Help for 2 way radio

Tefral

Hoping someone here can offer me some advice.

Basically, my parents own a small farm approx 50 acres. They are retired and work up there during the day. My biggest fear is that they work on the farm in seperate places. Ie. Mam could be feeding the cattle on a top field and Dad could be working away in the digger or tractor in a lower part of the farm, out of sight with eachother etc.

As ye all know farm accidents happen so I was looking to get them some sort of 2 way radio that they could carry (so not too heavy) and that would have the range to get over the hills etc.

Could anyone offer me some advice?

gctest50

you need a "man-down" alarm really - if they stop moving for more than a few minutes it dials another phone

this in the meantime might help till you get something :

http://www.mandownapp.com/

gctest50

this type of thing :

http://www.sigteq.com/sigteq-accessories/gsm-man-down-lone-worker-2/

should be loads out there

martinsvi

I would give one of those cheap Lidl PMR 446 a try.. it's difficult to say whether it will work or not, not being familiar with the terrain, but at least you will not waste a fortune and these would allow them to have a chat if they feel like. They should be more fun for folks to actually carry it with them rather than some dongle that will end up left at home

GekkePrutser

gctest50 wrote: »

you need a "man-down" alarm really - if they stop moving for more than a few minutes it dials another phone

Man-down alarms on traditional 2-way radios don't usually sense the absence of continuous motion, but rather trigger when the radio is tilted horizontally for a set amount of time. You have to keep them upright.

We have some ICOMs in work that do this. Most people hate it (you can't lay your radio down flat either without alarming everyone) but for people working on their own it's a must-have in our H&S policy. I don't know if this function is available on any license-free PMR models though. And in any case the range on those might not cover a whole farm. You might need to get a business license from comreg.

watty

The PMR446 won't have the range.

Is there mobile phone coverage? Most (all?) allow emergency calls without credit. There are special versions with a physical emergency button.

martinsvi

watty wrote: »

The PMR446 won't have the range.

Is there mobile phone coverage? Most (all?) allow emergency calls without credit. There are special versions with a physical emergency button.

we don't know the dimensions or terrain of the farm, so it may or may not have the range, we don't know that. 50 acres are not that much for a PMR

Mobile phones allow you to dial 112, but I don't think that's what OP's looking for, if your folks need a nice and convenient way to check up on each other and perhaps call in for a cuppa, PMR is defiantly the cheapest option to try

Tefral

Thanks for the discussion lads, the man down alarm thing wasnt even on my radar until this came up.

There is mobile phone coverage, but my dad being the stubburn old boy he is wont carry it incase it gets broken! As he would be driving the quad or tractor and constantly hopping in and out. As with all lads of their generation they dont believe anything will happen them and it will be grand.

50 acres isnt much thats right enough, but it does rise up a hill and down the other side maybe a rise of 40 metres over say 500m.

Ive attached what im talking about

martinsvi

well the dead spot is pretty obvious, but pmr's should work fine in the rest of the farm - http://www.ebay.ie/sch/Walkie-Talkies-PMR446-Radios-/20381/i.html they don't cost anything so why not try?

watty

Depends what farm walls/windows like. One person Indoors?
I'm sceptical.