PMR446 range

I keep hearing people say it's all about the power of the radio,i say no it's not,antenna and the height of the antenna is 100% what pmr446 is about,you could have 100 watts running into a huge beam or collinear but if that antenna is not above everything like roof tops then it just won't work,never forget uhf is line of sight so the antenna needs to be up as high as you can get it.

Anytone AT-588 and Yaesu FT-1907

Both radios are UHF and cover pmr446,they are the only two mobile uhf radios that have pmr446 on ebay,both are under £150,the Anytone AT-588 is a new radio that's not been out long so i can't comment on it but the yaesu ft-1907 is a nice radio,if i was starting out on pmr446 i would buy it.

Here is the links to ebay to buy them ANYTONE-AT-588 Link  Yaesu-FT-1907 Link

Don't waste your time with crap handhelds that only get you out a few roads and away,buy one of the radios above and get a base station pmr446 antenna to go with it and get out for miles.

PMR446 base station radio

I have some good news everyone,i was talking to someone the other day in the radio game who is from the UK and he told me he is considering getting some custom made dual band vhf/uhf base stations radios that would cover 2 meters, pmr446 and 70cm for less then £100,he said they would only push 2watts and have ctcss,dcs,repeater split,vox,1750hz tone burst,100 channels memory,time out timer and more,that is just what we need a nice cheap dual band base station radio,he also said it would have a built in power supply and have a 12 volt input so you could take it mobile,this is great news and i can't wait for them to go on sale.

PMR446 in Yorkshire

I've noticed it's getting more and more used around where in live in Yorks,here's a great idea i had to promote pmr446,it would take a big group of pmr446 users from all over the UK,someone could design small card size leaflets promoting pmr446 and all the uses of pmr446 could print say 100 which wouldn't cost much at all and post them in their local area,we could even have a poster designed,pmr446 is lacking promotion,here's another way to help promote pmr446,make some videos like ads and post them on youtube but under different tags so people will see them even if they are not looking for them,now that argos has stopped selling pmr446 radios,pmr446 will start to go the same way as cb radio if we don't start to get the word out there to people.

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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