NZLarps radios / walky-talkies

NZLarps Auckland is going to buy 4 new walky-talkies. We had 4, but 2 are broken. We have received requests from GMs for the type that can be used with headsets (to keep their comments private from players who might be standing next to another GM).

I’m not a technical minded person, so would like some advice about what sort to get. We need them to be fairly durable, for use outdoors even in inclement weather.
Does anyone know what sort are used by other similar hobbies such as airsoft or paintball?

Ideally I’m looking for brand, model and where to get them from.

Also would anyone have access to staff discount or trade account that we could get them through, so that NZLarps doesn’t have to pay full retail prices?

I suggest asking Norman what kind he has because they are good quality.

I did ask Norman a while back, and he’s a very busy man, so a reply was not forthcoming. And never having seen his set, I can’t go looking for it. His set will be a couple of years old by now I’m guessing, I’d like to get input from anyone who knows what is good out there now.
Yes I could just use google, but since I don’t know the difference between the types and what are important differences, I can’t make an effective decision, other than price based. Hence my request from advice from those in the community who would know such stuff.

We use Motorola GP328’s at work. They work really well. They are quite a bit bigger than the current ones I don’t know if that would be an issue and I have no idea what they cost.

My walky talkies are Midland G7s

They are pretty old now, but SEEM to still be being made. Or at least, another version of them G7 XTR

Here’s a webpage for their particular brand:

midlandradio.eu/pmr446_lpd_r … 87090.aspx

It doesn’t seem to have prices… So a direct email might be needed.

You are looking for PRS radios. In theory so long as all the radios use the same bands, then any brand should be able to talk to any other brand. Persoanally, I suggest buying as many as you THINK you will need from the same brand…

And it’s worth getting high quality for longer life, and better audio quality.

But another wrinkle is that legal radio frequencies are different from country to country. So even though it might be much cheaper to buy these kinds of radios from overseas, they might not be sitting in the correct radio spectrum. Although hopefully the PRS band (that these radios work in) is the same from country to country. But that would need to be checked.

In New Zealand and Australia we use PRS/UHF CB (40 ch).

So when looking for radios, it may be wisest to buy from here or Australia…

I bought the radios I have here in New Zealand from One-Day so I assume they are actually legal. But I will try to remember to check tonight… :-/

One of the big reasons that Norman’s wakly-talkies were so good as well was the ability to plug in headphones so you could listen to what is being said without it being broadcasted to everyone around you.

I’m contacting at least one place in Auckland for prices of radios…

The crucial thing at this point is what kind of budget is there? $1000? $500?

I really do recommend spending a bit more to get decent radios that will be reliable and last a long time.

But this will cost…

I also suggest more than 4 that has been suggested. Six would be sufficient I would guess. Especially for Crucible that will have a lot of different things happening all over the place.

OK. Here’s some info from mcsdigital.co.nz/

I have been mailing Alex van Dam
MCS Digital Ltd

He first suggested one VERY rugged model that was about $460 a pair incl GST which includes headphones etc. This model would survive full immersion in water for a short while. This is probably a little more rugged than we need, and I expect more expensive than we want.

Another model they have is this:

gme.net.au/products/radio-co … elds/TX670

This is available in a twin pack for $225 incl GST then add $ 15 for each set of headphone/microphones.

This seems to be a pretty good price to me.

The company is in Penrose in Auckland, so you should be able to go in and try the relevant radios to test for sound quality and so on.

Thanks a lot Norman for this info. Sorry if my comment early sounded narky, its been a busy week.
At the committee meeting we decide 4 new ones would be enough since 2 still worked, and one of the GMs has a personal set. I’ll put this info onto the committee forum to obtain funding approval before approaching Alex.

[quote=“Hannah”]Thanks a lot Norman for this info. Sorry if my comment early sounded narky, its been a busy week.
[/quote]
:slight_smile: No problem. I often don’t get back to people, even if it’s just to say I don’t have time… I’m trying to improve on that. :slight_smile:

This particular issue happened to pop up in a window. :slight_smile:

BTW, there are are other types of ear pieces available and Alan has very efficiently looked them up. Some are rather more expensive, but may be rather more comfortable as well… Something to consider if a GM is going to be hooked up to these for many hours at a time.

It would be worth chatting to him about it.

So far, he’s been very responsive and proactive in finding information…

Ok, mission accomplished. Bought radios, and Mandos picked them up. He’s sorting out some storage case, so should be available for the next games.
Sabbat can trial the cheap earpieces ($15) and give an opinion about whether better quality ones ($115+) are required for long periods.