Highland AL and an experimental Baofeng UV5RC

[NorthernRaider]

Highland AL and an experimental Baofeng UV5RC

AL the internet disadvantaged prepper from NW Scotland kindly took pity on me and snaffled my UV5RC and took it home to play with, He has now set up the radio that does meet more but not all of my groups comms needs. He has taken the experimental UV5RC we bought from Sinotel and got rid of the frequencies that are no use to non ham enthusiasts and left it as a PMR 446 band unit.

So now it’s a UV5RC with only the twenty ( 20) main PMR 446 channels, the display I believe is now showing both the frequency AND channel numbers so technophobes like me can simply tell my family members go to channel 5 rather than enter or search for an 8 digit frequency. That gives us a radio more capable and more useful for less than half the cost of an Intek MT 5050 though the Intek still has the aesthetic appeal for me.

He is also going to write a step by step idiot grade instruction sheet on how to add extra channels after TSHTF if people need them, I asked if I could have the CB channels added but apparently this device is incapable of dealing with the 10 and 11 meter stuff but hey ho at least now or very soon we will have a PMR radio set that can use the legal .5 watt power setting for now, and the full 5 watt power setting after TSHTF if you want such a thing.

I’ve also been checking out accessory antennas for the UV5RC and many people have tried various aftermarket antennas like the Nagoya NA 701 and it’s debatable whether it improves the radio because the one supplied is already quite good. Be careful though apparently there are lots of Counterfeit Nagoya antennas out there that look identical to the real thing but these can damage your radio.

Some models of UV5 can be fitted with larger capacity battery packs to longer operational time, and also some models can also be fitted with an adaptor box that allows you to fit 6 x AAA batteries as a backup or alternative power source (from E bay ).

AL also advises you can get leather cases from Hong Kong for a couple of quid for the UV5RC, plus you can get battery eliminators so you can power the radio from your cars fag lighter socket.

I believe AL is also rendering technical assistance to other prepper radio users in northern Scotland who like me have been struggling to get to grips with the radio systems, so I express my gratitude to AL for his contribution to prepper comms for keeping it simple, listening to me whinge and coming up with a working system.

When funds allow I hope to obtain an Intek MT 50 50 to experiment with to see if I can develop a group comms radio that matches my needs even better but I foresee two insurmountable issues before we even start, first is the price the MT50 50 is £70 compared to the Baofengs £40 price tag, and early investigations by AL suggest that modifying the MT 50 50 Antenna though improving ranges sadly leaves the physical strength of the radios plastic body greatly reduced and more vulnerable to damage and cracking.

The search continues but at least so far I find plenty of other preppers have independently come to the conclusion that CB (usually 27fm UK and Cept) and PMR 446 radio systems are good systems for our post SHTF comms systems.