I’m thinking of getting an intercom, so that when I’m ensconced in my basement lair, my wife will have an easy way to get to me, especially if I aciddentally leave my phone elsewhere, it’s dead, or there’s no signal.
Anyone have suggestions? I’m not very handy, so installing a wire-based system would be less preferable. How good are FM-radio signal based intercoms? How cheap can I go? I’d be grateful for any guidance on this.
Cordless phones with multiple handsets work as intercoms.
Cheap walkie-talkies. If you just have the basement one on the charger in the “on” position all the time, it should work just fine for what you need. My parents bought a set to use in a similar manner, and they’re also useful when boating.
When my son was young we had an intercom in our home and it was quite handy. It was some kind of cheap wireless set from Radio Shack or Sears or something. It worked perfectly fine for a couple of years, then started buzzing and crackling all the time, but by then we were pretty much done with it anyway. They are much handier than cell phones - just push a button and talk. And they plug into a wall socket, so no batteries to dick with endlessly. The reason it made sense for us is that the house has 6 levels, and nobody wants to walk up and down flights of stairs just to tell someone “dinner’s ready” or “we’re leaving in 5 minutes.”
Wired systems will work best, the wireless will be cheapest (and she’ll expect you to have good batteries in it if I’m reading between the lines correctly).
Lastly, exchanges like “Engineering to Galley: Repairs will take 20 more minutes, so you’ll have to reschedule that meal…” only work on Star Trek.
Baby Monitor with 2 way talk. $67 wireless and reaches 1000 ft
http://www.walmart.com/ip/11993476?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227000129596&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=13685951110&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=34442196670&veh=sem
This is quite simple and easy.
I’m having a very hard time resisting this.
I’m trying to picture how this is even possible (never mind practical), unless you’re super-rich and have a whole apartment complex to yourself?
…
If you *are *super-rich, can I borrow 20 bucks?
the multihandset cordless phone that allows intercom or a Family Radio Service radio are best solution.
He might live in one of those town houses that are only 10 feet wide.
Philly has many of those.
We had wired intercoms when I was growing up. My Mom’s yelling always worked better. Their main use was for us kids to spy on our parent’s private coversations!
This is what I was coming to propose. We use it whenever anybody is sick; in your case I’d recommend having one of the chargers in the basement and another in the living room or the kitchen.
I decided to go with this –