Anybody know where I can get two-way radios? I’m not sure that I can order them online and have them shipped here because the gov’t might have restrictions on importing such communication devices. I’m looking for something with a decent range (maybe 25+ miles) and plenty of channels (30+) with security codes.
How much does it cost in Taiwan?
[quote=“Gryphon”]Anybody know where I can get two-way radios? I’m not sure that I can order them online and have them shipped here because the gov’t might have restrictions on importing such communication devices. I’m looking for something with a decent range (maybe 25+ miles) and plenty of channels (30+) with security codes.
How much does it cost in Taiwan?[/quote]
Forget it! (no, actually: FORGET IT!)
(I normally don’t post “shoot 'em down” comments, but since i have a background in commercial radio communications and hold an amateur radio license, and since i know that Taiwan is even more restrictive than Japan when it comes to owning and using radios, i think i should tell you that playing around with radio in Taiwan is about as useful as getting involved with drugs: it’s not for laypeople… 
)
In short: as i said at the top…
(or as many as you like)
[quote=“Gryphon”]Anybody know where I can get two-way radios? I’m not sure that I can order them online and have them shipped here because the gov’t might have restrictions on importing such communication devices. I’m looking for something with a decent range (maybe 25+ miles) and plenty of channels (30+) with security codes.
How much does it cost in Taiwan?[/quote]
TAKE 2: :discodance:
Of course you can order them online - but you’ll find that companies in the US and Europe won’t ship them to Taiwan. And if you find an outfit somewhere (Moldova? White Russia?) that does take you money and ship them, you’ll find that the goods won’t be delivered - instead you’ll be able to welcome a customs officer (or someone from the telecommunications office), accompanied by one or more police officers, to your home. 
As you suspect correctly, the government has put “a few” restrictions in place concerning the import and possession of radio equipment.
You may want to think of something else to do… 
BTW, there is some local info:
forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … =7&t=95480
25 + miles?
You mean as in hand held I guess, not the CB jobbies you can get with a huge coil transmitter?
Two way hand helds can be found anywhere, and their range in open space can be as far as 10 or 15 miles in open sea. Over land, you’re pushing it if you can get 3. Of course, the higher the price, the better the range and channel allocation.
If you really do mean the proper ham set radios, then yuli is absolutely correct.
[quote=“Super Hans”]25 + miles?
You mean as in hand held I guess, not the CB jobbies you can get with a huge coil transmitter?
Two way hand helds can be found anywhere, and their range in open space can be as far as 10 or 15 miles in open sea. Over land, you’re pushing it if you can get 3. Of course, the higher the price, the better the range and channel allocation.
If you really do mean the proper ham set radios, then yuli is absolutely correct.[/quote]
Yes… ham radio or anything else that could deliver the punch that CB doesn’t have: fishing, mining, logging, police, military - it’s all serious "hands off " stuff…
Interesting also that Taiwan has well-known manufacturers of radio equipment (transceivers, antennas, filters, instruments, etc., etc.) that is sold world-wide…
Good to know. I’m glad I decided to ask here first before I bought anything. Thanks guys!
Joking and stuff aside - in Taiwan one can get away with bending many rules - but the problem with radio is that “everybody” listens: it’s one of the most non-private activities people can engage in. That’s why the usual “do it the Taiwanese way” does not apply here - they really get uspet quickly about violations (within limits: fishermen have a kind of free-zone to play in), perhaps because radio is a sensitive issue in terms of national security. So if you and your buddies speak the local language to perfection and use equipment meant for fishing vessels in the mountains you might perhaps get away with some - but if you and your buddies speak some hard to understand language (American? Australian? Canadian?) you can count on somebody ratting on you.
PS: checked Google for CBers in Taiwan and found this name: 27MHZ CB電台倶樂部 (they used to have a homepage but not anymore, it seems).