Do we need a licence to use them?

These run on licensed frequencies rather than the licence-free PMR446 allocation, because that is where the useful power is: licence-free radios are capped at 0.5 watts, these carry 5. Radios hired in from a supplier are normally covered by the supplier's Ofcom licence for the hire period rather than by the hirer, so there is no form-filling on your side — mention it when you book and we will confirm the licensing position for your dates. If you are thinking of buying your own later, Ofcom's Simple UK Light licence is £75 for five years and covers as many radios as you like.

What range will we actually get inside our building?

Ignore the 10 and 25 km figures on the box; those are line-of-sight best cases in open country. Indoors, a 5 watt UHF handheld will normally cover a school, church or theatre building end to end, between floors included, and carry on out across the car park. What hurts it is heavy reinforced concrete, metal cladding and basements. If your event runs across an awkward site, tell us the layout when you book and we will be straight about it — sometimes the answer is simply one more handheld with a person in the middle.

How many radios do we need?

Count the people who must be reachable at all times: stage management, the front of house manager, the gate, the car park, whoever holds the first aid kit. One each for those, and resist handing radios to people who only want to listen in. The bundle covers a core team and extra handhelds are £4 a day each, so it costs little to get the number right. Tell us the headcount and the site and we will suggest a sensible split of channels too.

How do they charge, and will a battery last the day?

Each handset drops into a charging pod on ordinary UK mains — no loose cables, and a full charge is an overnight job. The maker quotes the lithium-ion battery for a full eight-hour shift at a normal press-to-talk duty cycle, which in practice sees out a get-in and an evening show. On long days, put idle handsets back in the pods whenever it is quiet, and if your schedule runs dawn until midnight, say so when you book and we will talk about spares.

We already own some cheap walkie talkies. Why hire these?

The blister-pack radios are licence-free PMR446: half a watt, a fixed stubby aerial and a range that is honest across a field and hopeless through a building. These are 5 watt site radios with proper aerials, louder and clearer audio, and batteries meant for a working day rather than an afternoon. If your own radios have ever turned to static between front of house and backstage, that is exactly the difference the hire removes.

Home Services Equipment Hire Stands, Rigging and Comms Hire

Two-way radio hire — Mitex site bundle

Two-way radios do one thing and do it without fuss: press the button and everyone on the channel hears you at once. This bundle is a set of Mitex site radios, the 5 watt licensed UHF handhelds built for construction sites, charged, pre-set to the same channels and ready to hand out at the door. They cover a theatre building and its car park in a way blister-pack walkie talkies cannot. The bundle hires at £16 a day, with extra handhelds at £4 each, dry hire or with a technician.

Mitex site radios are the two-way radios built for construction sites, which is roughly what a venue becomes during a show week. The bundle is a set of 5 watt Mitex handhelds, the Mitex General or a similar radio from the same range, supplied as a matched set that talks to itself straight out of the case. Press the side button, speak, let go. No network, no signal bars, no pairing and nothing to set up on the day.

The headline range for this class of radio is up to 10 km across a town and 25 km in open country. Treat those as best cases with clear air between the aerials. What matters on a hire is what happens indoors, and there a 5 watt UHF handheld is comfortably ahead of the cheap alternatives: front of house to the back of stage, the fly floor to the foyer, the box office to the far end of the car park. Heavy reinforced concrete, metal-clad buildings and basements will always eat into it, so if your site is awkward, describe it when you book and we will say honestly what to expect.

These are licensed radios, not the licence-free PMR446 type. The difference is power: licence-free radios are capped at half a watt, which is fine across a field and marginal through a building, while these carry 5 watts on Ofcom's shared business frequencies. Radios hired in from a supplier are normally covered by the supplier's Ofcom licence for the hire period rather than by you, so this is not a form-filling exercise. Raise it when you book and we will confirm the licensing position for your dates.

Each handset gives 16 pre-set channels, so front of house and stage management can hold separate conversations and still meet on a common channel when it matters. Charging is drop-in: the handset sits in its pod on ordinary UK mains, a full charge is an overnight job, and the maker quotes the lithium-ion battery for a full eight-hour shift of normal press-to-talk use. On a two-show day, put the set back on charge whenever it is quiet.

The bundle covers a core show team and extra handhelds are added per person, so count the people who must be reachable, not the people who would quite like a radio. Hire is by the day, and the set goes out charged with the channels already agreed.

What you get

Mitex handheld radios as a matched set: batteries fitted, charged, and pre-set so they all talk to each other out of the case

Drop-in charging for every handset, as pods or a multi-way charger, running from ordinary UK mains

Belt clips and wrist straps on the handsets

Licensing handled as part of the booking: these run on licensed frequencies, and hired sets are normally covered by the supplier's Ofcom licence for the hire period — we confirm the position for your dates when you book

Extra handhelds added to the same channels for larger teams — tell us the headcount

Not included as standard: earpieces and headsets — ask when you book if front of house needs to be discreet

Good for

Show calls in venues with no wired comms: stage management to crew, dressing rooms and the tech box

Front of house to backstage on show nights — clearance, latecomers and interval timings without a runner

School fetes and summer fairs, with one marshal on the gate and another on the car park

Church services and community events spread across a building and its grounds

Get-ins and get-outs where the van, the dock and the stage are a building apart

Dance school shows: chaperones, side of stage and front of house all on one channel

What you need to know

What it does: Push-to-talk voice to everyone on the channel at once. No network, no pairing, no call charges and nothing to go wrong on the day.
Range: Covers a typical venue end to end and out across the car park. The 10 to 25 km figures on the box are open-country best cases, not indoor ones.
Licence: Licensed 5 watt UHF, ten times the power of licence-free walkie talkies. Licence cover for the hire period is agreed when you book.
Charging: Drop-in pods on ordinary UK mains. Overnight to full, and the battery is quoted for a full working shift of normal use.
Channels: 16 pre-set channels, so front of house and backstage can talk separately and meet on a shared channel when it matters.

Hire rates

Tick the add-ons you want with the Mitex Site Radio Bundle. They go on your enquiry list together.

Mitex Site Radio Bundle£16a day

Add-ons

Additional Mitex Handheld RadioExtra handsets on the same channels for larger teams.£4a day

Rates are per day and exclude VAT. A longer hire costs less per day — tell us your dates and we will price the period exactly. Ask us about delivery and hiring with a technician.

Alternatives

Wired comms system — the wired party line for calling a show — always on, hands free, and immune to bad RF.

Full technical specification (9)

Manufacturer and model	Mitex General, or a similar radio from the Mitex site range
Radio type	Handheld licensed UHF two-way radio
RF output	5 W
Frequency band	UHF 403 to 470 MHz, pre-programmed by Mitex
Channels	16, at 12.5 or 25 kHz spacing
Battery	1300 mAh lithium-ion, drop-in charger on UK mains
Licence class	Ofcom Business Radio Simple UK Light frequencies — licensed, not PMR446
Weight	0.2 (handset body, before battery and antenna)
Dimensions	100 x 52 x 28 (H x W x D, body only)

Common questions

These run on licensed frequencies rather than the licence-free PMR446 allocation, because that is where the useful power is: licence-free radios are capped at 0.5 watts, these carry 5. Radios hired in from a supplier are normally covered by the supplier's Ofcom licence for the hire period rather than by the hirer, so there is no form-filling on your side — mention it when you book and we will confirm the licensing position for your dates. If you are thinking of buying your own later, Ofcom's Simple UK Light licence is £75 for five years and covers as many radios as you like.
Ignore the 10 and 25 km figures on the box; those are line-of-sight best cases in open country. Indoors, a 5 watt UHF handheld will normally cover a school, church or theatre building end to end, between floors included, and carry on out across the car park. What hurts it is heavy reinforced concrete, metal cladding and basements. If your event runs across an awkward site, tell us the layout when you book and we will be straight about it — sometimes the answer is simply one more handheld with a person in the middle.
Count the people who must be reachable at all times: stage management, the front of house manager, the gate, the car park, whoever holds the first aid kit. One each for those, and resist handing radios to people who only want to listen in. The bundle covers a core team and extra handhelds are £4 a day each, so it costs little to get the number right. Tell us the headcount and the site and we will suggest a sensible split of channels too.
Each handset drops into a charging pod on ordinary UK mains — no loose cables, and a full charge is an overnight job. The maker quotes the lithium-ion battery for a full eight-hour shift at a normal press-to-talk duty cycle, which in practice sees out a get-in and an evening show. On long days, put idle handsets back in the pods whenever it is quiet, and if your schedule runs dawn until midnight, say so when you book and we will talk about spares.
The blister-pack radios are licence-free PMR446: half a watt, a fixed stubby aerial and a range that is honest across a field and hopeless through a building. These are 5 watt site radios with proper aerials, louder and clearer audio, and batteries meant for a working day rather than an afternoon. If your own radios have ever turned to static between front of house and backstage, that is exactly the difference the hire removes.