My older brothers had a set, and they had a distance of several meters if I remember correctly! They weren't good ones. :D
A precursor for sure, but it also was a bit different, because it required physical meetups first, and then it was largely about relationship building while apart too - getting up to real-world mischief together.
I would have been disappointed, my expectations were a mile or so! In those days, it was knock-knock, Dave's mum answers the door, is Dave in, no, damn, door shuts..., get the walkie out.., find Dave..., it would never have worked 😀
It could also be they were screwed by the time I saw them. @galenkp can give insight. I remember they were bluish-green with orange buttons.
Unless he was actually in and his mother didn't like you ;D
Ha!.. she was a fiery Irish woman with bottle blond hair and a wicked temper, but having 3 boys made her that way. I kind of liked her.., their dad was a contemptuous cunt who spent every living moment in the pub. That was the way of life then.
Yep, blue-green body with orange buttons. The range wasn't far but we loved them and though they were the coolest things. Nothing like the GME XRS handhelds I use now...range of 5+ kilometres from a handset is decent. (They cost more though.)
Is it a safety thing now?
That's one reason yeah, loads of uses of course. It's incredible the range a UHF radio can get even without a repeater; I have handhelds and vehicle mounted.