2 WAY RAIDIO'S

[Nickhlx]

I purchased a TYT TH-UVF1 for use on the 2m and 7cm amateur bands however it also operates on the UHF PMR frequencies and VHF Marine frequencies with 5 watts high power or 500mw low power. These cost just under £100 each in the UK or less direct from Hong Kong e.g. on eBay. The manual is rubbish but the radio is excellent once you have managed the manual. A range of accessories are available including a programming cable. I purchased a cable for £8 on eBay. A bit of a challenge - it only works on my older computer with Windows XP and a USB2 connection but once the connection is working, programming is easy. I initially saved the as supplied data test the connection and to reinstall if I messed up! The program is basically a spreadsheet with transmit and receive frequencies, low/high power, channel name etc entered then loaded. It also receives VHF FM radio broadcasts - BBC Radio 1, Radio 2 etc!

 

 

Hi Robin,

 

They sound an interesting set - I will see if I can research more - do ML&S do them I wonder ?

 

Nick

[robdalej]

We purchased a pair from e bay, cannot remember the nam[they are on the boat] they are batt. operated and i left the batteries in over the winter and they still worked, Found them useful when cruising with another boat as we could decide when to stop for a brew. Only problem we had was that we kept picking up a motor cycle training instructer , changing channels didnt help., bit confusing when you are cruising and someone keeps saying turn left at the next roundabout

[RupertG]

There are some ridiculously cheap dual-band HTs now on eBay - new from China, £35 delivered. A friend reviewed one here and, yes, they're not built to Moto standards but they'll do a helluva lot more than your standard PMR446.

 

Of course, to use them legally you'll need a ham radio licence. It would be bad to use them on other frequencies without type approval. Bad.

 

R

[Nickhlx]

There are some ridiculously cheap dual-band HTs now on eBay - new from China, £35 delivered. A friend reviewed one here and, yes, they're not built to Moto standards but they'll do a helluva lot more than your standard PMR446.

 

Of course, to use them legally you'll need a ham radio licence. It would be bad to use them on other frequencies without type approval. Bad.

 

R

 

 

I agree - it would be bad to use them on Amateur frequencies too - you may access a repeater and be covering a radius of 25 miles+, or blocking the input or output of a satellite - in fact it would be bad to use them on anything other than the PMR 446 frequencies as other users on their authorised bands would not only be "annoyed", but you may block a frequency in use by an emergency service on a shout, so, yes, VERY bad to use on frequencies allocated to others - even "amateurs" are used by the services for supplementing their communications ( RAYNET) on occasions - the aerials will not be efficient on the wrong frequencies anyway so there will also be a degradation in the performance.

 

The heavy penalties for transmitting on un-authorised frequencies are there for a (very good) reason, so it would be wrong to suggest "the layman" unwittingly uses these on any frequency other than those allocated for the public. A great deal of the emphasis given in passing the Amateur licences is appreciation of the damage that can be done when you interrupt other users and also how NOT to interfere with these other services - some have instantaneous direction finding equipment - even if they can't find you in minutes, it will definitely be able to position the source as "on the canal" which will rapidly cause the authorities to focus on canal users as being increasingly users of unauthorised equipment.

 

So, best to stick to using the right frequencies - 446 is a good frequency, little used and legal, so why would anyone want to risk the above ?

 

Nick

Edited May 11, 2011 by Nickhlx

[Graham Davis]

Nick is right, do not use any equipment or frequencies you are not licensed to use. OFCOM inspectors have a fair bit of power, and if they do catch you not only can it result in prosecution but the loss of all transmission and receiving equipment you own plus potentially the "vehicle" it is being used in. (ie, your boat)

[geoffwales]

f

Nick is right, do not use any equipment or frequencies you are not licensed to use. OFCOM inspectors have a fair bit of power, and if they do catch you not only can it result in prosecution but the loss of all transmission and receiving equipment you own plus potentially the "vehicle" it is being used in. (ie, your boat)

If you have your vhf marine cert could you use these on them frequencies and also pmr446 without the need of the ham radio operators licence

[Top cat]

erm.... don't phones do the job better? ...most tariffs now have free minutes? ...or am I missing something, is it a bloke thing?

Only if there is a phone signal which there often isn't especially when you are below a lock.

We use a cheap pair of radios very occasionaly, usually going up the Stoke flight where you pass under the railway and on the narrow bit going towards Llangollen. We find hand signals work just fine 99% of the time .

We didn't bother with rechargeaable batteries as the usage is so low, we do take the batteries out when not in use to avoid damage if they leak.

 

TC

[Morat]

This is not true.

 

The radios being discussed are PMR446 radios, which are exempt from any requirement to have a licence in the UK, provided they comply to the spec and are not modified.

 

If it were CB, Amateur or marine VHF, then there are licencing requirements, but you are wrong about these.

 

While we're nitpicking No license required for CB now - although there used to be. The CB license has now gone the way of the dog license. An interesting recent development is that OFCOM have finally published their plans to allow SSB operation on the EU/Mid channels with a maximum power of 12W PEP. This should give quite a range boost to (legal) CB operators.

 

The dual band HYT radios look very interesting if you have an amateur ticket but I tend to use CB on the canals because it gives more range and power than PMR if you're staying legal. Of course they cost more so it is swings and roundabouts.

I use an Intek H-520plus hand held and a standard vehicle mount set in the boat, with a bendy aerial mounted on a magnet. We have a semi trad stern so it sticks onto the rear seat near the steerer and is fed from a 12V car socket in the back cabin. You could use two hand-helds if you prefer.

 

I'm responsible for the radios at work, where we use the Hytera digital radios and a repeater - they're pretty damn good

Edited October 21, 2013 by Morat

[Morat]

f

If you have your vhf marine cert could you use these on them frequencies and also pmr446 without the need of the ham radio operators licence

Are you sure? You might not get busted but I'm pretty sure that you need to not only use the correct frequency/power but also use approved kit to be fully compliant. I realise it's a very unlikely to cause an issue but it might cause embarrassment if you thought you were fully legal when in fact your were not. I could be wrong, hence the question.

[comfortably numb]

We have went for Cobra Mt975. They aren't the cheapest but after trialling a few over the years we found these by far the best. The range is fantastic and isn't affected by obstructions such as bridges and buildings. The rechargeable batteries last for ages, and there are so many channel options we can always easily find one that isn't being used by anyone else. Some of the cheaper ones were useless s.o IMO it's better to pay a little more for quality

 

 

http://www.as-adventure.co.uk/cobra-walkie-talkie-mt975-2-24B1D10001?channel_code=544&product_code=78467820&utm_medium=google_uk&utm_source=catalogue_shop&gclid=CIWAttv4qboCFbPItAodlh0AKQ

 

We got ours from a different supplier than these and I think they were £52 for the pair so it's worth shopping around.

 

 

Boing Boing. Up the Blues!!