My experience is along the wester edge of the sahara and the coastal countries just south of there....
Our group of 4 LRs used fixed mount U.S. Citizen Band radios (27mhz band), and had a few handhelds for backup.
US law limits these to 4 watt output, but our local radio shop fixed them before the trip so they were more like 6-8w. We fitted each vehicle with a removeable antenna.
Going into morocco we were warned they were ok to use inside the country, but would be siezed if seen at the border. We removed everything and hid them, and did this for every border crossing and known checkpoint. For local checkpoints we turned them off, and removed the mikes or dropped them behind the seat.
At the the convoy crossing to mauritania a border guard helped himself to a portable radio from another group of travelers, but that wasn't official, just something he wanted.
Otherwise the few officials who noticed we had radios assumed we were with an aid group or an embassy, as they usually have radios.
They were invaluable when we got seperated in traffic, the last guy in line had to stop for something, letting each other know its safe to pass on a mountain road, etc....
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