Please help me decide on what to do? Our family lives 16 miles away with no phone and no car we are there only people to help when they need or want something but we have no way to communicate with them. Both of us live on the outskirts of towns with county between us. I’ve been looking at walki talkis with no luck for the miles we need. We have very fix income but are willing to shell out some up front cost for a solution to our dilemma.
Unless your two locations have line of sight, such as one location on a mountain and the other in a valley below, handheld, portable two way radios like we sell are likely not going to work for you. You could purchase a GMRS repeater and install it at a high point between your two locations, but that would take a significant investment ($1,000+).
CB radios may be another option. If you are communicating from home to home, you may be able to attach external antenna’s to the roof of the homes. CB signals travel very well outdoors anyway, and the external antennas would extend the range even more. CB’s knowledge isn’t my strong point, so before going this route you may want to verify that your use is allowable under the FCC’s CB guidelines.