2.4 GHz for $20: How far will these Dickie walkie talkies transmit?
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
- These were $20 special buys at Aldi. Claimed range was 100m. Never having experimented with 2.4 GHz before I couldn't resist buying a pair. In this video I take a look inside then do some range tests over various paths.
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I have tested these at work, RF output: +6dBm 2.480 GHz, GMSK
Thanks!
Was wondering what the modulation type would be.
In the USA 2.4 gHz is a ham band. It would be fun to build up a pair of horn antennas and see how far you could get. They look like there are a lot of possibilities for modification.
Very interesting Peter!
Bet Kirby would like to play around with these.
And nice to see you here too Lewis!
Wow, a radio that actually meets the claims they make on the box!
Damn, I’m amazed at how far those things are going!!!!! I’m sorry for saying that they sound like crap lol. It’s actually relatively clear auto.
Great video! Just grabbed some of these as well 😂
I'm quite eager to grab a set too, not bad for NZD39 but the local toy shop doesn't have any in stock at the moment 😥
Nice to see you here Andy!
Looking forward to your video on them - hint hint! Wonder how they'd go from urban tower blocks versus open country given much higher noise in the former.
Very fun yet thorough test . thnx Peter.
More than 50 meters and very clear audio we got from a single transistor transmitter on FM range.
Considering the noise floor on 2.4 ghz they perform quite well! I’m surprised!
Very interesting. I was waiting for someone to run away with the camera.....
We'd have never seen the video if they had
@@M0UAW_IO83 Nah, Peter would have caught up with them and retrieved the camera. His 200m looked pretty quick :-)
Have to see if Aldi here in Brisbane still have them tomorrow. Good christmas holiday experiment, mount an sma connector and home brew some 2.4 Ghz antennas and see how much you can boost the range! Rare to see Andy Kirby, Ringway AND vk3ye all expressing an interest in them... Suspect the boards will start appearing on ebay and aliexpress soon...
Seem to have Freq Hopping 4FSK, the pair have its own hopping sequence, look at the serial number and code its engraved on the back clip it looks like, purchased a set will use as door intercom, will use the inner guts for a project
could you let us know the results of your project?
It's common for toys to be screwed into the packaging (usually into plastic tab) as a form of theft deterrence
Excellent Results Peter for 2gs At 100mw and good range Ian Vk2IJ.
I just bought a pair. The operating frequency is 2,475 MHz using a bandwidth of about 5 MHz (some sort of digital modulation mode).
Pity it's outside the amateur band. So no use for VHF/UHF Field Day multipliers!
Excellent test sir, Thank you.
That looks very interesting to experiment with. So many possibilities, repackage into a cheap motorcycle helmet communication system, hookup to a blutooth module and use it with Rattlegram, etc. I wonder if it uses an nrf24l01 tranceiver module or similar chip.
Maybe not a '24 (they're all BGA ICs anyway?) .. While they can sent packets fast (100/sec), their throughput is only ~3-5kB/sec -- while voice at that bandwidth is doable, it'd involve digital processing grunt that I wouldn't expect to see in a cheap toy.
Adding: this looks promising - an FCC filing by Dickie Toys for another 2.4 GHz toy using a visually similar IC... a NLB24054TX.
Haven't found a datasheet, however it is mentioned its transmit power is 0.21-0.23 mW
Would be cool to modify them for SSB, would be interesting to take a look at them on a SDR see how wide the Tx is currently.
It's quite wide 😊
Not possible to convert to SSB.
Not bad little hands for talking to a friend in the street.nice high frequency
A horn/ dish, 100+W linear, and a next-door neighbor of whom we're not fond of....very interesting
Hi Peter, another amateur measured the output at 1.3mw worked well VK7EV
The annoying battery cover screws are a requirement for toys, to mitigate some of the warnings in the fine print.
These must be only milliwatts of power, still it would be interesting to see how far you could push them with a yagi. I bet you could get a few miles hillside to hillside 😎👍
4mW 6dbm
WiFi band walkie talkies? Interesting concept.
before it was a wifi band it was a microwave dinner band
@@paulmitchell4421 Still is used by microwave ovens.
@@spaceflight1019 of course it is and still just as unhealthy
@@paulmitchell4421 In what way? The rf is contained in a conductive environment. Does it change the food?
@@spaceflight1019 it ruins the food into nutritionaly useless and kills water memory
I will have to look here in the USA at ALDI for those. With a curved cage antenna they could be good point to point.
2.4GHz good for privacy, but otherwise here in the UK they dont beat my Baofeng C50
Pair for £20.90 GBP (discounts available) 2w 400-490MHz 99ch PC programable
with UV3R li-ion Batts included
Definitely seem better value.
Though 2.4 Ghz is a lot more interesting to me to experiment with. These radios don't seem to be available here certainly not in our Aldi stores
👍Thank you for the video.
Nothing that the kitchen tap is leaking with...a drop per second...1Hz frequency.
Would be interesting to see if the units FM mode or data and 2,4 ghz band? Ham radio play time is always good.
Cool, I never heard of 2.4GHz walky talkies. For $20 its worth the money to play with.👍🤠
It's pretty good for a toy. Could be a cheap option for camping. ( Dear wife can you come back and cook dinner, over ). 😊
Guess by call call sign you must be in Victoria Australia..
Maybe good cheap way to burn warts off skin.
I had thought that noise cancelling for kids radios must mean carrier wave only! 😏
Hello from Scotland
I just bought a pair of these, but they are blue with same internals - 18 GBP from Amazon. One of mine is transmitting an audio tone (sounds like a square-ish wave) at around 780Hz, along with the audio - I wonder what could be causing that? I can't see there is anything on the circuit board that can be adjusted.
Shame the chip is unmarked. Analog FM 2.4GHz chipset would have been neat.
They could be the same chips they use for some cheap ali express wireless guitar units. They sound ok enough but are not as good as a length of shielded cable
It's digital, not FM.
That dripping tap in the kitchen would drive me insane. 😬😅
Isn't this the frequency all the toy RC drones fly on? Are the ranges similar with the toys?
Yes, It's one of them, although I suspect the transmitters used in drones are considerably more powerful than these.2.4 Ghz. drones are good for a mile or so. For greater distances, 900Mhz. is the preferred frequency. It's worth noting that one of the advantages/disadvantages (which ever way that you look at it) is that atmospheric moisture significantly attenuates rf in the 2.4 ghz. range. It's one of the reasons it was chosen for blue tooth.
Very similar to the personal comms unit the military use
I guess you're not gonna get earth-moon-earth bounce with that.
Microwave frequency just right to fry tiny growing brains.
4mW, I'd be more worried about WiFi and I'm not worried in the slightest about WiFi.
@@M0UAW_IO83Not too many people stick their heads next to the router.
Good experiment but those shouldn't be more than $5
Why aren't you doing teardowns of these things ??
23cm band entry level HamRadio equipment form a microwave
For kids to use inside the house.
are these analog fm?
I'd love to put a 100w amplifier on one ;)
A 100watts at 2.4 would cook you
Fix your dripping tap 😁
So WIFI interference galore then.
Highly unlikely to cause any noticeable problems with WiFi which is 20-40MHz wide per channel (and some adapters bond channels for higher throughput), these dinky little toys are a few kHz wide at most.
Obvious toy
Those things sound like shit. Baofeng has much better sound than those little things. And 2.4 ghz? You’re sure to piss people off interfering with Wi-Fi internet routers. I really hope they are not legal in the United States.
The audio isn't that bad and with 1.3mw output I don't see they would interfere much if at all tbh
These are pretty cool interesting regards Richard 2E0DVK