Member Since: 10 Jan 2019
Location: Kent
Posts: 114
In car comms
Hi all,
Am thinking of comms for off roading and green laning
I have an old small albrecht CB with a small mag mount antenna. But no ones ever out the and it’s range is limited
What is the most popular form of radio fitted these days do you use CB,PMR, HAM or the new network radios
I do like the sound of the network radios as there’s no range issues and you can set up groups so things can be kept private.
Does anyone use these new radios and are there any groups set up to join
Thanks2005 D3 SE Auto, zermatt silver
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13th Apr 2019 7:33 pm
JonM
Member Since: 24 May 2012
Location: North Yorkshire
Posts: 1247
For green laning, CB is still the standard option.
Most people don't have HAM licences and you're often in places without any mobile phone network coverage so direct vehicle to vehicle communication is needed. PMR can work as well but CB tends to have better range.MY2022 D5 HSE D300 - with extra nice bits added
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13th Apr 2019 8:35 pm
G7jtk
Member Since: 03 Jun 2014
Location: Prudhoe
Posts: 861
Cab does the job. Most of the time the corona car is telling the last car whether the gate was open or closed.
13th Apr 2019 8:48 pm
Bleeding knuckles
Member Since: 10 Jan 2019
Location: Kent
Posts: 114
Thanks all for replies
Looks like I’ll blow the dust off the CB2005 D3 SE Auto, zermatt silver
Gearbox flush by terrain vehicles
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19th Apr 2019 9:32 am
malliedamoocha
Member Since: 19 Aug 2019
Location: Nottingham
Posts: 64
I'm considering this as part of my setup. I'm with the Scouts so we have access to some shared frequencies up to 5W but am conscious that I'm not always going to be out with the Scouts.
I'm not at all surprised that CB is used, PMR is only 0.5W (if you want to stay legal) where CB transmits at 4W - so a lot more range on offer.
I've been considering something like these Quad Band radios which do CB frequencies as well as business and PMR frequencies - sort of an all-in-one box:
Member Since: 27 Mar 2008
Location: Riyadh, KSA
Posts: 3079
I have both Yaesu and Wouxon kit, hand held and mobile rigs. Multi-band is useful, you may still find 'gaps' in the bands on off-the shelf Yaesu kit (for example, avoiding air band freqs on VHF) whereas the chinese kit is less, err, 'strict'. It's quite handy that I could (in an emergency, and if I felt it was worth stretching the rules - i.e. I'd come across a casualty) respond to a coastguard on maritime freqs from a Wouxon h/held I carry in the hills for personal Ham comms.
A lot of PMR is also dependent on CTCSS coding or tiny frequency steps that you will also need to be able to handle.
CB is effectively HF (or Shortwave in other terms) and although that Yaesu set does 29MHz band (aka '10 Metre' band) it's not 'CB' in terms of the 27MHz UK channel 1-40 that we all know.
Your biggest hurdle on top of all this is antennae - asking one antenna to do everything from HF right up to UHF (for 446 PMR) is not going to work out well, so you would have to be prepared to swap around for different applications.D4 XS, gone, much loved, never forgotten
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25th Sep 2019 2:40 pm
JackNorris
Member Since: 06 Jul 2012
Location: Beds/Bucks Border
Posts: 1879
We run network radios with our 4x4 response group and tried them greenlaning out of interest.
The lag is too noticeable especially for some of the usage you'll be using a radio for.
We now use CB again for greenlaning.
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25th Sep 2019 2:59 pm
malliedamoocha
Member Since: 19 Aug 2019
Location: Nottingham
Posts: 64
Quote:
We run network radios with our 4x4 response group and tried them greenlaning out of interest.
Yeah, Network Radios are great and all but not out in the sticks with no mobile coverage. That said, I'll be finding a way to squeeze Zello into my setup.
Quote:
Your biggest hurdle on top of all this is antennae
Aerials was one of my concerns, it looks like there's only the one connector, so some switching would be needed I think. Not a nightmare, I could work with that (not like I'll need to spend much time switching between multiple modes at a single event).
As for the gaps, I'm looking at a specific frequency list - so I'm not going to be monitoring much outside of that. So long as all the CB channels are there, and enough of the Scout frequencies are available it should be useable.
25th Sep 2019 3:09 pm
James W
Member Since: 27 Mar 2008
Location: Riyadh, KSA
Posts: 3079
Switching is possible but not always practical as you'd need several mounts to match. Ensuring your antennae have the same mount (BNC, 3/8, PL259, etc) will allow you to swap quickly on one mount.
And just for the avoidance of doubt - I don't see that you can receive or transmit on UK 27MHz CB Bands on either of those sets you linked to. If I've missed some detail somewhere I apologise.D4 XS, gone, much loved, never forgotten
2018 FFRR SDV8 Autobiography - Gone to someone with less sense and more time to enjoy it
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25th Sep 2019 3:33 pm
malliedamoocha
Member Since: 19 Aug 2019
Location: Nottingham
Posts: 64
Quote:
And just for the avoidance of doubt - I don't see that you can receive or transmit on UK 27MHz CB Bands on either of those sets you linked to
No, not missing anything. I was looking at one of the Chinese models, but used those for reference. Pretty sure the ones I was looking at covered the CB frequencies.
And yeah, the plan was to cable up a mount with interchangeable antennae - swap and go. Not wanting to stack up 5 whippies on the back of my truck, funny though it would look.
25th Sep 2019 4:35 pm
James W
Member Since: 27 Mar 2008
Location: Riyadh, KSA
Posts: 3079
Haha
Like this?
Good luck with finding a good solution D4 XS, gone, much loved, never forgotten
2018 FFRR SDV8 Autobiography - Gone to someone with less sense and more time to enjoy it
2016 Toyota Hilux Invincible - Liberating experience
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