RE: Two-Way Radio Alive and Well

M0DCD — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:58:12 GMT

They are still used here in the UK and Europe. They are used by a lot of organisations as point-point contact, such as St John Ambulance and Mountain Rescue. Apart from the big players such as Kenwood and Motorola they are new players such as Wouxon in the commercial market. These fit a niche market very well. Although many of the public services have gone over to TETRA, there are people who still retain these because it fits their needs, and apart from the licence has no service costs tied in.

There used to be a lot of ex-PMR kit in Ham use, but now it's dwindled as a new transceiver from China comes at less cost and less trouble to set up, as you mentioned with the software. FRS/PMR446 has also taken a chunk out, when licence free and off the shelf is much easier to deal with. Now some the Ham equipment seems to be superior- multiple receivers, DTMF equipped, rather more sensitive and even IP67 waterproof with built in GPS.

One important fact is the radios will work wherever your signal can reach the other station, you are not restricted by the base station coverage. Indeed sometimes a temporary relay/repeater can be set up, such as in places with patchy mobile/cell phone coverage.

RE: Two-Way Radio Alive and Well

DAB — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:13:07 GMT

I no longer use the two way radio system, but I fully understand why it is still used.

I have many friends who are HAM radio operators and they continue to use their rigs because they really enjoy the technology.

It is not about communication per se, but about the band of equally talented technical folks.

In many ways its a fraternity, because only those people who can pass the tests for the license can play in their sandbox.

Plus there is just a lot of personal satisfaction in manipulating the equipment to do very difficult things.

Everyone loves a challenge and these folks derive a lot of personal satisfaction.

DAB