Giving PMR 446 Another Whirl

Hello All,

I have decided to give PMR another go. Previously, I had been using a Baofeng handheld and I had some reasonable results. Although, I was a little disappointed at the level of activity, given I was 1800ft asl and in the middle of some heavily populated areas. That was around five years ago.

I took the plunge and bought a CRT Space U programmed for the band, combined with a 2m/70cm antenna/magmount from Knights.

I set it up in the car earlier this evening and went up to my usual perch on the Derbyshire/Cheshire border. To say I was pleasantly surprised, would be an understatement.

I found lots of activity on seven different channels. All local people rag-chewing. I had contacts in: Macclesfield, Liverpool, the Wirral, Warrington, Ormskirk, Manchester, Bolton and Stockport.

It was really great to hear all those different ops and all very friendly and happy to chat. All this whilst sat in the comfort of the motor.

73s John.

That's great John,

I get little or no PMR traffic over here in Redcar but all I have is my Anytone 878 and a couple of Chinese UVK 58s

As always a decent antenna can make all the difference. It sounds like you had a lot of fun!

Best 73 Gary.

Awesome stuff there John mate.  

Glad you found some good activity as well as enjoyed the whole experience which I hope continues for you.

I have several bits of equipment PMR 'enabled' this way and even (for receiving & research purposes only ) several antennas including a typical big white-stick as well as a couple of UHF beams. Unfortunately the most I've picked up is "Silvia can you come to the stock room please?", "Can I have a price check", "Back it up a bit Dave....woah, woah, woah!", or the motorcycle training "Take the next left turn" sort of radio traffic.


I did shout out on the 8@8 for a long time too without much luck apart from I think one conversation. I suppose it all comes down to who's on air in your area really and maybe I should give the evenings a bit more of a listen.

Good to hear though John and I wish you the best with it.

(Those little east Asian radios can be a blast too and I enjoy my dinky Leixen VV898, but of course for 2m/70cm activity only. )


All the best,
Victor

Hello Gary and Victor,

Thanks, Chaps! I was really pleasantly surprised. I didn't expect to find that level of activity. They were all radio enthusiasts that worked other bands and seemed to be using pmr for rag-chewing.

I will give the Sunday night net a whirl this coming weekend.

It will be interesting when there are good tropospheric conditions. I always wanted to give 934mhz a try back in the '80s/90s, as the propagation properties of the band always interested me. Didn't have the finances at the time, though.

73s John.

All good stuff there John mate and you'll have to let us all know how you get on with the Sunday 8@8.  


There can be all sorts of interesting propagation effects up on VHF/UHF and for anyone interested in further information it may be worth having a look at a couple of resources that I'll list below.


RSGB VHF/UHF Propagation :-

https://rsgb.org/main/get-started-in-amateur-radio/operating-your-new-station/vhfuhf-propagation/

Which gives a brief introduction to the basics and you can also check out an interactive map (click on the map in the link's page) to see a forecast for possible ducting on the link below :-


European Tropospheric Ducting Forecast Map (Other world areas are available) :-

https://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo_eur.html


There are many more examples besides and even well documented cases of people achieving long distance communications with such frequencies. Worth having a search.

Many still to this day believe VHF/UHF is a line of sight communications process but for those that have experienced it first hand a little 'ducting' can go a long way. (Pun intended. ) You can achieve some great effects even with standard simple 0.5 Watt PMR handies.


(UHF operations are well documented within the Amateur Radio community specifically for the 70cms band which is at 430 to 440 Mhz - it doesn't take much to realise that PMR frequencies sit just above at 446MHz and can experience similar results.)



That 'waffle' (me?) wasn't just all intended for you John mate but anyone else that may read this posting now or in the future.



All the best,
Victor

Hi Victor,

I will let you know how I get on.

Thanks for the info. That is very interesting. I have always been interested in the propagation properties of UHF.

One of the best contacts I had on the handheld was with a fellow CT member in Wales. I was up at the usual location and if memory serves me, it was 80ish miles.

I had a couple of good contacts into Birkenhead and Southport tonight.

73s John.

Happy you've got some PMR action to listen to in your area John. There's quite a bit around my areas too. Yes there's shops and a massive building site using them, but lots of other people I can talk to too.

My better half and my adult daughter bought a cheap pair from the centre aisles of a well known German supermarket a few months back. I thought they'd be cr*p, but apart from only having 9 channels, I am able to talk to them pretty much from my work place on my uv5r. That's a distance of about 1 mile, and with them being downstairs and indoors I think that's pretty good. Audio quality is very clear. I often talk to my daughter on my walk back from work in the evening. We use channel 2 if it's not occupied. Conversation ranges boring just giving my location and how far away I am, to the most random e.g. do bin men look for bodies in the bins when they empty them? (morbid I know, but we like to keep the earwiggers entertained). If theirs a UHF lift on and you hear such weird convos early evening on Channel 2, it might be us.

If there is a good lift on there's some serious users to listen out for about 15 miles south of me in Swindon. Their definitely not using HTs, that's all I'll say  I have heard them make contact to Birmingham a number of times in the past, and Warrington which is closer to your area I think. Over 200 miles, but it does happen now and then.

Have fun!

Hello Neal,

The Bin Men topic would certainly keep the earwiggers entertained. Lol. It is amazing how well those little handsets get out.

I will keep an ear out for you if there is a lift on.

73s John.

Evening All,

There was a net on ch6 this evening that started at 7pm. Lots of great contacts with the furthest being into the North Welsh Mountains.

On the journey home I made a couple of good contacts into Hinckley and Mallory Park on ch13.

I am really pleasantly surprised at how much activity there is on this band. I think, the low noise level and licence free conditions have probably made it popular.

73s John.

If there is any 'tropo' on a Monday night then listen out on channel 14.

You never know you might just hear me.

(yes it is a shameless plug for the South Coast Net)

I think PMR has been the main reason a lot of operators in this area have been moved to get there licence.

73

Ray 2290

Hello Ray,

It would be great to get you in the log.

It is great to hear the Net is still going strong.

Best 73s John.

I had another good contact tonight, I worked into Ashton-in-Makerfield.

That is a good one John, well done!

Thanks, Neal.

Checking the tropo forecast, the next couple of days could be interesting for PMR/70cm

Hello Ray,

It is looking good.

It would be great to make the contact.

73s John.

Another fun night on pmr.

Lots of good contacts on the ch6 net that starts at 7pm on a Sunday. They also run a chat and test net on a Thursday evening at the same time.

One station was working from London via the Internet and repeaters. Not sure how that works on pmr, but very interesting non the less.

I spoke to an old radio buddy, that I have not heard for a few years. Mike, Mr Moonraker from Mow Cop.

73s John.

Sounds like you're having a great time with PMR there John and really good to see.  

I hope your postings concerning such inspire others to enjoy the same.

73
Victor

Hello Victor,

Thank you. I am really enjoying it. There seems to be alot of people experimenting with antennas and the band.

73s John.

Victor wrote:

Awesome stuff there John mate.  

Glad you found some good activity as well as enjoyed the whole experience which I hope continues for you.

I have several bits of equipment PMR 'enabled' this way and even (for receiving & research purposes only ) several antennas including a typical big white-stick as well as a couple of UHF beams. Unfortunately the most I've picked up is "Silvia can you come to the stock room please?", "Can I have a price check", "Back it up a bit Dave....woah, woah, woah!", or the motorcycle training "Take the next left turn" sort of radio traffic.


I did shout out on the 8@8 for a long time too without much luck apart from I think one conversation. I suppose it all comes down to who's on air in your area really and maybe I should give the evenings a bit more of a listen.

Good to hear though John and I wish you the best with it.

(Those little east Asian radios can be a blast too and I enjoy my dinky Leixen VV898, but of course for 2m/70cm activity only. )


All the best,
Victor

 Hi Victor, 
I know you wouldn't but can your Leixen TX and RX on 446Mhz? 
There are some fantastic prices on AliExpress for these little boxes.

Hiya Tam mate,

Shhh.....yes it certainly can.  

73

Victor wrote:

Hiya Tam mate,

Shhh.....yes it certainly can.  

73

Thanks Victor,

ordered one at £60... for research purposes of course

Have fun with it, Tam.

73s John.

Hello All,

Another enjoyable evening on pmr. Lots of contacts on various channels.The best contact was into Hickley. Dean the other operator checked and confirmed the distance at 80.5 miles.

For anyone who might be interested, there is a great bunch of lads who run a chat and experiment night on a Thursday at 7pm and a net on Sunday at the same time. Both on channel 6. The net controller is a chap named Max in Stalybridge.

73s John.

I find that Baofengs are not so good for hill topping, the receivers in them aren't the best for DX they work better as short range radios. They don't handle traffic well and will pick things up that are not always there, where as my Motorola radio does very well and receives stuff much better and much clearer than a Baofeng, I was able to get an 80 mile contact but couldn't do it on the Baofeng when compared.