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What is two-way radio? Is there a “one-way” radio?

Let’s start with the second part of this question first. Yes, some radio systems are “one-way” systems. This is called broadcast radio because the signal is transmitted over a broad area to a large audience. Traditional “terrestrial” (standard AM/FM) radio, is essentially, a one-way radio system in that a radio station broadcasts a signal to a large audience, and the audience receives the signal. There is no signal sent in reply to the broadcast.

Two-way radio, on the other hand, is a system in which a radio transmission is made to be received by a limited audience, and that audience can respond to the station that initiated the first transmission. These systems are typically used by police and fire agencies, military, railroads, aviation, businesses, and radio hobbyists including “CB” users and amateur radio operators.

Two-way radios can range from desktop consoles, to “mobile” radios, and even small hand-held units, also called “hand-held transceivers” (HTs) or “Walkie-Talkies.” While these terms are technically synonymous, people sometimes interpret them differently.