I’m in the process of umming and arring over which remote headed CB radio to purchase. It’s currently a toss up between the tti TCB R-2000 and the Lafayette Venus. I’ve crossed the Albrecht AE-6890 off the list on the grounds that the supplied microphone is pathetic beyond belief. Who at Albrecht thought that cheap and nasty microphone was a good idea on an expensive CB radio?!?

In the meantime I picked up a 2nd hand Intek M-150 Plus for beer money to satisfy my need for listening to either nothing, Olga from the Volga, or locals abusing one another, as I travel.

Alinco DJ-446 PMR446 Radio

Initial Impressions

My reason for purchasing a PMR 446 radio was to enable bike to bike communication. I needed a radio that would be robust, have a good battery life, and be able to accept the standard headphone & mic accessories. When I discovered that Alinco did this PMR 446 version of their VHF DJ-193E, which has the same body, chassis, and internals (except for being UHF) I decided it would fit the bill. My initial impressions of the radio were biased by the fact that I already had a very good experience using the Alinco DJ-596 (HAM VHF/UHF Multi-band) Hand held Transceiver. The build quality and functionality are of the same standard. The DJ-446 just doesn’t have quite so many features!

I’ve owned this Midland Alan 42 Multi Hand Held for about six months now. I bought it to use on my motorbike (believe it or not). The radio comes in a kit: CB Radio, battery holder for 6 AA Alkaline (1.5V batteries), battery holder for 8 AA Rechargeable (1.2V batteries), cigarette lighter adaptor, carry case, a rubber duck style aerial, and a battery charger. I installed a cigarette lighter adaptor socket on the bike and a truck style wing mirror mount for a CB aerial on my rear pannier rack. I bought a motorcycle PTT microphone and earpice kit and voila – instant bike CB!

I have owned my Midland Alan 48 Excel Multi for about a year now. It has been setup as a homebase radio attached to a Solarcon A99 (Antron 99). I work from home a lot and I like to have the CB radio on in the background while I work.

The initial setup of the radio was very simple. You don’t really need to look at the instructions to use the radio on the UK 40 right out of the box. Just unpack, plug in, and check SWR.

The Dials