The VOX capabilities were very good, 3 levels of sensitivity with very little clipping at the beginning of the transmission.
1. Used PP9 batteries which lasted approximately 6-7 days cycling (depending on how much you used them)

2. Good range, we often got 3-4km depending on terrain.

3. License free in the UK.

Disadvantages

1. They work on the same channel frequency as domestic Baby Alarms, a little off putting as you cycle along!

2. They are unfortunately illegal on the continent, being too powerful and using a frequency used by some commercial radio stations.

3. The headsets are not detachable from the radios themselves.

4. They have a long sticky up antenna, which kept twanging on low branches!

5. Suffered from interference, particularly in built up areas.

6. Single frequency- no ability to change it if you get interference.

In some respects they were actually the best set we had used because of there range and VOX capabilities. However as we do a lot of our touring on the continent we needed something that was legal, we thus went for PMR446 radios ( Personal Mobile Radios). These radios work on 8 Frequencies around 446MHz and they are licence free. They can be used in most Europeans countries with some exceptions. You can get a full list of the countries that you can use them in on the European Radio communications Office site, you will need to search for 'PMR446'.

Motorola Talkabout 200

Our first pair of PMR446 radios were the Motorola talkabout 200's, they weren't cheap at £80 for the pair, plus £20 each for the VOX head sets.

Advantages

1. Rugged outward appearance.

2. 8 Channels to choose from with 38 CTCS codes. Power output 500mW.

3. Head sets detach from the radio.

4. Button lock to prevent changing channels accidentally in your pocket.

5. Good clear LCD display with 'Back light'.

6. Short Antenna. (No wire antenna!)

7. They are legal in the UK and on the continent.

Disadvantages

1. VOX capabilities were poor, they weren't very sensitive and you had to shout into the headset mic them to get them to work. There only 2 levels of VOX sensitivity.

2. They also suffered from very bad transmission clipping, where you lost the first few syllables of the conversation. Very frustrating, so much so that we abandoned using them in Finland.

3. No 'Roger' bleep.

4. No DSC tone signaling system to prevent receiving messages from other parties using the same channel and code.

5. Slightly larger and heavier than the Realistic's or the Alan 456R.

6. Battery compartment contacts a little suspect.

7. Uses 3 AA batteries, which don't last as long as the PP3's

8. The range isn't as good as the Realistic's, we have only got about 2km, again it depends on the terrain.

Alan 456R

Due to the problems of the VOX with the Motorola's, we bought the Alan456R at £40 each. These have so far worked very well and are certainly much better than the Motorola's. Fortunately the head sets from the Motorola's fitted them and the guy in the shop kindly let me test out the VOX capabilities before we bought them. We did have a problem with the 'lock button' on one of the sets, but we sent it back to Alan UK and they repaired it free of charge.

Advantages

1. Good VOX capabilities, with 6 levels of sensitivity and transmission delay, perhaps not as good as the 'Realistic's' but much much better than the Motorola's.

2. 8 Channels to choose from with 38 CTCS codes and 83 DCS (digital code selection). Power output 500mW.

3. Head sets detach from the radio.

4. Good clear LCD display with 'Back light'.

5. Roger Beep (although this can get annoying sometimes, but can easily be switch off)

6. Auto power save.

7. Call button used to attract the attention of the other set.

8. Button lock to prevent changing channels accidentally in your pocket.

9. They are legal in the UK and on the continent.

10. Short Antenna. (No wire antenna!)

Disadvantages

1. Uses 3 AA batteries, which don't last as long as the PP3's.

2. The range isn't as good as the Realistic's, we have only got about 2km, again it depends on the terrain.