V8landy Posted January 22, 2010 Report Share Posted January 22, 2010 I am after some advice on a simple set-up for mainly UK coverage. My first thought was CB, but range is limited? or can it be boosted? Then onto licences, do I need one? Budget, as cheap as possible! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imperfection Posted January 22, 2010 Report Share Posted January 22, 2010 Thinking back to when i was a teenager and into CB's-the furthest i could get out to was about 12 miles and that was with a whacking great big ariel bolted onto side of parents house.Not sure if you can boost the signal at all so i think HAM is probably your best route.Dont know much about it,but what little i do is you have to sit an exam and afterwards you get issued with a call sign which you use forever. Someone round the corner is into HAM and their back garden has a series of wires strung off poles going back and fourth which is the ariel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holly Posted January 22, 2010 Report Share Posted January 22, 2010 have you thought about using a mobile phone :blink: sorry had to say it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fullbore Posted January 22, 2010 Report Share Posted January 22, 2010 Thinking back to when i was a teenager and into CB's-the furthest i could get out to was about 12 miles and that was with a whacking great big ariel bolted onto side of parents house.Not sure if you can boost the signal at all so i think HAM is probably your best route.Dont know much about it,but what little i do is you have to sit an exam and afterwards you get issued with a call sign which you use forever. Someone round the corner is into HAM and their back garden has a series of wires strung off poles going back and fourth which is the ariel. Cb no license needed any more, HAM you need a license, to get one you need to sit and pas the RAE (radio amateurs exam) Then you have a choice of frequencies, but nothing that will give you nationwide with certainty. 2 metres is a popular mobile frequency and uses repeater stations to get more range. You will only be able to communicate with other radio hams whichever frequency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8landy Posted January 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2010 have you thought about using a mobile phone :blink: sorry had to say it I am planning ahead for a major catastrophe! so the likes of the mobile networks will be down But we will still have power due to our generator and hence I assume other like minded people who are also on radio will also be the same... Only joking .. . . . .. . .or am I? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imperfection Posted January 22, 2010 Report Share Posted January 22, 2010 You're not planning for a zombie invasion and the breakdown of civilisation as we know it? :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8landy Posted January 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2010 (edited) You're not planning for a zombie invasion and the breakdown of civilisation as we know it? :blink: 28 Days Later! Edited January 22, 2010 by V8landy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holly Posted January 22, 2010 Report Share Posted January 22, 2010 generator go solar :blink: major catastrophes can be a pain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8landy Posted January 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2010 SO must hold off for more sunny days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codling99 Posted January 23, 2010 Report Share Posted January 23, 2010 (edited) well as far as im aware,you do need a licence for a cb radio ,were about 30 quid a year,unless you go for an old cb/27 which were made illegal in the 80 s i think,not that im condoning breaking the law,but doubt you d get caught with either as theres probably not a lot of people on them anymore.theres also the old sideband rigs which on right weather conditions will reach anywhere,but not where you ll want to depends on where signal lands due to skip. as for radio ham,you need to go to college for a year for part 1 ,and learn morse code for part 2 (full licence) and it aint cheap,and depending how far you wanna go,not really much good on most ham bands,the further you want to go,the higher the frequency ,the dearer the equipment.hope that s easy to understand,as above better off on pay as you go mobile. :blink: i stand corrected http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radiocomms/ifi/lic...lasses/citizen/ in that case get a cb,whack aeriel up as high as possible. Edited January 23, 2010 by codling99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucid Posted January 23, 2010 Report Share Posted January 23, 2010 CB is good for local comms, but you have to rely on the atmosphere to change to get longer distance communications (known in CB world as skip). Only FM, 27/81 or CEPT radios are legal in the UK. Sideband or AM are not and have never been so. For an amateur licence, the setup has changed from the system in place that the previous posters have explained. There is now a 3 tier system with a novice, intermediate and full licence which are now required to be taken in turn. - http://www.rsgb.org/getlicence/ The starter licence allows limited power and frequencies, the intermediate more power and Full Licence allows 400w output. Power is not everything, as I regularly can get from the UK to the US whilst in a field with a battery using 15w max. I ran a backpack station (12v 6ah battery) from Lundy Island a few years ago and had most of the US and Europe calling in !! No need for morse for the full licence either, as that was dropped a few years ago, however still quite an interesting thing to look into. Have a look here - http://www.rsgb.org for details. Be warned though, Equipment costs much like shooting start to spiral out of control !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codling99 Posted January 23, 2010 Report Share Posted January 23, 2010 mmmmmm interesting,been out of touch for a while,i passed by b licence,years ago,and never bothered doing morse,i suppose id have to resit the new exam to get a full licence without the morse now ? :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucid Posted January 23, 2010 Report Share Posted January 23, 2010 mmmmmm interesting,been out of touch for a while,i passed by b licence,years ago,and never bothered doing morse,i suppose id have to resit the new exam to get a full licence without the morse now ? :blink: No, if you have a old B licence, you will now have HF and VHF access. (I have an M1 licence) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codling99 Posted January 23, 2010 Report Share Posted January 23, 2010 No, if you have a old B licence, you will now have HF and VHF access. (I have an M1 licence) well well,the only thing that stopped me going further at the time was the morse,couldnt get my head round it at all,was young too so women soon turned my head to other things,but nice to know i could apply for my full ticket and get straight into tidy frequencies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8landy Posted January 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2010 (edited) I have been advised to get a Cobra 29 and a SSB and amp. I think a God CB set-up is more what I am after at the moment, rather than ham radio Anyone selling anything? Edited January 23, 2010 by V8landy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guss109 Posted January 23, 2010 Report Share Posted January 23, 2010 Have a look on ebay loads to choose from. I got mine for about £20 the other year but still need to get it fitted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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