Two Way Radios

Are They Legal in England?

[Jane_Doe]

Someone told me that when they were growing up it was illegal for private individuals to own and operate 2 way radios (walkie-talkies) in England.

Is this still true?

[JonSimmonds]

I think during the 1980's the government made it legal to use CB radios on a set range of frequency's (to prevent any loss of service/interference to other radio services on different frequency's) and as far as I am aware they are still legal today - I often see truckies on the motorway chatting away to them

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

Are you taking your CB on holiday Jane Doe? ;)

[Quadrille]

We Got Us A Convoy in the early 1980s

CBs are legal in the UK on a range of frequencies - but not necessarily the same frequencies as used in other countries.

So importing and using two-way radios not designed for the UK may be a problem.

[Matt Probert]

Radio transmitters require a licence in the UK, unless they are of a low power and operate within certain narrow frequency ranges. Originally amateur (Ham) radios were licensed, then later CB radio became legalised and licensed (very few people bothering to purchase a licence) and now we have lots of low power walkie-talkies on sale quite legally without a license. Many companies use 'PMR' walkie-talkies which I believe no longer have to be licensed.

But as it has been stated, don't try importing foreign transceivers, if they happen to intefere with official channels (emergency services or the army) you could end up in trouble!

Matt

[Jane_Doe]

Are you taking your CB on holiday Jane Doe? ;)

I just wanted to bring little two radios because our cell phones won't work over there, to let the kids go off on their own a bit and still keep track of them, but I guess that won't work out. In the U.S. you can buy walkie-talkies at any electronic or department store without any restrictions that I'm aware of.

Thanks for the info to all who replied. :)

[edited by: Jane_Doe at 5:26 pm (utc) on Aug. 12, 2007]

[HelenDev]

In the U.S. you can buy walkie-talkies at any electronic or department store

You can buy them in similar shops here, and toy shops, and they're not that expensive - I think you can get a set of two for less than £20, so maybe you could buy some when you get here :)

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

Are They Legal in England?

Do you mean England as opposed to the United Kingdom as a whole?

[topr8]

you can buy pay-as-you-go (eg prepay) cellphones here in the uk from any supermarket for around 25 pounds, then a 10 pound phone card should cover quite a lot of calls.

[Quadrille]

And if you shop around, GBP 19.99, including GBP 10.00 of prepaid calls.

[Robin_reala]

Good idea. For what it's worth a major chain has 2x60m range walkie talkies for £10, and 2x3km range ones for £20. The 3km ones are pink though, which may not go down well depending on the gender of your kids :)

[Jane_Doe]

you can buy pay-as-you-go (eg prepay) cellphones here in the uk from any supermarket for around 25 pounds, then a 10 pound phone card should cover quite a lot of calls.

We ended up renting a Vodaphone in the US to take with us through our US cell phone carrier but it was very expensive calling rates. Unfortunately your reply and the others about the pay as you go phones and calling cards were posted after we started our trip but I'll remember it for next time.

I ended up not getting any two way radios and we still kept track of the kids. :)

However we had a back pack stolen in London though so we ended up losing a passport and an expensive camera to thieves. :(

[topr8]

ah, i'm so sorry you had bad luck here in london, i hope the trip was otherwise ok.

[Jane_Doe]

ah, i'm so sorry you had bad luck here in london, i hope the trip was otherwise ok

Yes, otherwise the trip was very nice. Most of it was visiting relatives.

We are a little older and wiser about the professional pickpocket/stealth thieves now before our next visit.