the VOX sensitive enough to work with normal speech at arm's length or more away from the radio? (normal Vox usually assumes that the mic will be quite close to the speaker's mouth).

Yes, if I set mine to level 4 (maximum sensitivity) it will work at arm's length with normal speech levels.

GrahamG wrote:

3) Can the receive volume be turned right down to zero?

Unfortunately no. The lowest level is 1 and that's very quiet but not quite off. I would recommend you use an accessory with just the microphone connected. That way you get to place the microphone for the best performance and no speaker output to wake the baby up. There's a thread on how to do it here:

http://www.446user.co.uk/forum_topic_3705.html

or send me a PM and I'll tell you how.

I have just been playing with it again and found that there is a baby monitor after all, it's just not mentioned in the user manual!! Pressing the menu key five times takes you to the baby monitor on/off function. I haven't experimented any further yet, but I suspect that the VOX setting will affect the microphone sensitivity for the baby monitor as well. For £14.99 a pair these radios are a real snip.

HTH

John

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 11:13 pm

boatman wrote:

GrahamG wrote:

Boatman: Questions about the GS100

1) Does the VOX mode operate without any additional audio accessories?

Yes it does. The accessory socket is a single 3.5mm stereo audio jack. Tip is mic, ring is speaker and sleeve is screen. connecting a 2.2k resistor between tip and sleeve through a switch will give you an external PTT.

GrahamG wrote:

2) Is the VOX sensitive enough to work with normal speech at arm's length or more away from the radio? (normal Vox usually assumes that the mic will be quite close to the speaker's mouth).

Yes, if I set mine to level 4 (maximum sensitivity) it will work at arm's length with normal speech levels.

GrahamG wrote:

3) Can the receive volume be turned right down to zero?

Unfortunately no. The lowest level is 1 and that's very quiet but not quite off. I would recommend you use an accessory with just the microphone connected. That way you get to place the microphone for the best performance and no speaker output to wake the baby up. There's a thread on how to do it here:

http://www.446user.co.uk/forum_topic_3705.html

or send me a PM and I'll tell you how.

I have just been playing with it again and found that there is a baby monitor after all, it's just not mentioned in the user manual!! Pressing the menu key five times takes you to the baby monitor on/off function. I haven't experimented any further yet, but I suspect that the VOX setting will affect the microphone sensitivity for the baby monitor as well. For £14.99 a pair these radios are a real snip.

HTH

John

OK, thanks for all that, John - it seems the GS100 will fit Stef's requirements if they can still be obtained.

(You don't fancy writing a full review of them, do you?)

I've been looking around for other current high end leisure radios which do scrambling just to try to widen the list of suggestions for Stef but they are surprisingly hard to find - none of Motorola or Cobra's current TA / MT series of models seem to have it any more, or if they do, nobody ever mentions it in the spec descriptions.

-GrahamG

Joined: 29 Aug 2006 Posts: 211 Location: France

About "baby" handling the radio:
The main problem would be if they accidentally change channel setting thus disabelling communication. There is a key lock feature on most radios to prevent this eventuality. My kids know how to disable it now but I still use it systematically to prevent mistakes.

About deactivating audio output:
I think it's better not do do so unless with a sleeping baby. The odds to have someone breaking through are small (very small if you are not often transmitting) when ctcss or dcs is in use. It's safer to be able to check periodically if everything is ok.

About GS100:
Just take care not to drop it

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 4:59 pm

x-alt wrote:

About deactivating audio output:

I think it's better not do do so unless with a sleeping baby.

As Stef has reminded us, the baby in this case is actually nine years old, so the usual observations may not apply.

GrahamG

Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 5

Challenge GS100 Twin seem great but unfortunately out of stock. I searched Argos shops all over the country, but they don't do them any more.
I was told that the price went from 39.99 to 29.99, then 14.99 and finally 12.99 to clear stock. There isn't a single set to be found...
I am keeping my eye on ebay, maybe somebody will sell a pair... although I wanted two pairs.
Any other radios you can suggest ?
As I said I don't mind if they are more expensive.

Joined: 18 Jun 2006 Posts: 168 Location: Isle of Arran

Sorry to hear that, I was lucky and had a friend pick up three pairs from the Clydebank Argos in January. The Challenge Activate GS100 is just an Argos rebadged Hoffer GS100. It's possible there may be some available in another European country. Otherwise the Uniden 885 has most of what you need, but lacks scrambling and CTCSS decode when scanning. You should be able to pick them up on ebay fairly cheaply.

As x-alt says be careful not to drop them. You can see the results of dropping one about 10 feet from a ladder in another thread of mine. Not pretty!!

John

Joined: 18 Jun 2006 Posts: 168 Location: Isle of Arran

There's a pair of GS100's on ebay just now:

eBay link

Joined: 29 Aug 2006 Posts: 211 Location: France

So,what's up S.T.E.F ?
Please give us feedback

Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 5

I managed to get a pair on ebay but unfortunately one of them has no PTT button.. Although the radios were brand new the button seems to have disappeared behind the rubbery bit into the body of the radio.
It still works as a monitor for the baby but I can't transmit with it. The microphone also seems to be broken as it won't transmit when set to VOX.
Apart from that the GS100 seems the right radio for my needs. I am trying to get 50% of the price refunded and then I need to find another pair, as indeed I will need 3 radios or maybe even 5.
If only I can find that many before the end of June.

The baby monitor automatically lock the radio, so that the baby can not change channels. It can easily be deactivated but you need to know which button to press...

I am pleased and my daughter can't wait to get another pair and test them properly. No fun though when one radio can't transmit.