What is a Two Way Radio?

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Two-way radios, more commonly known as walkie-talkies, were originally developed for the Canadian government during the Second World War by Canadian Donald L. Hings. Similar designs were created for other armed forces, and after the war, two-way radios spread to public safety and eventually commercial and jobsite work.

Major characteristics include a half-duplex channel, where only one radio transmits at a time, though any number can listen, and a push-to-talk switch that starts transmission. Typical two-way radios resemble a telephone handset, possibly slightly larger but still a single unit, with an antenna sticking out of the top. Where a phone's earpiece is only loud enough to be heard by the user, a two-way radio’s built-in speaker can be heard by the user and those in his immediate vicinity. Hand-held transceivers may be used to communicate between each other, or to vehicle-mounted or base stations.

Two-way radios are widely used in any setting where portable radio communications are necessary, including business, public safety, outdoor recreation, and the like, and devices are available at numerous price points from inexpensive analogue units sold as toys up to ruggedized (i.e. waterproof or intrinsically safe) analogue and digital units for use on boats or in heavy industry.

Most personal two-way radios sold are designed to operate in UHF allocations, and are designed to be very compact, with buttons for changing channels and other settings on the face of the radio and a short, fixed antenna.

In addition to land mobile use, two-way radios designs are also used for marine VHF and aviation communications, especially on smaller boats and aircraft where mounting a fixed radio might be impractical or expensive. Often such units will have switches to provide quick access to emergency and information channels. Two-way radios, thanks to increasing use of miniaturized electronics, can be made very small, with some personal two-way UHF radio models being smaller than a pack of cigarettes. There are various accessories available for two-way radios such as rechargeable batteries, drop in rechargers, multi-unit rechargers for charging as many as six units at a time, and an audio accessory jack that can be used for headsets or speaker microphones.

When headsets are used with voice activation (VOX) capability the user can talk with hands free operation. Several types of audio accessories are available such as speaker microphones that clip near the ear, security type earpieces with a pendant push-to-talk switch and a built-in microphone, a headset that has a a push-to-talk switch earbud that looks more like what you would find on an music player, or a single-ear lightweight behind-the-head headset with boom microphone and pendant push-to-talk switch similar to that worn by a telephone call center agent.

Two-way radios have certainly come along way, and they are no longer restricted to child’s play. In fact, two-way radios now offer extensive range, convenience and robust technology which make them ideal for keeping your children safe. At the shopping center, when traveling, hiking, skiing or any other time where distance may separate you, two-way radios bridge the gap.

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