Picture a world where police officers, pilots, or firefighters had to shout across city blocks or wait for a telegram to coordinate a rescue. Hard to imagine, right? Yet that was everyday life before the first two-way radios appeared. So, when were two-way radios invented, and what made them such a game-changer for safety, commerce, and even leisure?
The Birth of a New Voice: 1920s and 1930s
Most historians agree that the first practical two-way radio system was demonstrated in 1923 by Australian engineer John F. O’Brien. Working for the Victoria Police, O’Brien rigged a patrol car with a transmitter and receiver that could talk back to headquarters. The setup was bulky, the range limited, and the antenna looked like it might snap off at the next speed bump—but it worked. For the first time, officers in the field could receive updates and respond instantly.
Meanwhile, in the United States, the Detroit Police Department installed a similar system in 1928. While the American version was one-way only—dispatchers could talk to cars, but the cars could not reply—the experiment convinced law-enforcement brass that real-time chatter was worth the investment. By 1933, the Bayonne, New Jersey, police had upgraded to a fully bi-directional radio network, the first in North America. In other words, the 1930s were the decade when two-way radios truly became two-way, not just a fancy pager.
World War II: The Tech Hits Its Stride
War, unfortunately, accelerates innovation. The U.S. Signal Corps demanded lightweight, rugged sets that soldiers could carry through European mud or Pacific jungles. Enter the SCR-300 in 1940, a backpack FM transceiver that weighed 32 lbs (14.5 kg). Although it would feel like hauling a concrete block today, back then it was revolutionary compared with the fixed-station, tube-laden monsters of the ’20s.
British and German engineers also refined portable sets, introducing features such as single-sideband modulation and frequency hopping to dodge enemy interception. By 1945, military radios had shrunk to the size of a soldier’s canteen, proving the concept for post-war civilian markets.
From Battlefield to Construction Site: 1950s–1970s
Post-war surplus flooded the marketplace. Construction crews, taxi dispatchers, and even outdoor enthusiasts snapped up ex-military units. Companies like Motorola (then Galvin Manufacturing) released the first handheld AM two-way radio, the “Handie-Talkie,” in 1947. The gadget’s nickname stuck, and “walkie-talkie” entered everyday speech.
The big leap forward came in 1958 with the introduction of transistors. Solid-state electronics slashed weight, improved battery life, and cut maintenance costs. Suddenly, a rancher in Montana could afford a set that fit in a saddlebag, while security teams at the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Olympics coordinated events on compact units. (Fun fact: the 1969 Apollo 11 astronauts carried a Motorola transceiver so Mission Control could speak with them on the lunar surface, proving the tech’s cosmic credibility.)
Regulation, Channels, and the CB Boom
As price points plunged, regulators stepped in. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) carved out the Citizens Band in 1958, giving ordinary folks 23 (later 40) channels. By the mid-1970s, CB slang—“10-4, good buddy”—dominated pop culture. Truckers organized convoys, families planned road trips, and movies like Smokey and the Bandit immortalized the crackle of channel 19.
Digital Dawn: 1980s to Present
Digital signal processing (DSP) arrived in the 1980s, turning analog squawks into crisp 1s and 0s. Features such as encryption, GPS tagging, and text messaging turned two-way radios into miniature data hubs. The launch of TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) in Europe and P25 (Project 25) in North America standardized interoperability among police, fire, and medical crews—no small feat after 9/11 revealed the chaos of incompatible gear.
Today’s models add Bluetooth, noise cancellation, and even smartphone apps for programming. Yet the core mission remains: instant, reliable voice communication where cell towers fear to tread. Modern hikers, event organizers, and emergency teams still ask, “when were two-way radios invented?”—not out of nostalgia, but to understand the decades of refinement packed into their palm-sized devices.
So, What’s Next?
Industry watchers predict mesh networking will let radios relay messages peer-to-peer, bypassing infrastructure entirely. Others foresee integration with satellite constellations like Starlink, giving users global push-to-talk coverage. Whatever the future holds, the journey that started with a 1923 police cruiser experiment shows no sign of slowing down.
Next time you press that satisfying orange side button and hear the chirp confirming your partner received the message, remember: you’re holding nearly a century of innovation in your hand—pretty cool, huh?
