Radio/walkie-talkie

[dangerman]

Hi all! Sorry to ask what might be a simple question, but this has been bothering me for well over a year and I've traipsed though all sorts of videos on youtube and websites, never to find the actual answer I'm looking for.

Should the crap hit the fan, and should there be no more power to allow mobile phone networks to function and telephone lines fail - I'm thinking the best way to get help if needed would be a 2-way radio. But the information on the subject is massive. And I have no idea how to interpret it.

I'll highlight my needs and if anyone could give me any ideas I'd be grateful.

*Emergency situations - power is gone and I've fallen off the roof. My wife/kids will need to call for help. I would like access to a radio that we could contact emergency services.

*Communicate with friends and family. My brother and sister live about half a mile away from each other, and they are both about three miles away from me. My other sister is on the Wirral, about eight miles as the crow flies from me. My other sister is in Southport, about twelve miles away from me. I'd like to find a cheap solution that would allow us all to have a method of communicating even if we don't have phones and interweb and what not.

*I would like to access news, local broadcasts, scan police radio etc (for entertainment more than anything) and maybe even link in to one of the groups that are on here. I'm pretty sure there are members on here quite close to me.

Not sure if this is all possible with just one budget device, but the Boafang radio looked on ebay to be a cracking gadget. But everyone seems to think it's impossibly complicated. It's only about £30, takes standard batteries that are easily solar recharged and has a very good range for what it is. That being said, I'm not opposed to using a mag-mount on my car to increase range.

I'm aware that lots of stuff I'd like to do with it is illegal or license only usage - but really, can they catch you if it's just a handheld device? And even so, would they be looking if the whole country was taken over by rioters and zombies?

[Hamradioop]

Hi all! Sorry to ask what might be a simple question, but this has been bothering me for well over a year and I've traipsed though all sorts of videos on youtube and websites, never to find the actual answer I'm looking for.

Should the crap hit the fan, and should there be no more power to allow mobile phone networks to function and telephone lines fail - I'm thinking the best way to get help if needed would be a 2-way radio. But the information on the subject is massive. And I have no idea how to interpret it.

I'll highlight my needs and if anyone could give me any ideas I'd be grateful.

*Emergency situations - power is gone and I've fallen off the roof. My wife/kids will need to call for help. I would like access to a radio that we could contact emergency services.

There is no publicly available radio to meet this requirement. However Raynet may be active and contactable by Radio. RAYNET, The Radio Amateurs’ Emergency Network is the UK’s national voluntary communications service provided for the community by licensed radio amateurs.

*Communicate with friends and family. My brother and sister live about half a mile away from each other, and they are both about three miles away from me. My other sister is on the Wirral, about eight miles as the crow flies from me. My other sister is in Southport, about twelve miles away from me. I'd like to find a cheap solution that would allow us all to have a method of communicating even if we don't have phones and interweb and what not.

I would suggest you all take the Foundation Licence for Amateur Radio. See the radio communications section

*I would like to access news, local broadcasts, scan police radio etc (for entertainment more than anything) and maybe even link in to one of the groups that are on here. I'm pretty sure there are members on here quite close to me.

Since the introduction of Airwaves it is extremely difficult with out specialist equipment to listen to Blue Light services. I would suggest you all take the Foundation Licence for Amateur Radio. See the radio communications section

Not sure if this is all possible with just one budget device, but the Boafang radio looked on ebay to be a cracking gadget. But everyone seems to think it's impossibly complicated. It's only about £30, takes standard batteries that are easily solar recharged and has a very good range for what it is. That being said, I'm not opposed to using a mag-mount on my car to increase range.

The Boafeng radio is a nice little transceiver, it is easiest to program with a PC and Chirp software, by attaching a adapter it is possible to use it with an antenna mounted on the roof of your House.

I'm aware that lots of stuff I'd like to do with it is illegal or license only usage - but really, can they catch you if it's just a handheld device? And even so, would they be looking if the whole country was taken over by rioters and zombies?

in normal times You will likely fall foul of the Local Amateur radio community who aggressively police their bands, and ofcom are known to prosecute. Obtaining a licence is straight forward and at least you will be able to get help setting things up if you join a local club.

some local contacts are : Wirral ARS, G3NWR
RSGB Region 3
Contact: Trevor Brierley, 2E1TAB trevor_brierley@o2.co.uk

Wirral & DARC, G4MGR
RSGB Region 3
Contact: Simon Richards G6XHF
0151 601 3269

Warrington ARC, G0WRS
Contact details:
Club contact: K Hatton G3VBA
Email: warc.kenspaceaol.co.uk
Telephone: 01928 733234
Website: http://www.warc.org.uk

Southport & DARC, G2OA
Contact details:
Club contact: Rob Harwood G0HRT
Email: secretaryspacesadarc.org.uk
Telephone: 07710 791270
Website: http://www.sadarc.org.uk

[dangerman]

That's ace, thanks mate. That's all my questions answered in one!

Sounds like there is quite a lot of time and financial investment in it then - might give it a miss until I've finished uni.

[Wulfshead]

Dangerman,
I'd say it's not as costly as you would think.

My radios were £25 each.
My Foundation Licence Now book was £5 from Amazon.
My extended life battery was £6.
My Nagoya NA771 better antenna was £6
My RG8 coax for my self built 1/4 wave antenna was £10
My connectors (an antenna chassis, SMA female to male plus a couple of extra PL259's) came in at £7
The Foundation Licence course and exam costs in my area £50
Now if you add all that up you still wont get anywhere near the cost of a complete half decent CB set up and with the Baofeng you can run it as a home-base or a handie to cart about.
Remember the cost of a kit to turn the UV-5R into an in-car kit comes in at a vet reasonable £20 with reports of much better TX/RX than would be expected.

Wulfshead

[Briggs 2.0]

That's ace, thanks mate. That's all my questions answered in one!

Sounds like there is quite a lot of time and financial investment in it then - might give it a miss until I've finished uni.

If you have a laptop then you can dip a toe in the world of radio by using an SDR dongle for as little as £15. You can listen but not transmit and your antenna can be as simple as a piece of cable hanging out your window.

[ojiu0u4]

what, when, why and who

That is the question to ask. I am working towards my foundation. You need to think about are you trying to transmit information or receive. Who do you want to contact and who do you want to not hear what you are saying with those spreading waves. What about normal commercial radio stations for information. What range do you want, line of sight, ionosphere bounce, repeaters, satellite. PMR446 and CB freqs are license free but only local net comms. Do you need a repeater, is that repeater there if there is no power. What about using HAM satellites with the right directional antennas and computer software to tell you what is overhead when. Anything over 30Mhz is going to struggle to ion bounce but anything less is also going to struggle to talk to a satellite. The antennas start to get quiet big at the lower end of HF. I am working my way through the books and it is clear that it is a multi vector answer. I am trying to figure out if I am best, for what I want to use them for (4ws) with my Motorola limited 0.5W PMRs,and CB at 11M or getting HAM BeoFeng 8+ HP (2m and 70cm) and/or HAM combined 10/11m trancevier. And then there are the antennas and the lengths needed if mobile let alone all the other things with power and whot not else to make the antenna work correctly in a car...

I would recomend getting the books from RSGB, they are not a bad read and a bit of an eye opener of all the different stuff that HAMs get up to. I would then think about my 4ws of what you are trying to achieve.

[Hamradioop]

That's ace, thanks mate. That's all my questions answered in one!

Sounds like there is quite a lot of time and financial investment in it then - might give it a miss until I've finished uni.

You can spend a fortune or a little depends on you. One route is a Baofeng another could be a £6,000 Top of the range Icom set. Or you can roll you own, like this for example http://www.cqbitx.blogspot.co.uk/. The thing to remember is that it is you choice. A well known supplier of kits is Walford Electronics http://walfords.net/

[Malthouse]

There are loads of topics on here with detailed info about what you can listen to and who you might expect to be able to contact.

It is also worth noting that CB is free to use and is the British Isles only official emergency communication system.

[Bongo]

The Baofeng 5r is a great Handset, Ive got 6 of them and I use them for marshalling events. Bright Yellow with the additional rubberised cover, the base station has the additional aerial that was mentioned for all round coverage. Battery life is good, very versatile, theyve been dropped, got wet and muddy, one was submerged but still works and was working still with water in it. Straight out of the box at £24 youll be using it to listen to the local shipping and such or as a great little fm radio receiver.

Wulfshead Im really interested in the aerial you made, have you got any more information or a tutorial on that?

And yes the good old CB radio, next on the list.

[Wulfshead]

Bongo,
Before I put it all together for the final pre-erecting build I will do a picture and sequence post in radio comms section.
I am awaiting the SO-239 chassis to bolt the two round rubber seal food boxes tightly together.
It's a project that truly gives lol, and last night I made a modification which left me with a rubber ring that found it's way into the construction of the union between the mast and the boxes where the planes are fixed.

The total cost of the build, bearing in mind I already had some 'fiberglass' filler (not easy-sand body filler), was under £15 including the SO-239 chassis.
You would also need around 105 inches of copper electrical wire, mine is 2mm, and is best stripped from housing electrical flex. It don't matter if it's in bits but try to get 5 lengths that will give you 5 stripped lengths of 21 inches if you are using the 2 meter wavelength. The 21 inches will give you plenty to cut back to get your ideal electrical length which on mine the maths said should be circa 20 & 1/16 tuned to 145.500 MHz

Obviously the cost of the coax and PL-259s is extra but it still comes in at a very cost efficient antenna.

Wulfshead