Last weekend I learnt something new about a piece of equipment I have had for a number of years now, the Icom IC-R3. One of my favourite achievements over the years has long been “teaching old equipment new tricks”. For example, in the old days I discovered that my Kenwood TH-75E could be expanded to allow some ‘out of band’ reception from the 2 metre and 70 centimetre amateur bands. Although the need has diminished over time since amateur transceivers nowadays come with expanded receiving coverage as standard.

Perfect 'Lockwheeling' Territory for PMR446 sets

David Robinson takes a look at using CB and PMR-446 Radio on the Canals in the UK.

After 30+ years’ experience of summer holidays spent on various parts of the English canals, I thought that others might find my experiences of interest regarding the usefulness of 11M CB and PMR446 on the canals network.

Our very first canal holiday convinced me that there was a real need for both long and short range portable/mobile communications between skipper and crew. 

If you have been online recently looking at the radio category on the popular auction website eBay then you have probably seen a large number of Chinese sellers selling radio communication products at incredibly cheap prices. Some pieces of gear and well known brand names in the communication industry such as Icom and Yaesu but there is a growing number of unfamiliar names to the radio scene. Jington, Puxing, Wouxun, Linton and Weierwei and Abell may not yet be “household” names but they are doing their best to get the western radio amateur interested in their products. So are these two way radios junk or do they compete with the big names? At the lower prices they are sold for on eBay you could be forgiven for dismissing them as junk but as the following article proves, that is not necessarily the case and they may also appeal to those on a limited budget and just starting off on the air.

Mark, Pantenneman looks into the possibility of using Chinese PMR Handhelds for a UHF CB style service.

As noted in previous reviews, the availability of Chinese imported handsets is alarmingly easy in the age of online buying from the likes of eBay. Normally, these handsets are bought for the use of a cheap handheld rig to use on the 2m / 70cm amateur radio bands, in comparison to the likes of the Yaesu FT-60, Kenwood TH-F71E and the like. And as noted before, they are alarmingly good value for money in the likes of the Puxing PX777 Plus reviewed here. Please note that this review is not of an overly scientific or technical basis, they were tested in real life conditions and not in some library with a bunch of computers and alleged theory.

John Griffiths discovers a whole new world of listening out there with his Grundig Satellit 800 HF radio. He has kindly wrote the following article to share has findings with the readers of Transmission1. He is happy to receive your comments and has provided his email address at the end of this article. Read on and find out about easily receiveable data modes on HF….
Apart from its use as a mid range receiver for short wave listening, the venerable Grundig Sat800 has just proven its worth in an area that I am happy to admit I was aware of but knew very little about; It all seemed too technical for me! Data modes – or to put it another way, the mysterious world of RTTY, FAX, WEFAX and NAVTEX.