One of those radios saved my bacon. Out fishing on a Loch by myself ...no mobile signal....it got a bit rough. I just had oars and had to row pretty strongly to keep the bow up wind.....result was that an oar snapped ... luckily I was able to contact my Father on the PMR.... basically told Him where I was drifting and had to sit it out........
The incredible distances mentioned are possible on a standard legal PMR radio but you certainly need to be operating from a high location. From my back garden in a built up area I can get about 1 mile but if I go up to the top of our local pit heap (about 80m above the surrounding houses) I can get 20-30 miles. One thing to note, the receiving radios would work better if held in the hand rather than just standing by themselves. Handheld radios can use the human body as a 'groundplane' which improves the incoming signals.
Yes good point about the human ground plane effect. Two radios out in the open would work better. Iam planning a longer range test in the future. Hope your well Dell.
Hello and Good Morning Fred, after a long stay in hospital I needed help at home. My Parents lived in the neighboring Residential Complex(500m max) and I had a set of Motorola TLKR T60s at the time. This allowed me to connect properly when I needed help. The only annoying thing was the Roger Peep which you couldn't turn off. In conclusion, these radios were ok for short distances, but anything over 1 KM was utopian. 73 and nice weekend.
I use my Retevis RT22 when I go shopping. I dont drive but my wife does. She sits in the car as she is disabled. I have a shopping list but if she thinks of something not on the list ,she gets me on the radio. If I see things not on the list , I get her on the radio. . We could use our mobile but the radio is handy.
I'm with you Fred. Never got further than about 800m on my stock PMRs. Saying that, my old radios died last week so picked up 2 Baofeng 888s that I've reprogrammed to make legal which I'll have fun testing their range in the coming weeks.
Not bad really considering the power used and being in a town centre. I might pick a legal model up to do some high ground tests this summer, should be fun. I managed to get 72 miles on PMR using a Baofeng and a 3 element Yagi I made but as someone said in the comments that’s not really PMR is it. 😂
Hi Fred, interesting video.. I've got a UV5R and a pair of 888s. My findings are much the same as yours until I use a pair of 771 antennas ! Then the range is much more.
What makes me laugh is when people say they've had 100+ mile contacts on PMR then they tell you they are using a 50w mobile radio with a yagi 30ft in the air. Like, that's not really PMR is it haha
You could use a 2m/70cm radio for the receive with a base antenna and ive already thought of that for a future video on another PMR handheld. However you could not use a legal PMR radio for the receive with that set up.
Not leagelley but under emergency management conditions we get a lot of bad weather following the u.s. coast right to nova scotia last one there was 30 some thousand no power freezing rain storm in a case like that anything goes for communications
Hi Fred, Hope your well. Very interesting PMR testing, do you think the steel mesh right behind you made any difference to the range test ? Anyway keep up the video's. 👍
Most definitely made a difference when you think how a microwave oven uses a mesh to block 1000w of RF quite effectively. UHF is very line of sight and handhelds really need a human acting as a ground plane on both ends for maximum range.
You know i realised that when i edited the video. Farraday Cage effect etc. TBH iam not sure as is was one side only and clear above. Could have done though.
Never understand why in this country they restricted these type of radio's to 500mw, I know they wouldn't give them 4/5 watts as they would compete with licensed PMR radios which cost hundreds of pounds, but 500mw is useless even for the money they cost, 1-2 watts would be more workable
@@davidhooper1767Isn’t the equivalent system in the USA rated at 2 Watts, I’m assuming it’s half a Watt in the EU so now we’re supposed to be independent of the EU why can’t our rules on CB match the USA? Not that I think politicians will give two hoots what a few CB radio geeks would like they’d probably like to auction off CB and HAM radio frequencies for that matter if they had half the chance!
@@X5493-c7pThe FRS system in the US is 2 watt.However CB radios in the UK have a 4 watt output on a different frequency to PMR which are the walkie talkies in this video.
did you have the bloody squelch up !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! or were they coded and needing more to trigger than an open un squelched signal you might have picked out of the noise..............ever likely you didn`t hear the last attempt
@@CB-RADIO-UK we used them at work. Inside buildings and outside and they worked well. A little too well. A local school used them too and my old boss was heard swearing on one in a class room full of kids.
Nope…in the US we have FRS (Family Radio Service). FRS is very similar though but uses different frequencies that are legal here in the US. Range and operation are very similar though.
One of those radios saved my bacon. Out fishing on a Loch by myself ...no mobile signal....it got a bit rough. I just had oars and had to row pretty strongly to keep the bow up wind.....result was that an oar snapped ... luckily I was able to contact my Father on the PMR.... basically told Him where I was drifting and had to sit it out........
Great example Adrian. I think if your going out where there is no phone signal these radios could be a life saver.
The incredible distances mentioned are possible on a standard legal PMR radio but you certainly need to be operating from a high location.
From my back garden in a built up area I can get about 1 mile but if I go up to the top of our local pit heap (about 80m above the surrounding houses) I can get 20-30 miles.
One thing to note, the receiving radios would work better if held in the hand rather than just standing by themselves. Handheld radios can use the human body as a 'groundplane' which improves the incoming signals.
Yes good point about the human ground plane effect. Two radios out in the open would work better. Iam planning a longer range test in the future. Hope your well Dell.
Hello and Good Morning Fred, after a long stay in hospital I needed help at home. My Parents lived in the neighboring Residential Complex(500m max) and I had a set of Motorola TLKR T60s at the time. This allowed me to connect properly when I needed help. The only annoying thing was the Roger Peep which you couldn't turn off. In conclusion, these radios were ok for short distances, but anything over 1 KM was utopian. 73 and nice weekend.
Hi. Sorry to hear you were in hospital. Yes 1km in a built up area seems the limit on 0.5w.
I use my Retevis RT22 when I go shopping. I dont drive but my wife does. She sits in the car as she is disabled. I have a shopping list but if she thinks of something not on the list ,she gets me on the radio. If I see things not on the list , I get her on the radio. .
We could use our mobile but the radio is handy.
I'm with you Fred. Never got further than about 800m on my stock PMRs. Saying that, my old radios died last week so picked up 2 Baofeng 888s that I've reprogrammed to make legal which I'll have fun testing their range in the coming weeks.
Really well done. Thanks so much for the very cool information. I'm purchasing the rt45 for my property.
Glad it was helpful!
Not bad really considering the power used and being in a town centre. I might pick a legal model up to do some high ground tests this summer, should be fun.
I managed to get 72 miles on PMR using a Baofeng and a 3 element Yagi I made but as someone said in the comments that’s not really PMR is it. 😂
Hi Fred, interesting video.. I've got a UV5R and a pair of 888s. My findings are much the same as yours until I use a pair of 771 antennas ! Then the range is much more.
Good testing Fred great distance
Yeah fair in a built up area thanks
I got about 14 km range of my pmr radio outside.
What makes me laugh is when people say they've had 100+ mile contacts on PMR then they tell you they are using a 50w mobile radio with a yagi 30ft in the air. Like, that's not really PMR is it haha
Thanks Fred. Good info!
Great subject matter, I wonder if the mesh barrier at the last tx location had an impact on your ability to transmit?
Thanks. Yes it could have done.
Great review as usual x
Hi Fred I had some people on the cb last night when I had it set up last night I have the CRT xenon v2
Nice one
I you could rig a base antenna would make a hudge difference or one in the attic
You could use a 2m/70cm radio for the receive with a base antenna and ive already thought of that for a future video on another PMR handheld. However you could not use a legal PMR radio for the receive with that set up.
Not leagelley but under emergency management conditions we get a lot of bad weather following the u.s. coast right to nova scotia last one there was 30 some thousand no power freezing rain storm in a case like that anything goes for communications
Just saw another Fred in the Shed on Facebook Fred, definitely wasn’t you mate , a kids magician I think
Yeah his been around a long time :-)
Hi. I need belt clips for Retevis Rt45P. Is it possible to check compatibility with any PMR Motorola? Much better purchase availability
Hi Fred, Hope your well. Very interesting PMR testing, do you think the steel mesh right behind you made any difference
to the range test ? Anyway keep up the video's. 👍
Most definitely made a difference when you think how a microwave oven uses a mesh to block 1000w of RF quite effectively.
UHF is very line of sight and handhelds really need a human acting as a ground plane on both ends for maximum range.
You know i realised that when i edited the video. Farraday Cage effect etc. TBH iam not sure as is was one side only and clear above. Could have done though.
Never understand why in this country they restricted these type of radio's to 500mw, I know they wouldn't give them 4/5 watts as they would compete with licensed PMR radios which cost hundreds of pounds, but 500mw is useless even for the money they cost, 1-2 watts would be more workable
Well said.
I totally agree with putting the output to 2 watts.
@@davidhooper1767Isn’t the equivalent system in the USA rated at 2 Watts, I’m assuming it’s half a Watt in the EU so now we’re supposed to be independent of the EU why can’t our rules on CB match the USA? Not that I think politicians will give two hoots what a few CB radio geeks would like they’d probably like to auction off CB and HAM radio frequencies for that matter if they had half the chance!
@@X5493-c7p These radios aren't CB band radios these are licence free 446 frequency radios The CBs in the UK already have 4 watt output.
@@X5493-c7pThe FRS system in the US is 2 watt.However CB radios in the UK have a 4 watt output on a different frequency to PMR which are the walkie talkies in this video.
I work down a mine in Wales. mining pot noodle noodles. i can get to talk to my mate whos on Mars with mine no problem.
:-)
did you have the bloody squelch up !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! or were they coded and needing more to trigger than an open un squelched signal you might have picked out of the noise..............ever likely you didn`t hear the last attempt
Squelch was set on No1. Yes maybe there could have been a signal in the noise but prob not readable.
@@CB-RADIO-UK we will never know
what is the real power tx ? thanks
0.5 watts
CTCSS / DPL should be off
Why ? Ctcss and dcs are to keep your signal mostly to those you need to communicate with
There is a number of videos showing long ranges but most are line of sight and nothing in the way. People on hills.
Yes these radios suffer when you use them surrounded by infrastructure and man made objects. Still they work well enough for local comms.
@@CB-RADIO-UK we used them at work. Inside buildings and outside and they worked well. A little too well. A local school used them too and my old boss was heard swearing on one in a class room full of kids.
LOL
@@kwakamonkeythat's why it's a hood idea to see if any other users and indeed change ctcss or dcs as well
Wonder if using this in US would be legit?
Nope…in the US we have FRS (Family Radio Service). FRS is very similar though but uses different frequencies that are legal here in the US. Range and operation are very similar though.
Its a few years old, but here's a video from Jez with some impressive range tests. th-cam.com/video/TqJrwYfJrYI/w-d-xo.html
I can get 1,001 metres 😂👍
:-)