CB vs Dual-Band Hand held (UV5r)

[Lightspeed]

Some current comparative costs (March 2016)

Basing costing on a communications group of 4 radios that need to be able to stay in touch with each other and also reach out to the wider world.

A mixed UV5r and BF888 network would cost £53.00

A standard PMR446 network would cost £ 50 excluding batteries which would take it to over £60 and those batteries would need to be replaced regularly

A network of lowest cost walkie talkie CB radios would cost a whopping £440

Performance: the UV5r/BF888 and CBs would have pretty much similar range, with PMR446s being worse.

Battery life: I’d guess would be best on the BF888/UV5r and worst on the CBs

Ability to operate on non-standard frequencies (affording a slight degree of privacy) is only available on the UV5r/BF888 solution

Ability to operate from vehicle 12v power, as supplied is limited to the CB. The UV5r/BF888 solution can be upgraded to include 12v power leads for around £5 per radio = £20 in total. The PMR446s have no out of a box solution for this.
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EQUIPMENT SOURCING AND COST:

Baofeng quasi-Ham type equipment:
BF888 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Walkie-Talkie-...219wt_1258
UV5r http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BaoFeng-UV-5R-...012wt_1275
UV5r/BF888 programming cable http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BAOFENG-UV-5R-...568wt_1106

Comparative costs Baofeng 4 radio sets vs standard PMR446 4 radio sets
Include rechargeable battery packs
Include drop-in mains smart chargers
Power UV5r 1w/4w BF888 2-3w
Channels UV5r x124 BF888 x16
Wired headset with PTT mike included
Flashlight
FM radio on UV5r
Antenna UV5r removable BF888 Removable
Operate on UK and EU fixed CB channels NO
Operate on PMR446 frequencies UV5r YES BF888 YES
Operate on HAM VHF frequencies UV5r YES BF888 NO
Operate on HAM UHF frequencies UV5r YES BF888 YES
Operate on LPD frequencies UV5r YES BF888 YES
Operate on Marine frequencies UV5r YES BF888 NO
Operate on DISTRESS frequencies UV5r YES BF888 NO
Comparative cost includes programming cable that allows rapid re-programming and cloning of radios.

Cost
UV5r £20
BF888 £10
BF888 £10
BF888 £10
Prog cable £3
Total £53 ( 4x BF888 reduces total to £43)

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PMR446

Motorola tlkr T40 4 Pack http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-x-Motorola-T...185wt_1258

Power 0.5w
Power source AA/AAA batteries. Not included
Charger not included
Radio power 0.5w
No headset included
Flash light None
Antenna FIXED
Cannot be re-programmed
Operate on UK and EU fixed CB channels NO
Operate on PMR446 frequencies YES
Operate on HAM VHF frequencies NO
Operate on HAM UHF frequencies NO
Operate on LPD frequencies NO
Operate on Marine frequencies NO
Operate on DISTRESS frequencies NO
Channels 8

tlkr T40 4 Pack £50

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CB Radio handheld

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Midland-Alan-4...362wt_1275

What you get :
Include rechargeable battery packs
Include smart chargers
Power 4w
Channels 80
No headset included
NO Flashlight
NO FM radio on UV5r
Antenna removable
Operate on UK and EU fixed CB channels YES
Operate on HAM frequencies NO
Operate on Marine frequencies NO
Operate on DISTRESS frequencies NO
Not programmable.

Cost 4 x £110 = £440 (!!!)
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