My DIY adventure on walkie talkies

Welcome to my DIY adventure on walkie talkies! In this blog, we're talking about how to make your own walkie talkie, test it out to see how it works (note: it's pretty cool), and break down the science behind why it actually works.

If you've ever been curious about what makes two-way radios work—or just love making things by yourself—you're in the right place. Let's get started!

DIY walkie talkie!

I got this from our company——Hytera.This is not made by our company but sent to students who come to visit Hytera STEM Hub. I got home and it was around 9:00 pm. Normally I was supposed to take a rush shower and sleep earlier as usual. However, this day was different as I got this small little gift. I laid everything out on the table and followed the steps in the guiding paper that came with it. It was actually really simple—just a few parts to snap together and a bit of wiring. After 15 minutes, it was done. That's it! Can't wait to test it now and see how far it can go. Let's see what this little thing can do!

Does it work?

After I finished it. It was very late in night time. Even though, I still couldn't help giving it a try in my community. Push-to-talk is so much fun. Just pressing a button and hearing a reply—it feels kind of magical, even though I know the science behind it. I wanted to see how far this little DIY walkie talkie could really contact.

So, I started testing it out right outside our building. I live on the fourth floor, so my husband stayed up there while I went down to the first floor and go further in the community about 0.5 miles away with one or two buildings between. I pressed the button, said “Can you hear me?” and—boom—he answered right away. I was really surprised it still worked with that much space between us.

After that, I'm starting to think how convenient this could make our life in daily life. Like when we go grocery shopping and split up in the store. Or when we take a walk in the park but want to stay in touch.

Then the chance came. Here is the another interesting trial. It was a Saturday with warm sunshine, my sister and her kid came to visit us. The moment my 5-year-old nephew saw the walkie talkie, he was hooked—it was like a glue sticked to him. We went out for lunch and took separate cars, using the walkie talkies to chat during the whole ride. The distance was around 0.6 miles between us. Everything worked perfectly. He was laughing, talking, and totally into it. It turned a normal visit into something really special. He absolutely loved the whole trip!

Why it works ?

So, how does a DIY walkie-talkie actually work? It's pretty cool—it uses radio waves to send your voice from one device to another, just like the walkie-talkies you buy in stores.

Inside, it's made up of a few key parts: a microphone, a radio transmitter and receiver, an antenna, and a speaker. When you talk into the mic, your voice turns into electrical signals. Those signals get packed onto a radio wave and sent out through the antenna. On the other end, the other walkie-talkie grabs that signal, decodes it, and plays your voice out through the speaker.

Here's a quick breakdown of how it all works:

Microphone – picks up your voice and turns it into signals

Transmitter – sends those signals over a radio frequency

Antenna – shoots the signal out and also catches signals coming in

Receiver – grabs the signal and turns it back into sound

Speaker – plays the sound so your friend can hear you

Basically, one device talks, the other listens—and you're both on the same frequency. It's a simple two-way chat system that feels kind of like magic!

This whole experience was just really cool. I couldn't help but share it with all my friends around me—and now with all of you, too. If you're someone who likes making things or you're just curious about how walkie talkies work, I totally recommend giving this a try. It's fun, simple, and honestly pretty satisfying to build something that actually works. So go ahead, start it now—you might be surprised how much you enjoy it!