Guides

A grandfather, his daughter and her young son sit side by side at the end of a lake dock at golden hour, seen from behind.

GMRS License: Cost, How to Apply, and Who Needs...

A GMRS license is $35 for 10 years, one application, no exam, and it covers your immediate family. The fee and term from the FCC's own rules, the steps to...

GMRS License: Cost, How to Apply, and Who Needs...

A GMRS license is $35 for 10 years, one application, no exam, and it covers your immediate family. The fee and term from the FCC's own rules, the steps to...

A compact handheld radio clipped to the chest strap of a work jacket at a warehouse loading dock, a box truck's open side door behind.

Walkie Talkies for a Warehouse: Racking, Yard a...

Inside the racking, out in the yard, and in the trucks once they leave: a warehouse radio has three jobs, and most radios do two. Which radio covers all three,...

Walkie Talkies for a Warehouse: Racking, Yard a...

Inside the racking, out in the yard, and in the trucks once they leave: a warehouse radio has three jobs, and most radios do two. Which radio covers all three,...

A compact handheld radio clipped to the chest strap of a security guard's vest at a venue entrance at dusk.

Walkie Talkies for Security Guards: One Site or...

One building, a campus with a car park, and patrols across a city are three different problems with three different radios. The reach, the license and the three-year cost per...

Walkie Talkies for Security Guards: One Site or...

One building, a campus with a car park, and patrols across a city are three different problems with three different radios. The reach, the license and the three-year cost per...

At a lakeside campsite, a man holds a compact handheld radio out toward the camera, its green push-to-talk button facing forward.

Walkie Talkie vs Cell Phone: When Each One Wins

A walkie talkie reaches a whole group in one press, with nothing to dial and nobody to answer. A phone does almost everything else better. Where each wins, side by...

Walkie Talkie vs Cell Phone: When Each One Wins

A walkie talkie reaches a whole group in one press, with nothing to dial and nobody to answer. A phone does almost everything else better. Where each wins, side by...

An illustration of a girl talking into a walkie-talkie at her window at night while a hooded figure in headphones on the garden wall picks up the same radio waves on a scanner.

Are Walkie Talkies Private? What Privacy Codes Do

The privacy code on a consumer walkie talkie decides what your own radio plays. Anyone on the channel with the code off still hears you, and so does any scanner....

Are Walkie Talkies Private? What Privacy Codes Do

The privacy code on a consumer walkie talkie decides what your own radio plays. Anyone on the channel with the code off still hears you, and so does any scanner....

A compact handheld radio stands on a stone wall at a highway overlook at dusk while an empty road runs straight to the horizon behind it.

Walkie Talkies for 100 or 1,000 Miles: What Act...

A radio that reaches 100 or 1,000 miles is a real thing to buy, but it is never a handheld talking to another handheld across open ground. It is one...

Walkie Talkies for 100 or 1,000 Miles: What Act...

A radio that reaches 100 or 1,000 miles is a real thing to buy, but it is never a handheld talking to another handheld across open ground. It is one...