Will a two-way radio work in mountainous areas?

Good enough for line of sight. Mountainous terrain will cut off the signal. straight aways with nothing blocking the signal even the best sets labeled 20mile + will really only work a couple of miles. Technically you also have to get the FCC license to use those FRS type radios (read the fine print on the box) but nobody I know has ever been caught.

Best 2 Way Radios For Mountains

You don't need phone towers with a two way radio. Phones are a different system using a different frequency than two way radios but some radio relay masts will relay some of the two way radio frequency bands especially the bands used by emergency services, which are not available for private radios.

Permitted frequencies are governed by radio usage laws and are listed in the Frequency Allocation Table for each country. The frequencies are regulated under national and international agreements.

A PDF of the Canadian radio spectrum allocations can be downloaded from here.

http://www.kcbassociates.com/hamcourse/spectrum.ht... . . . . .

Two way radios are commonly used by rock climbers and mountaineers and are very useful. They can be life saving if a bad situation develops but at the frequencies used they are dependent mostly on line-of-sight and decent enough weather. The waves can be reflected from mountains but can't go through them, so the actual distance achievable varies enormously in different situations. Sometimes very large distances are achievable.

Strictly speaking a license is required but most people don't bother if the radio only gets occasional use like vacation or weekend trips into wild country.

In you are staying in the wagons a CB radio may be more useful if you get widely separated but is listenable to by any other CB users using the same band.

The two way will be fine most times though.

In Canada the CB band is called the General Radio Service and has the same frequency allocations as the USA CB bands.

Scroll down to Canada on here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens%27_band_radi... . . . . .

Again, in mountainous country the reception distance on General Radio Service is very variable. You can switch to another band if the one you are on has a lot of traffic, (most have at least 8 usable bands incorporated) but if other people are listening and both wagons meet some trouble at least the word is out and help can be arranged.

Most modern solution to the mountain problem is a satellite phone, which you can hire. Then there's no problem with radio shadows, but weather can still affect the performance.

Have a good trip.

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RE:

Will a two-way radio work in mountainous areas?

We'll be traveling into Canada and through the Yukon in two vehicles and would like to know if a good set (approx. $200.00) will work well if there are no phone towers, etc.

We figure if climbers or hikers have decent reception with their radios/walkie-talkies we might also.

Yes, they will work well, maybe even better than you expect for that kind of price. Read reviews on-line. I've used my 10 year old Motorola 2-ways in tons of mountain areas (I hunt, backpack, and rock climb in Colorado)... they are usually great for what you need. If it is just between vehicles, no problem, you could likely spend far less and exceed your needs. If it is from one side of the mountain to the other or Yukon to Kansas you'll need a satellite phone. The good news, you can rent a sat phone.

Yea as long as you are within a reasonable distance from eachother. Dont expect them to work if you are on opposite sides of the mountain, like one driving up from the base and the other driving down into the next valley.

But do you really need constant communication while driving? As long as the lead car knows there is a car following him there shouldnt be any problems