Canadians wondering about walkie-talkie's in park/area?!

[lwilkison]

Hey DIS'ers!

We are planning (another) trip for this October 5-14, 2012, staying with Hojo and I was wondering what you all think about...last time we went and we picked up Costco walkie-talkie's before going and they seemed to work pretty great but other ppl kept coming on to our frequency with their walkie-talkies...

We don't use our iPhones while in the US due to roaming charges so does anyone else have ideas for communication while playing at DLR/DCA and DTD?

Or is my walkie-talkie idea still the best option

thank you!

 

[Malcon10t]

Walkie Talkies are widely used. You will have to get used to multiple people on one band.

 

[nikkislaght]

When you get to the states you can buy the tracfones.. some places sell them as low as $10 with some minutes... then you just buy a card for 30 dollars load the card and you are on your way...

we do this all the time..

 

[todzwife]

When you get to the states you can buy the tracfones.. some places sell them as low as $10 with some minutes... then you just buy a card for 30 dollars load the card and you are on your way...

we do this all the time..

That's a really good idea.

I remember 20 years ago (before cell phones) my parents took my 3 brothers and I to DisneyWorld and we had WT. It was hilarious when someone came on our channel and asked "hey, where are you" and my dad told him where we were and the guy on the other end said "ok, I'll be right there" and we left.

 

[endy]

We use the Tracfones too.
Great deal wish we could get phones that cheap here.

 

[jory29]

We use Tmobile sims that we buy on ebay, and our phones (Android, Optimus One) is unlocked, so you can use it with any carrier.

If you wanted to unlock your iphones, (so that you can use any carrier's sim card in in) T-mobile has a $3 a day plan for data, and unlimited texting anywhere in USA (free to receive a text from Canada and 10 cents to send a text to Canada) as well as free local calls, and then whatsapp worked well for us for 'free' Canadian texts using the 3g data to access data. I also signed up for skype unlimited North American calling for $3 for 30 days, so could place calls for free. Some people love setting up google voice when in the USA because it works well for them. In order to get data, all I had to do was enter T-mobile's APN settings, and once our plane landed and they told us we could turn on our cell phones, I made sure that the USA sim card was in (you do not want to risk roaming charges by mistakenly having your Canadian sim card in the phone.) Then through settings I was able to find the Tmobile network by doing a quick search on the phone, then 'register' and next select the Tmobile APN settings rather than your Canadian cell APN settings. It was easy to do, and we really appreciated having data. There is also a $2 data plan per day, but most people prefer the $3 data plan. Adding air time can be done with your credit card or buying a prepaid air time voucher online. Just ask if you need any more info.

Edited to add: To get whatsapp working with our USA numbers, we had to uninstall the app then reinstall it to be able to register it with that number. The first time we 'whatsapp' our friends and family, we told them it was us and they were able to whatsapp us all the time. When we got back to Canada, we just did the same thing. Uninstalled and reinstalled. Whatsapp was verrrry handy for sending pics and audio to family!

 

[jilld11]

We use our iPhones in the US, but with this app. Heytell. It is totally free and works just like a walkie talkie. It thakes up no minutes, no roaming, no data, nothing. Just look for apps called Heytell. WE were at a lake in Alberta and we were gettin Hey tell messages from Thailand for no charges and all free. Worth lookinginto:

Also, I learned this April when we went to Mexico ( and I am an Iphone newbie) that you need to turn certain things off. Location app, roaming web search, time search. I had no idea about all this, but if you have these features turned on (which is how it comes from the factory) It uses date time and takes a toll on your battery. Just my little tidbit for the day.
Go New Jersey Devils!!!
( had to get that in form my wahoo for the day)

 

[jory29]

We use our iPhones in the US, but with this app. Heytell. It is totally free and works just like a walkie talkie. It thakes up no minutes, no roaming, no data, nothing. Just look for apps called Heytell. WE were at a lake in Alberta and we were gettin Hey tell messages from Thailand for no charges and all free. Worth lookinginto:

Also, I learned this April when we went to Mexico ( and I am an Iphone newbie) that you need to turn certain things off. Location app, roaming web search, time search. I had no idea about all this, but if you have these features turned on (which is how it comes from the factory) It uses date time and takes a toll on your battery. Just my little tidbit for the day.
Go New Jersey Devils!!!
( had to get that in form my wahoo for the day)

Heytell sounds like a great app. I would be concerned that certain apps have privileges of automatically turning data back on, then the OP could come back with a very hefty, sometimes running into thousands of dollars, for data roaming fees. That's good that it worked for you though, you did all of your homework and knew what to turn off so as not to incur extra charges.

 

[nikkislaght]

We use the Tracfones too.
Great deal wish we could get phones that cheap here.

I got grandma a Tracfone from Fred Meyers for $9 or $10 . last year... it was very very basic. but then again she didnt need all the bells and whistles..