Handie-Talkie

In The Hesperus Prophecy, the Clypeate uses an early “Handie-Talkie” prototype allowing the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma teams to communicate during the Antarctica mission.

Donald Hings created the first portable radio signaling system in 1937, the backpack-style "walkie-talkie". While filing his patent WW II broke out, and he continued his work in a secret R&D project. There he developed the less bulky, handheld “Handie-Talkie" which the Allies started using on the battlefield in 1942.

The "Handie-Talkie" (HT SCR-536) was the first hand-held walkie-talkie. Originally, “walkie-talkie” only referred to back-mounted models, while the Handie-Talkie could be held entirely in the hand. The Handie-Talkie, formally known as a handheld transceiver (HT), allowed real-time conversations and after WW II was widely adopted for civilian applications.

Backpack “walkie-talkie” vs Hands-only “handie-talkie”