2 Way radio laws???
 

was thinking of buying this : http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...&rd=1&tc=photo
or http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...&rd=1&tc=photo
Question is; would it be license free and legal over here??
(its a US seller)

time is of the essence :D

Thanks!

10 miles eh?

both look like motorola rebrands, I wouldn't bother.

anything over 5km would be good...
range and price is the major factor tbh ;)

UK motorola 5km ones are about £70 :eek:

Still; would the US ones actually require a license here in blighty??
going to use em for days out in the motor.

US ones are illegal to use here in the UK. I believe that if you check the spectrum allocation, at least one of the channels they use is the maritime distress channel!

I doubt that, maritime distress frequencies are the same wherever you are in the world.

Edited to add that it seems as though these radios operate in the 460-470kHz range. There used to be a distress channel on 500kHz, but I don't think it is used any more.

so ultimately; are the US ones legal here?- or not? :confused:

Daryl -- it's actually around 460 MHz, not kHz.

462.500=... H.O., to 462.75=
(US GMRS/FRS handies)
GMRS ch 1 to 8 at 462.55 to 462.725 (25kHz steps) with mobile at +5MHz
FRS ch 1 to 7 at 462.5625 to 462.7125 (25kHz steps) also used for GMRS single
& ch 8 to 14 at 467.5625 to 467.7125 (5MHz above ch 1 to 7)
462.756 ... JFMG fixed sites talkback (split +6.7375/+6.875: 469.493-469.868) 6.25kHz offsets
463.000=... ST, see 457.5=
464.000=... H.O., to 467.25= see 450= (466.075 Paging)

467.2625=..JFMG... links and talkback (+airborne)
467.275 ... see 457.25
467.525 .. Marine on-board, to 467.575 single, or dual: see -10 (future use of the 2 12.5kHz channels)
467.55... US GMRS/FRS, to 467.725 - see 462.55
468.0125 single.
468.018 ... JFMG, to 468.5375, see 455 and 461.237
469.493 ... fixed sites, see 462.756

469.875=..H.O.
H.O. means "Home Office"

If I used American FRS / GMRS radios in the UK, who might I interfere with?

In many cases, given the short range of walkie-talkies, you may not interfere with anyone. But: the 462MHz FRS channels 1-7 are used for some emergency service radios, and interefering with these is very illegal and potentially dangerous.

The higher FRS / GMRS channels on 467MHz are used by licensed private users such as TV outside broadcasts, special event organisers etc. They will have paid for the right to use those channels and could complain if they get interference.

carl - fair enough, I didn't realise they were uhf radios, although I guess I should have. What confused me was your reference to maritime distress frequencies, as far as I know there aren't any that are near to 460MHz :)

I guess I must have confused the following two with each other:
Emergency Services are operated by the Home Office and Office of The Scottish Executive within the following bands: 450-453 MHz, 455.875-456.0 MHz, 457.0-457.25 MHz, 457.475-457.5 MHz, 459.4875 MHz ¦ 6.25 kHz, 459.5125 MHz ¦ 6.25 kHz, 459.5375 MHz ¦ 6.25 kHz, 460.5-460.75 MHz, 462.5-462.75 MHz, 464.0-466.0625 MHz, 466.0875-467.25 MHz and 469.875-470.0 MHz.
International Marine On-Board Communications operate within the bands 457.525-457.575 MHz and 467.525-467.575 MHz.

so US radio- illegal to use in the UK? :confused:

Yep. And PMR446 (the UK/European equivalent) are illegal to use in the USA.

Yes, they're illegal in the UK

damned good reason to buy a set then.. ;)

cheers guys.

Try here for the frequencies :)

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archi...info/ra357.htm

Hello

I have some Uniden two way radios (7 miles supposedly) and I have never heard anything on the same frequency.

They are technically illegal, although they are mainly used to communicate between my 2 and 4 year old daughters, so I can't see a major arrest coming anytime soon.

Steve.