As self-driving tours have become increasingly popular in recent years, they have been recognized and accepted by more and more car owners. However, compared to equipping a desirable self-driving tour car, many people have not realized the role of walkie-talkies in self-driving tours. As a loyal self-driving tour enthusiast who has used walkie-talkies for many years, I would like to share my views on the necessity of equipping walkie-talkies in self-driving tours.

Self-driving tours involve many communication and contact scenarios

Self-driving tours are not simply driving a car and taking various supplies with you. Especially for family self-driving tours and group tours with several cars, there are frequent communication and contact needs, such as the following scenarios.

Scenario one: Family travel

In a family self-driving trip, when going to the service area to use the restroom, purchasing food, it is necessary to disperse action, when there are many people, it is not easy to find; when traveling in scenic spots, it is easy to get lost, especially when traveling with the elderly and children, because everyone has a different focus, it is very easy to get lost in crowded places. When arriving at the hotel, someone needs to go out to find restaurants to eat, and then notify others to come to eat, etc., all these various travel processes of family tourism require the ability to communicate and coordinate multiple parties at any time, and ensure that the network is unobstructed, and is not restricted by region.

Scenario two: Group travel

Especially when several cars travel long distances or explore self-driving tours in remote areas, the lead car needs to constantly inform the following cars about the road conditions; it is necessary to communicate about mid-trip rest and refueling, and which stores to eat. During the driving process, chat and relieve boredom; in the orderly line, it is necessary to transmit risks such as signaling, sudden risks, and interference from non-team vehicles, all these needs require the ability to provide rapid communication, support one-to-many call and communication.

For these needs, walkie-talkies have extremely strong advantages.

My walkie-talkie using experience

I have been using walkie-talkies since the early days of my self-driving tour, and now it has been almost 10 years. Because of the need for certification and car modification, it is quite troublesome, so I have not installed higher-power, longer-range car-mounted panels, but have continued to use handheld walkie-talkies. There are 3-4 walkie-talkies at home with 4 functional civilian walkie-talkies, as well as 2 Xiaomi walkie-talkies. Every time I go on a self-driving tour, whether with relatives and friends or a group of cars, I will definitely bring the walkie-talkie with me.

I fix a walkie-talkie on the car and use it with the cigarette lighter to access the car's battery. During driving, it is convenient to communicate with other vehicles at any time and worry-free about battery depletion. If we stop midway, whoever wants to go out for convenience or shopping, we can bring a portable walkie-talkie, with a range of 2-3 kilometers, which can meet the requirements. Using the walkie-talkie, we don't need to make calls, just press the call button to speak, which is very convenient.

In addition to self-driving tours, I also use walkie-talkies at home sometimes when my children go out to play in the neighborhood, or when I leave my children at home, I use walkie-talkies to go out to the neighborhood or shop for groceries. It's a very effective short-range communication tool, used very frequently, and my children also like to use it, which can also reduce the children's contact with mobile phones. It's a great choice.

What are the advantages of walkie-talkies compared to mobile phones?

In short-distance communication, compared to mobile phones, walkie-talkies have at least the following advantages.

One, not constrained by base station signals

It's easy to understand that all mobile phones (except satellite phones) communication relies on base station support. However, in self-driving tours, including high-speed driving, it is easy to encounter situations where mobile phones cannot be dialed, disconnected, or have poor signals, especially in remote areas, where base stations may have blind areas or coverage limitations, such as when we went to Tibet for self-driving tours, we often found that mobile phones had no signal on some road sections. At this time, only by using walkie-talkies to contact other car friends is reliable. After all, walkie-talkies are self-emitting devices that can complete communication between terminals without relying on external base stations or relay stations.

Therefore, in terms of reliable short-distance communication, the advantages of walkie-talkies are beyond the reach of mobile phones.

Two, easy to use and operate

To contact others with a mobile phone, you need to take out your mobile phone, unlock the screen, dial and call, and you also need to wait for the other party to answer and connect. This operation is very cumbersome and time-consuming, especially for drivers, it is dangerous to do dialing actions while driving, especially on complex road sections like the Sichuan-Tibet Highway, a moment's inattention can cause an accident.

Walkie-talkies are different, as long as everyone has set up the unified call frequency and hand-held code before departure, when you need to call teammates, you can just hold the walkie-talkie with one hand and press the call button to speak, and the other party doesn't need to do any answering operations, it can directly receive your speech, without establishing communication connection, this simple operation greatly reduces the complexity and safety risks.

Three, low purchase cost

A civilian walkie-talkie generally costs around 1-200 yuan, which is very low-cost, and it is also very durable compared to the price of mobile phones, which is simply negligible. In addition, walkie-talkies are usually equipped with hooks, which can be hung on backpacks or belts. The shape of the walkie-talkie is also easy to hold, and the internal structure of the walkie-talkie is not as detailed as that of mobile phones, so it is not easily damaged, and the cost performance is very high.

Four, meet one-to-many group communication needs

Whether it's a family self-driving tour or a group tour with several cars, there are often needs for multiple people and multiple vehicles to communicate simultaneously, which mobile phones can only support one-to-one connection, and WeChat group chats also have network signal quality constraints, walkie-talkies can completely solve this problem.

Especially when the team leader issues instructions, everyone can receive and take action immediately, which is very convenient.

Five, no additional communication fees

Although many people now have mobile phone traffic and package plans, but still limited, and many people will buy additional package plans when traveling, which needs to pay additional fees. Using walkie-talkies, you don't have to worry about running out of communication fees.

Finally, I want to say: Self-driving tours are a favorite and pursued activity for many friends. However, there will inevitably be various problems during the tour, especially in communication and coordination. Using a walkie-talkie system can greatly improve the travel experience. Therefore, don't hesitate, quickly prepare this self-driving tour tool!

I am Baobao Dad, a parent travel expert, a multi-platform original author, sharing professional travel, self-driving travel, and family travel experience and knowledge! Welcome to follow me, leave a message to consult or discuss. Without my authorization, please do not reprint, thank you!