Radio Discussion Community

Had to go to Sennen Cove today,just a few miles short of Lands end here in Cornwall..had some time to myself so a cup of coffee and a shout on cb was in order..Nothing doing on uk fm or T5,even gave a shout on mids am!..with good conditions i have in the past made contact with Irish truckers,but nothing doing today...In the meantime my 446 locked on to a one sided QSO...So gave a shout,and to my surprise found i was in contact with Dan on St Marys in the Isles of Scilly!!.. Dan was doing some maintenance on his boat,and chatting to another islander..It seems a few boatman use 446 when onshore along with their marine band..Anyway we surprised one another as he had never contacted anybody on the mainland using 446 before...So i am eating my hat now as i have always thought legal spec 446 DX a joke!!...Lands end to the Isles of Scilly is 28 miles!!...Not bad for an argos cheapie,and no mods...

Nice contact - I also thought 446 was crap until I started landing a few contacts from the hills, now these days I always take one along. Can be very rewarding, especially using a basic radio.

Happy Days..always worth putting a call out. Here in Suffolk, 446 goes from strength to strength, our little group on channel twelve now has approx a dozen regular users on most days.. all just chatting..Olga free. In all fairness though, a basic 446 handheld wouldn't cut it here, you need an extenal antenna with low loss coax as a minimum..then plug your handy in..that seems to be the norm for starters, then progression up to a TYT9000 or widebanded ham rigs.

BB

I'm well impressed with it, either with the Baofeng handie with a roof mount antenna mobile, or the TYT9000 on a J pole at home. Clarity of transmission is it greatest edge, and as BB states, no Olga. If regular CB was this good there would no need for anything else. With the handie with Nagoya whippy rubber duck I've achieved a copy of about 15 miles, on a claimed 4 watts. Ideal Citizens Band, very cheap and accessible at any level, no need to invest a small fortune at first. Like all radio, the more you spend, the better the results though