I’m looking for suggestions on a two way radio product.
Ability for two or more people to talk simultaneously and be able to hear each other.
Ability to talk without pressing a button or have a remote button attached to the palm.
I play tactical paintball and all the radios I find require one person to talk and others to wait before they can talk which is not efficient.
No users will have advanced radio knowledge or licensing.
What you are looking for is a full duplex intercom system. There are many out there. All are expensive.
Some use the LTE network. Some use wifi. Some use unlicenced frequency spectrums. Factor in the cost of the radios, plus the cost of the base station, wifi transmitter or network fees. Some work within a few meters. Others might reach 200 meters at best. Others work nationwide. (As long as you pay for your LTE airtime, which will be staggering if you play all day.)
Before you discount simplex two-way radios, perhaps you should check with your fellow gamers and see if they want to invest several thousands of dollars (at a minimum) for a multi-user full duplex intercom system when just playing games with paintball guns.
There are good reasons why gamers have never tried this, and the real life military is investing billions into researching a full duplex system, but will be years down the road before the technology is there.
Thanks for your reply.
I had found exactly what you’re referring to and yes it isn’t cheap. I came here to make sure I was understanding the language correctly and that it would achieve my goal.
Since we play MilSim the goal is to have realism. Cost is of no concern, minus the potential LTE charges.
As a secondary option, can you recommend a simplex two way radio system with voice activated communication? I found something called VOX. Or a solution with remote activation keys like a palm key?
I’ve found plenty of these solutions online but lack the knowledge to make a decision on what is best for the intention.
There are many radios on the market with VOX, and for the most part the technology works, although its performance can vary considerably from one model to another. Higher end consumer or business class radios usually have better VOX capability than lower end models, as they will often have more control over sensitivity.
For best performance with VOX, it is recommended to only use it with a VOX capable headset or earpiece. A standard earpiece with PTT essentially defeats VOX, simply because the mic needs to always be enabled for the feature to work.
Over-the-ear headsets with boom mics are usually a good option for VOX. The mic will be closer to the mouth, so you can lower VOX sensitivity on the radio to minimize the effects of a false activation from extraneous or ambient noise.
With the right radios and proper configuration, it is possible VOX could be an acceptable alternative to full duplex operation for some recreational activities. It will require some careful experimentation, but it could be an option.
Full duplex is so expensive and most full duplex systems are specially designed, and most digital. I’ve been using a hired in 6 station system which consists of a base station and then the outstations and they are stupidly expensive to hire, let alone buy. The purchase cost of a 6 way system is around ?8000 and the range is quite short, and performance reasonable. Problems are mainly around batteries - they need charging and so are always prone to going dead. Most of the headsets will also be too fragile for tactical paintball, and one thing you need to remember is that if you have 6 outstations putting them all live causes chaos. Every breath, cough and sniff goes to everyone. Even though they are duplex, it’s quite important to be able to switch TX off, or it gets very difficult to hear the right person. Vox on ordinary radios has the same problem. Somebody runs like mad, takes cover, and then treats everyone to their loud heavy breathing. Comms etiquette is always to only transmit when you have to - open duplex gets very difficult to listen to with more than two open mics.