CB vs Dual-Band Hand held (UV5r)

[SteveG4wwk]

[quote='Lightspeed' pid='96199' dateline='1457627202']
CB vs Dual-Band Hand held (UV5r) Which is the better prep?
>
>Licensing:
>
>It appears that I have completely overlooked the issue of Licensing. Its true
>that CB is entirely license-free, and that to transmit with a UV5r requires an
>amateur radio license. This was omitted from the test criteria as the >evaluation is based on the radios intended use when the grid is permanently
>down, with the assumption that in such a situation the rule of law would no
>longer exist. Also, even though its illegal to transmit on a UV5r today, they
>can still be legally used to monitor radio traffic.
>
UV5R and other 5 watt chinese handhelds can be licenced in the UK with simple business licence, £75 for 5 years:

http://static.ofcom.org.uk/static/busine...mpleUK.pdf

7 vhf and 3 uhf channels are available that dual band UV5R covers.
I would use 164.050 and 164.0625mhz as they are some of the least used.
The 77 and 86MHz low band vhf frequencies can give greater range,
although low band chinese radios are more expensive, there's lots of ex commercial mobile and handheld radios available but most will need converting by an experienced radio tech or radio amateur.
I prefer the Baofeng UV-82 to the slightly cheaper UV-5R,
as the uv-82 has a bigger speaker giving better receive and transmit
sound
Chirp free download software programms all the usual chinese handhelds
https://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chi...i/Download

and is easy to use, chirp tutorials are on youtube
Baofeng / Kenwood USB data leads can be had on ebay for a couple of quid