Radio ham

andyjanet

andyjanet

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Hi all, anybody out there know anything about amateur radio
I may need to get a basic set up for the future can anyone tell me in basic words what’s involved, I looked at some websites and got confused before I’d finished reading the introduction, Andy
 
The most basic thing (assuming you want to transmit) is a licence. When I got mine, I had to take the City & Guilds Radio Amateur's Exam (2 papers) to get a class B licence (VHF only). My licence lapsed years ago, but I understand the route to a licence has changed somewhat since. Probably the best thing to do is search for a club and pick their brains. I suspect that clubs still run courses and might even host exam centres. HTH, Geoff
 
Hi Andy Depends on what you after doing ? If you are after doing a great distance then amateur radio will be the route, If long distance is not a factor then the legal CB's of today will still go some distance, I have spoken to friends in Liverpool from Bolton (winter hill) no problem, you can also go further when you fit a burner (signal booster (not legal). We have CB's at work in the tractors and I have one in my motorhome the motorhome one is great if we are touring with friends and we want to chat and don't have to worry about phone signals and cost. Dave
 
The lic is free now and will not lapse once you have filled in a form which should have been sent to all,yes you must do a course for c/guilds,im mi one dti.
Best radio for a van is prob the 2 mtr unit which also runs through repeaters on some channels.
 
Did Auld Pharrt (Ron) use to be interested in that? I haven’t seen him post for a long time to be honest
 
Amateur Radio Clubs run courses to gain a licence but if just for talking in convoy with other vans CB would be just as good. But since most mobile phones now allow free use within their own net works why bother with either
 
Hi all, we are looking at overland, remote areas of the world ( possibly fort william?) no seriously areas like India, South Africa, I have read the ham is the best way but I tried some twenty years ago and failed the morse code part which at the time was a pain and I found difficult, janet and I live in the van and don’t have a local area, I will research the test on Internet to see if there’s a club I can just do a test at without becoming a member, thanks Dave we will go CB as well for in close convoy it’s just if we are out on our own and get a big problem cheers all
Nice name change Dave, what’s the new one mean, I liked the pike version??
 
runnach said:
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QSK DE G1JYM QRA QTH K

FWIW, we use PMR when we're in convoy with friends. I know that's only got eight channels, but with CTCSS we rarely notice anyone else on the same channel and PMR sets are usually a lot cheaper than CB.
 
andyjanet said:
Sorry what’s PMR !!!!!!
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Personal mobile radio: It's a standard that operates on the 446 MHz band. It has eight channels with a couple of 'tone squelch' systems ('privacy channels'), with CTCSS being perhaps the most common. Range is typically about a kilometer, which is adequate for convoy use where the vehicles are rarely more than a couple of hundred metres apart. Here's a Wikipedia link. You can buy a pair of handheld transceivers for under £50, which would probably work OK, but you tend to get what you pay for. HTH, Geoff

Edited to add that you don't need a licence to use PMR.
 
GeoffL said:
Personal mobile radio: It's a standard that operates on the 446 MHz band. It has eight channels with a couple of 'tone squelch' systems ('privacy channels'), with CTCSS being perhaps the most common. Range is typically about a kilometer, which is adequate for convoy use where the vehicles are rarely more than a couple of hundred metres apart. Here's a Wikipedia link. You can buy a pair of handheld transceivers for under £50, which would probably work OK, but you tend to get what you pay for. HTH, Geoff

Edited to add that you don't need a licence to use PMR.
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We have Walkie talkies that we use whilst dog walking and the are ok up to about 4K are these PMR
 
Possibly -- but they might also be CB or even an illegal import. Do the handsets have any CB or CE markings? If so, those handsets will do the job in UK. For example, "CB 27/81" in a circle indicates the 1981 original UK CB standard. Do you know the make and model of your handsets?

I see that you're thinking of outside EU and you say you tried Ham Radio some time ago but got put off my the CW requirement. For info, CW is no longer required for a full licence. So if you have RAE certification from before the cut-off date (whenever that was) or let your licence lapse (like me), you can get a class A licence (at least, that's what I was told when I asked about getting my old callsign back). Assuming the country participates, you can then operate under CEPT while mobile. That said, both of you will need to be licenced and there is more formality to AR than CB/PMR. HTH, Geoff
 
andyjanet said:
Hi all, we are looking at overland, remote areas of the world ( possibly fort william?) no seriously areas like India, South Africa,
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Check what licence You'll require to work Amateur radio outside the UK because the entry level licence isn't accepted anywhere else. Other than VHF with limited distance amateur radio isn't a guaranteed method for emergency communication I'd be think along the lines of a satellite phone if going seriously off grid
 
The walkie talkies we have aremarked CE, they are Conrad electronics, make are called pocketcom no other markings
I will google them to see what they are they are smal and handy so will hang onto these for van to pedestrian comms
 
AFAICT Conrad are retailers rather than manufacturers. Most of the handsets I've seen have got identification info inside the battery compartment. Perhaps you'll find the info there if you have removeable batteries.
 
Sorted Geoff, they are PMR I googled the serial number and make, Thanks off to sort out a course for AR I found out Essex do them online ?
 
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