You know how sometimes in a show or a movie there is a character that has a “radio friend” that they talk to? Yeah that’s what I want to do.
But I do not know how to so I came to ask you! Cheap, preferably.
Out of curiosity, I found this app on IzzyOnDroid, (which gave me the idea in the first place) Codec2Talkie that seems to be what I’m looking for but I’m unsure due to my ignorance.
A radio modem seems to be required as the app description dictates. I can find one somewhere no issue. But is this the correct approach? Is there a better way that I don’t know of?
I think what comes closest to what you’re asking about is ham radio, officially called amateur radio. This is a hobby practiced by just a few million people worldwide, with approximately 800 000 licensed operators in the USA.
To participate, you need a license, for which you take an exam. This usually involves topics like frequency ranges, callsign prefixes, legal safety restrictions for radio equipment, and so on. There are normally 3 tiers of ham radio license, with each having a more difficult exam, but allowing more.
Once you have a license, you get a callsign, that identifies you worldwide when you’re talking to other ham radio operators.
For equipment you’d probably want to either start with a Baofeng handheld radio. This would be VHF/UHF only, so basically just line of sight for range, but ask your local club and you should find plenty of fun things to do with it. The advantage of this is, it’s literally dirt cheap like $10-20, iirc.
Or, if you’re looking to spend more money, you could get a shortwave transciever. There are many different ones, so I can’t recommend a specific one. Shortwave, or HF, will, if the weather is just right, reach around the world.
It’s a fun hobby, if you have the time, I suggest you give it a try!