So your cell ph has a built in radar detector and CB?
I get your point though, and all crammed in a package that fits in your pocket.
On a side note, the wife dug up the old Radio Shack police and fire scanner and a set of walkies, it even has a digital readout (woohoo), ya know. Anyway, plugged it in, scanned every channel, and nothing.
Then it dawned on me, they all went digital freq, while the scanner is old school U/VHF freq. Now it's one very heavy paper weight, about 20 lbs.
But, and there is a but, we decided to put 9 freakin double A batteries in the 3 watt walkie talkies (18 total), these things are nearly a foot in length 4 inches wide, and an antenna as tall as me.
We got so used to the tiny walkie talkies being so convenient and energy misers that we had forgotten about these behemoths.
The tiny digital walkies we bought were top of the like, claimed a 75 mile range, maybe out on the ocean with zero obstruction, but here in the mountains, you're lucky to get over the hill before it's worthless, it did work on the freeway going down to the valley, we got 20 miles out of it car to car, but here on the property, it's limited to the canyon bottom, mountains eat up the signal.
Anyway, we fired up the old Realistic Radio Shack brand talkies, she headed down to the canyon bottom, which has a curvature to it, so line of sight is out of the question, and to my surprise, the quality of voice and strength, put the new tech to shame, it was like talking to someone in the room with you, and sooo clear.
What we sacrificed in convenience is shameful and we've just accepted it as the norm.
