Walkie Talkies

[Willy-wam-wam-wozzle]

Does anyone still use walkie talkies or is the phone reception generally good enough to not need one?

My GF is thinking about buying a couple as she a bit concerned about us going to see different things and then not being able to find each other.

For anyone does use them, any advice on makes / models?

[Alcatraz]

18 minutes ago, Willy-wam-wam-wozzle said:

Does anyone still use walkie talkies or is the phone reception generally good enough to not need one?

My GF is thinking about buying a couple as she a bit concerned about us going to see different things and then not being able to find each other.

For anyone does use them, any advice on makes / models?

Wasn't there last year, but phones/4G was reliable in 2019. I'm on O2

You're probably going to struggle to find clear channels with walkie talkies that are any good

Edited December 2, 2022 by Alcatraz

[incident]

Just now, Willy-wam-wam-wozzle said:

Does anyone still use walkie talkies or is the phone reception generally good enough to not need one?

My GF is thinking about buying a couple as she a bit concerned about us going to see different things and then not being able to find each other.

For anyone does use them, any advice on makes / models?

Just get EE PAYG sim cards (if you're not already on EE or one of their sub carriers. That'll give you perfect coverage throughout.

[t0paz]

Vodafone was shite last year. My mate on EE worked flawlessly.

My contract is up in March so will be moving to EE!

[mungo57]

I've been on 3 for Donkey's years, last time I went (admittedly 2016 so improvements may have been made) the signal was dreadful until the wee smalls then we managed to get signal.

I had the idea of walkie talkies but decided similar to Alcatraz that the likelihood of a) hearing them over crowds etc and b) finding a channel that works wasn't worth the faff.

[Field Commander Jefferson]

Two tin cans with a bit of string between them should do the job

[maelzoid]

Phones can be a little eratic but do get better every year. I was on O2 and didn't have any big problems.

I don't think walkie talkies are really that good unless you go pro. The budget ones seem to have a very limited range.

[scaryclaireyfairy]

EE sim is probably the best bet for actual comms but I’ve found using a notable landmark, like a bright coloured food stall, as a pre-arranged meeting point is the least stressful way. 

Edited December 2, 2022 by scaryclaireyfairy

[BambooShanks]

Phone signal has improved quite a bit but calls and texts can sometimes struggle to get through.

My group made a habit of stating the time when sending texts so if they take a while to be received, the person getting it knows it was sent a while ago.

 

We tried using walkie talkies one year and they were ok but the quality wasn't the best and were more often than not, forgotten about in favour for using the phone

[Helsbels]

I'm on EE so all good for me but mates on other networks really struggled this year

Edited December 2, 2022 by Helsbels

[clarkete]

1 hour ago, incident said:

Just get EE PAYG sim cards (if you're not already on EE or one of their sub carriers. That'll give you perfect coverage throughout.

And sure to be far cheaper than the quality of walkie talkie you'd need to work there, plus texting/messaging can be very helpful in noisy environments and crowds

[TheGoodWillOut]

just shout 

[Willy-wam-wam-wozzle]

Thanks everyone!

The general theme of the replies seems to follow my thoughts.

I’m on o2 and don’t remember it being too bad last time I went (year before covid), and probably a lot better than some much smaller festivals I’ve been to. But might grab a couple of EE pay as you go sims.

Agree with the poster who mentioned time stamping text messages so you can tell how long ago they were sent, I tend to do this most fests and is pretty helpful!

[Avalon_Fields]

The Vodafone signal is much improved. It was only a few years ago you'd receive a batch of messages hours (or even a day) after they were sent. 

[Guest]

Sigh

Edited December 2, 2022 by Ommadawn

[fred quimby]

Be lots of production areas using Walkie Talkies and police etc as well,  so need to gave the correct channel not to interfere 

[incident]

15 minutes ago, Avalon_Fields said:

The Vodafone signal is much improved. It was only a few years ago you'd receive a batch of messages hours (or even a day) after they were sent. 

I found Vodafone this year was broadly fine for SMS - but utterly useless most of the time for voice calls or anything involving data.

[t0paz]

I found Vodafone to be the worst it has been for several years. I don’t use my phone there much but when I did it was next to useless. 

[incident]

9 minutes ago, fred quimby said:

Be lots of production areas using Walkie Talkies and police etc as well,  so need to gave the correct channel not to interfere 

Thankfully that shouldn't be an issue unless someone is doing something very naughty.

The site comms (and police / any other agencies) are encrypted and on licenced frequencies - whereas any radio system available at retail should be restricted to the PMR frequencies.

[Gnomicide]

1 hour ago, mungo57 said:

I've been on 3 for Donkey's years, last time I went (admittedly 2016 so improvements may have been made) the signal was dreadful until the wee smalls then we managed to get signal.

I had the idea of walkie talkies but decided similar to Alcatraz that the likelihood of a) hearing them over crowds etc and b) finding a channel that works wasn't worth the faff.

3 is still shit at Glastonbury but on the other hand, it still has decent prices (I'm currently on £9.00 per month for unlimited texts and calls with 8GB). It was OKish for WhatsApp messages but forget Twitter etc. unless you go to the top of T&C where it's fine.

[Pinhead]

22 minutes ago, Ommadawn said:

Sigh

Haha - brilliant! The old Meeting Point bollard! PostIt notes of, "Terry - meet you and spaz in front of the NME Stage at twelve mate!" Glastonbury bush telegraph.

[Zacko]

Yeah, EE is the one. I'm on EE and had full signal all weekend, could upload pictures/videos/stories etc as if I was at home (not that I added loads)

[Crazyfool01]

27 minutes ago, Ommadawn said:

Sigh

i remember that sort of thing just about .... the question is did it ever work ? 

[clarkete]

8 minutes ago, Crazyfool01 said:

i remember that sort of thing just about .... the question is did it ever work ? 

A lot of people wasted hours at various places, and you'd see increasingly desperate messages as the weekend went by, plus of course it's a big site and whoever you post for may never check that point - hence more meetings at x bar, or back at camp

Great that @Ommadawnshared a picture though, for those who never saw them. 

[Pinhead]

Yeah, basically the moment everyone got in it just went to pot and though well intentioned the messages mostly went unread I reckon. But that was the fun of it then!