Running PMR446 off solar power

Alot of people miss one important component out when it comes to a radio setup and that's back up power,say something happens like a power cut,are you prepared ? Most are not,on this post i'm going to list a very simple solar power back up system.

Here's a list of things you will need to buy

1. 12 volt Solar Panel  (5 watts minimum)
2. 12 volt SLA battery (5AH minimum )
3. 12 volt charge controller  (10amp)
4. 12v power inverter (optional)

Setting up this system is very easy

PMR446 coax cable

People are always asking about what the best coax cable is to use,obviously the lower the loss the better,but you should also out for cheap copies made in China and the far East,not only do the cheap copies have big gaps in the braid,they also don't have UV protection,when buying any RG type coax make sure it says MIL Spec on the jacket,otherwise it will be a cheap poor copy.

Puxing programming software

Here is the puxing 6 in 1 programming software Download

It's time we had UHF cb radio for Europe

Australia and USA both have uhf cb,we in Europe have pmr446 but no repeaters are allowed nor are any base station antennas,446pmr would be great if we had a similar system to Australia and USA,as it stands we only have 27mhz cb radio which is dying a painful death,pmr446 is different,you can go to Maplins and other high street shops and buy a pmr446 handheld but 27mhz cb you can't,we need to get a movement started for uhf cb radio that allows repeaters and 4 watt radios with external antennas,we need to contact ofcom and all the major radio manufacturers to get the message across that we want uhf cb radio for Europe,if enough people put pressure on the gov maybe one day we will have what Australia and USA both have.

Free radio network and pmr446

I've been asked about  free radio network and if it's worth using,let me just say i don't think it's worth using it,all i'm going to say is that it's not real radio,anything you connect to the internet has nothing to do with radio,just like music stations on the net that they call radio stations,how can they be radio stations if they are coming through the net ? If we want radio to survive then we must not encourage websites like free radio network,echolink and others,keep radio the way it is,there is a growing trend to stream repeaters and such over the net,i think that is a good thing because it can bring people into radio,but i don't think making things like that two way helps radio as people will never go out a buy a radio and get into it.

CB radio got cancer in the year 2000 but was it terminal ?

Even in the late 90's cb radio was still kicking,i remember a time when over half of the 40 channels was used in the late 90's,then come 2000 and cb radio went down hill big time,alot of people blame the internet and mobile phones,see most people in this nation are trend followers,whether people like it or not they always want to be seen as trendy ,well it just so happens that in the year 2000 was a new decade with new trends like the internet,all of the sudden cb radio was seen as a place where only a sad bunch of misfits hang out,the truth was that a small bunch of people just refused to move on with the new "trend" ie the internet,the internet has more misfits then cb radio could dream of.

Back to the question of cb radio dying,i would say it's been a long slow painful death wouldn't you agree ? What a horrible way to die,the question remains, can cb radio be treated and brought back from the brink of death ? I say no,cb radio is still dying and will continue to die untill no sign of any life on the bands at which point it will be sold off by ofcom,the reason i say this is obvious,cb radio is a old technology that has no use in this day and age and can anyone really see a youngsta buying and using cb radio with all the internet has to offer ? I thought so.

446 mhz pmr collinear antenna

As of 2014 i'll be selling this antenna,these antennas are built in England and are made really well for the lowest price pmr446 base antenna you can buy anywhere,100's of these antennas have been sold just check around forums and check what others say about this antenna,i won't be going through ebay or amazon due to high fees and that way i can sell this antenna cheaper at only £13.75 and that includes delivery,to buy one please email me first at rangefm1@gmail.com and i will won't be taking paypal payments

Puxing PX-2R Review

This little radio costs around £30 on ebay,it goes from 400-470mhz so it covers pmr446 aswell as 70cm's,output power is 2 watts on high power and 1 watt on low power,this radio also has a built in fm radio,you can also use this radio for repeaters as it has a split frequency capability,with 128 memories you can program more channels then you need, this radio has the usual extras such as vox,ctcss,dcs,this little radio lights up orange,has a nice little signal meter and battery save feature,this radio takes a 3.7v battery the same as found in some mobile phones,for the price and what you get if i was starting in pmr446 this a radio i'll go for from the get go.

Uniden PMR 885 Review

This little 0.5watt pmr radio is great,it beats all the other small type pmr radios i've had when it comes to range and audio,this uniden 885 38 ctcss tones and a switchable roger bleep and loads of other extras such as vox,baby monitor and many other things,it's come as no surprise to me as i've known for years that Uniden radio gear is ace, just look at the cb radios they used to make like the Uniden 100/200,Uniden really know how to make good radio gear that's for sure,the battery life on this radio is also great,there is nothing i can fault on this little radio.

PMR446 yagi

I purchased a 8 element pmr446 yagi from ebay a week ago and thought i'll do a review on it,the name on the antenna is CSA,i think this antenna come from the states some where,the antenna is 5ft long and has a gain of 11.5dbi,this yagi is a no tune type and has a very wide bandwidth (420mhz-455mhz),this antenna works really well,the only down side is of course it's directional  which means you will need a rotator to turn it.

I tryed to get the whole yagi in the frame but couldn't due to it's size,here are two photos.

What's the difference between cb radio and pmr446

Here i'm going to run through the many differences between cb and 446.

Noise levels ? On pmr there is NO noise at all,cb on the other hand is full of noise,i make that 1-0 to pmr.

What has more users ? Again,pmr wins,2-0 to pmr.

Best range ? I'll give cb radio the edge but only just,2-1 to pmr

Antenna size ? PMR wins this by a long shot,it this day and age smaller is better due to nosy neighbours, 3-1 to pmr

Prices ? PMR handhelds are cheaper then cb one's but home base cb's are cheaper then PMR home base sets,so i'll call that a draw, 4-2 to pmr.

There are many other points but i think you get the picture,in my eyes pmr446 beats cb radio all day everyday,just keep in mind the points i have made above.

PMR 446 radios

Here's a quick list of radio that work really well,let me just say that none are the small 1/2 watt types,so if your looking for a good pmr radio that will really pack a punch then check this list out.

Please note that the handheld must say it covers 400-470mhz otherwise you won't be able to program pmr446 into it.

Puxing PX-777 UHF 400-470MHZ

Puxing PX-888 UHF 400-470MHZ

Puxing PX-2R UHF 400-470MHZ

TYT TH-F8 UHF 400-470MHZ

TYT TH-2R UHF 400-470MHZ

TYT-800 UHF 400-470MHZ

There are many radios that push 4/5 watts but i don't have time to list them all,them radios also cover other frequencies such as 70 cm's.

PMR parrot repeater

A few people have asked me about a PMR parrot repeater,let me start by telling everyone that a parrot repeater is not the same as a repeater found on the ham radio bands such as 2 meters or 70 cm's,a parrot repeater has a device that records a incoming transmission and as soon as that transmission stops the parrot repater retransmits it,all this happens on the same frequency,so as you can see it's not like ham radio repeater and in my opinion it's not worth even looking into unless you like listening back to everything you say.

What is the best PMR 446 antenna ?

The best PMR 446 antenna is a collinear,because of the gain,no other antenna apart from a beam comes close,so i hope this helps everyone who keeps asking me this,oh and another thing when i say pmr 446 collinear i mean for pmr 446 not one of them dual band collinear for ham radio use,they won't work well at 446 because most are 2 meter collinears that only work on the third harmonic on 70cm's which lands on 432mhz,as you can see 432mhz is no where near 446mhz.

PMR frequencies

Channel	Frequency (MHz)
1	446.00625
2	446.01875
3	446.03125
4	446.04375
5	446.05625
6	446.06875
7	446.08125
8	446.09375

Best coax to use for PMR 446 mhz ?

Here is my list,starting from the best.

(1) Ecoflex 15 @ £5.50 per meter

(2) Ecoflex 10 @ £2.65 per meter

(3) Westflex 103 @ £1.50 per meter

(4) RG213 Mil Spec @ £1.20 per meter

I've only listed thick coax as thin coax is no good at pmr 446 mhz,there is better coax other then what is listed but the price and other factors come into play such as coax flexibility and dia.

PMR446 any good ?

Heres my answser,it depends on where you live and what setup you have,if you want to hear and talk for miles around you then you need a out door antenna such as this,once you have a antenna you need to put it above your roof for it to work any good,having it in your bedroom just isn't going to work well,so to clarify your base station antenna needs to be above your roof,if you do it right and have some nice low loss 50 ohm thick coax (check this blog for the best coax) then you can expect a good signal for miles around you,don't forget it depends on output power of the radio or handheld you are using,for 1/2 watt you can expect around 10 miles maybe more depending on your location,if you are looking down on a city then you can expect to work most of it,pmr446 is all about line of sight,so what ever the antenna can see it should work and now you know why you can't talk for miles on a little handheld in your bedroom,i've heard people say that they can talk everywhere on their mobile phone,yes but did you know your mobile phone goes through a very local repeater ?

PMR446 range ?

How long is a bit of string ? There is many factors involved,the only real way to find out is a real world test.