I’m originally from the states and we used CBs there mainly. I see through all the videos that a lot of stateside Rigs are incorporating HAM radios now. What is used primarily here in the UK? Thanks everyone.
Best UK Comms?
- Thread starter AceofAxe
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In my experience it’s CB’s here too although much of the U.K. gets good mobile phone coverage so that gets used a lot.
I’ve also noticed people using PMR446 handhelds.
I’ve also noticed people using PMR446 handhelds.
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Ive got a CB but there does not seem to be many using it these day , we used hand held closed when out laning and CB.
Been looking at midland GB 1 as a PMR addition for the land rover , not sure if it will be useful, use midland Alan 42 for CB as it is hand held but has a car kit where you can use it with an external antenna
I am also looking into getting my Amateur Radio license. Has anyone done this or have a good starting point for it! Thanks,
Creator III
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Standard PMR radios kick out about half a watt of power, however a dual band 70 cm / 2 meter hand held can be used on the same frequencys as PMR and will kick out 5 watts which is much more useful, however without a ham licence it's sort of illegal but it's unlikely you will get onto trouble, it is possible though
I found them, but a mate was telling about a guy that can give you a license (legally) for both US/UK. But he lost his contact info.
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Creator III
A group of us have recently paid for a Business Radio Simple UK Licence.
Intended for use buy businesses (taxis, factories, or out on events etc..., but there's no definition of "event").
This gives us several frequencies within the frequencies 136 - 174MHz, 400 - 520MHz using dual band (VHF/UHF) radios (Baofeng UV82 hand helds - also looking onto vehicle mounted options).
Ofcom Business Radio.
Simple licence costs £75 for a 5 year licence.
Intended for use buy businesses (taxis, factories, or out on events etc..., but there's no definition of "event").
This gives us several frequencies within the frequencies 136 - 174MHz, 400 - 520MHz using dual band (VHF/UHF) radios (Baofeng UV82 hand helds - also looking onto vehicle mounted options).
Ofcom Business Radio.
Simple licence costs £75 for a 5 year licence.
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We have one in north wales. We have 20 hand helds. Icom vhf uhf we changed from cbs due the amount of dickheads.
Creator III
Our plan is to pretty much move over to dual band, but keep CB as secondary comms. Will be removing the CB from the dash and replacing with a dual band, and relegating the CB to only be used if there's someone with us without dual band. But, since most of us have now got 2, 3 or 4 hand helds each and will be fitting vehicle units too, we'll always be able to share them round. At £30 or less for a UV82, it's a no brainer.
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One of my farmer freinds set ares up cracking set up the coverage is loud and clear. All hand helds. Ive my own for site works a closed system of 6 vhf. Only ever had one problem when working inside a big chimmney stack in a man hoist i gave an instruction to go up two meters some mf came on a gave the instruction go up full speed 15 mts lol a crane company on the next site had the same frequency. I shot up the inside of a stack screeming stop. Scary 5 mins lol
Contributor II
In Ireland there is a little CB activity but is mainly particular local areas at night and then the majority of the remainder is rally related for people attending various stages as spectators.
446MHz licence free (also called 446 PMR) is definitely the most popular choice over here. You'll not hear any messing. Sets are as cheap or expensive as you like.
Similar to the UK, a license can be obtained from the regulator for a small annual fee allowing defined VHF or UHF channel(s) to be used if required if a group of people feel the need for extended range.
In any of my travels, I've not lost or had issues with Comms on the 446MHz license free allocation.
Ham us used here too but VHF and UHF activity is very much reduced although there are decent amount of repeaters around the country with the latest trend being for DMR repeaters to be springing up.
With reasonable mobile phone coverage, Zello is a good option here too. Surprisingly it works better when on 4G coverage which appears from what I've heard to be the opposite of the experience in the UK where operation on 3G seems to give better results. The recent flood of "handheld" devices that look like a handheld radio actually offer better usability than a typical smartphone mainly due to less apps running in the background and a smaller screen that can be switched off leading to a much better battery life. Certain models even have a real external antenna as opposed to the sets that have either an external GPS antenna or a purely non-functional cosmetic antenna. The advantage of a detachable cellular antenna is that in areas of poor coverage a magnetic external antenna can be popped on the vehicle to improve reception. I've a lot of investigation done into this and can confirm that this is a very effective thing to do. The PoC apps have the advantage that they can be accessed by any (authorised) user anywhere so members not traveling can enjoy all the fun they are missing!!!
446MHz licence free (also called 446 PMR) is definitely the most popular choice over here. You'll not hear any messing. Sets are as cheap or expensive as you like.
Similar to the UK, a license can be obtained from the regulator for a small annual fee allowing defined VHF or UHF channel(s) to be used if required if a group of people feel the need for extended range.
In any of my travels, I've not lost or had issues with Comms on the 446MHz license free allocation.
Ham us used here too but VHF and UHF activity is very much reduced although there are decent amount of repeaters around the country with the latest trend being for DMR repeaters to be springing up.
With reasonable mobile phone coverage, Zello is a good option here too. Surprisingly it works better when on 4G coverage which appears from what I've heard to be the opposite of the experience in the UK where operation on 3G seems to give better results. The recent flood of "handheld" devices that look like a handheld radio actually offer better usability than a typical smartphone mainly due to less apps running in the background and a smaller screen that can be switched off leading to a much better battery life. Certain models even have a real external antenna as opposed to the sets that have either an external GPS antenna or a purely non-functional cosmetic antenna. The advantage of a detachable cellular antenna is that in areas of poor coverage a magnetic external antenna can be popped on the vehicle to improve reception. I've a lot of investigation done into this and can confirm that this is a very effective thing to do. The PoC apps have the advantage that they can be accessed by any (authorised) user anywhere so members not traveling can enjoy all the fun they are missing!!!
SpeysideAT35
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So having read through everyone’s responses I get the general impression that duel band is the way to go! So what duel band radios are people’s choice? Hand held or vehicle mounted and do the duel band require a simple licence?
Contributor II
Ofcom will have the regulatory information regarding licensing in the UK. The law is very slightly different to Irish requirements but essentially if you're not using a license exempt frequency with an approved set you need a license.
Obviously to use the Ham (amateur radio) bands, each user needs a Ham license.
Pioneer II
We use the Baofeng UV-9R Radios, if you dig and get the right ones with the lithium batteries and quoted 15w (ssssshhhhh) in totally none scientific testing we managed 7Km's car to car none line of site without a issue.. So a external mount ant and mic would get you somewhere in the region of 15Km's, not bad for £30.00
