Does anyone use CB?

[preppingsu]

The trouble with CB is that everyone and his dog has access to it, so we will struggle to find any single channel that is routinely clear for us.

The setups are cheap enough, generally less than 100 quid all up for a serviceable radio and antenna which can either be fixed or fitted to a vehicle.

Cheaper, more secure and with less interference would be a "business radio" frequency. With handheld radios from China being available for under 40 quid. Yet offer much of the same functionality as government agencies have been using for decades.

Do you not need a licence for 'business' radios? Are these the sorts of radios that shops use in cities for shoplifter alerts?

[Malthouse]

Operator licenses are not required no, they could be akin to shopwatch radio - it depends what we want.

[munchh]

Operator licenses are not required no, they could be akin to shopwatch radio - it depends what we want.

I think you might find using them without a general buisness licence (60 quid ish) you are using them Ilegally, just because you can buy them doesnt mean you can use them, in a shtf situation it may be different, but for normal use you would need a licence.

[Malthouse]

Dont worry, I am a qualified engineer

I am fairly sure Su was wondering about each of us having to hold a licence like with Ham radio. Which there is not.

[munchh]

I still dont see how you would use it legally, if I have an estate with 80 acres and have people working for me on it I can use a general buisness licence to run a network of radios, also if I do marsheling for events I could do the same, but the general licence Is held by someone and not so a bunch of people in a general area can just communicate?

so I get what you are trying to do, but it all depends if you are talking now or in a shtf time, all these chinese radios are making it very easy, I have many that I use within the licencing laws, but a 5w handheld radio on vhf/uhf is not really any better distance wise that a base station cb with a proper antenna up and with the new rules that now allow some sideband use might actually give you more distance?

just my own thoughts, someone will probly let me know ive got it wrong?

[munchh]

From the ofcom licencing website.

Simple UK Light:
This licence authorises the use of hand-portable or mobile radio equipment anywhere within the UK. Base station use is not permitted. Licensees have access to fifteen frequencies spread across four Business Radio frequency bands and must self-coordinate with other Simple UK Light licensees. The licence fee is £75 for five years.

[Malthouse]

Simple Light is only one option. Defined Area is another.

One downside of Simple Light is that other organisations use the same 40-ish frequencies.

UKP would hold a licence, we the users would not need additional licensing. The exact way to do it depends on what is decided as the operating criteria.

Yes the changes to CB make it attractive, but finding a reliably clear channel will prove impossible and even more so post SHTF.

Whereas those Chinese handhelds are cheap, robust, practical, customisable and will perform a number of different tasks beyond internal comms. Add to that, if someone has the cash and suitable location then the right frequency setup will allow for high powers via top notch kit.

All the prep we do must be legal now. Radio licensing is doable. If needed I can issue a frequency right now for testing and evaluation.

[munchh]

I had never looked at the defined area one before as it was not something i needed, are you able to use base units also with it?
what sort of freq area are you thinking?
unfortunately we are still talking short distance.
I really wish it was easier to use radio, I do love it.

[Malthouse]

It is easy to over complicate the radio regs, Ofcom are not perfect but the Radio Standards Agency laid down an excellent system that Ofcom started from.

Using bases is indeed an option, which means long range communication is viable provided we have members in the right locations and who are prepared to invest in 200+ quid's worth of kit.

The frequency really depends on what we want to use it for. I will put some examples in the Resilient Comms thread.

Dont get me wrong, CB still has a place. We just need to be aware of the weaknesses. Aside from the problems mentioned above it also represents poor value for money, for the price of a decent CB rig you could have a "professional" set that is capable of receiving just about any transmission known to man; plus able to transmit on the ones we are interested in (and allowed).

[Cromicon]

This is a very interesting topic! Do you have any specific equipment recommendations for both base station and mobile? Thank you.