I have heard friends talk about 2 way radios with earphone and mic attatchmetns that are voice activated, I want something with a long range, but don't know how many whatts of power I need for the hilly terrain I would often use them on. Can anybody make some suggestions?

Midland, 4 watts. Cabelas has them for around $100 or just under. They have worked very well for me in the MN woods. Point to point range is stated at 10 miles. I've had 1 mi. range in the woods with small hills, but mostly flat terrain. I've had 4+ miles of range in an urban environment.

Radio frequencies and usages are regulated differently in Europe vs. the U.S. A GRMS or FRMS radio may or may not be available and legal where you are, and vice-versa with European radios.

IF you can purchase and use the GRMS/FRMS radio like the ones available in the U.S., you can now get wattages as high as about 10 watts or so. The extra wattage doesn't "push" signals over mountains or through trees, but it does help extend the range to the best available under the circumstances. These radios use freqency modulation and are quite clear.

The "old fashioned" Citizens Band AM radios will give you more range and the AM signal overcomes the challenges of obstacles better, but they are very staticky.

I have a set of Midlands I bought from the bargain cave at Cabela's (last year) for about US$30 the pair and they're fabulous. If I remember correctly the range is about 12 miles. They claim to be line of sight but I've often used them in thick bush without any problems..... I just wish I'd bought more than just the pair though.

Stay away from Zodiak A-team.....
We bought 8 of them to the " huntingteam ", 5 of them had problems with the ear-connection and the reciver part.
We lost communication when hunting moose, 3 of the Zodiak`s quit recive in 2 hours.
Had to abandon the hunt.....
Got new A-teams from Zodiak.

2 of them got the same problem last year.

This is our huntig-ground

Express,

While the extra wattage helps a little, its the frequency band used that tends to make all these sets line of sight..steep hills and mountains are a real killer as far reception goes..

Another thing to remember is that the higher the wattage, the higher that power consumption...As most run on either AAA or AA batteries this can be a real issue.

The frequencies used are different between the States and Europe so you might want to find out what the American frequencies are used for in Europe..it could be that your transmitting on an emergency band or something..

Finally make sure what ever you buy has the facility to turn off the "roger-bleep" otherwise it will send you crazy!

Regards,

Pete

Take a look at these:
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/standar...cat130007&id=0032936

Also for your own comparison:
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/compchart/c...adio+Pack&hasJS=true