BaoFeng BF-888S Two Way Radio + Genuine Zastone USB Programming Cable £12.74 Sold by Meisort and Fulfilled by Amazon (£16.73 non-Prime)

Would these be any good for a tiad trip

As with all walkie talkies posted on here. You need an Ofcom license.

Wings18

As with all walkie talkies posted on here. You need an Ofcom license.

If you did not buy or have a licence how would they catch you? Had my original pair of baofeng radios for 3 years now, taken them on holidays and to many events, never worried about getting caught or using them, when was the last time a private individual got caught by ofcom using one?.

licenses are free if done online or £20 by post
ofcom.org.uk/man…nfo

POWYSWALES

If you did not buy or have a licence how would they catch you? Had my … If you did not buy or have a licence how would they catch you? Had my original pair of baofeng radios for 3 years now, taken them on holidays and to many events, never worried about getting caught or using them, when was the last time a private individual got caught by ofcom using one?.Read lessRead more

They can scan using a spectrum analyser apparently it's up to £10k per radio if caught.

paul124

licenses are free if done online or £20 by … licenses are free if done online or £20 by posthttps://www.ofcom.org.uk/manage-your-licence/radiocommunication-licences/amateur-radio/amateur-radio-infoRead lessRead more

I believe it depends on the frequencies however you can buy a cable and reprogram these to legal frequencies

​no thats only to get your call sign, you have to pass exams. which some clubs charge for or have to become paid member who will then get you ready to sit the exam. then you have to pay exam fees, which is about £30 per exam, so about £90 and whatever the clubs charge. So not free.

or pay £75 for light license and get to use 15 channels.

barrel24

They can scan using a spectrum analyser apparently it's up to £10k per … They can scan using a spectrum analyser apparently it's up to £10k per radio if caught.Read lessRead more

Are they sat in those magical TV licence vans too?!

barrel24

I believe it depends on the frequencies however you can buy a cable and … I believe it depends on the frequencies however you can buy a cable and reprogram these to legal frequencies Read lessRead more

​all of the frequencies are legal with the right license.

​actually, you can buy radio detection finders. Takes 2 unites to triangulate a fix.

CDR

Are they sat in those magical TV licence vans too?!

No I have one in the back of my van as I work in the mobile phone network. Regularly we have to refer to ofcom as items such as these radios, signal jammers. Signal boosters etc interfere with the mobile signal. Ofcom then come out and scan along side us and pinpoint the source.

northwales

​all of the frequencies are legal with the right license.

I meant licence free frequencies. But thankyou

barrel24

No I have one in the back of my van as I work in the mobile phone … No I have one in the back of my van as I work in the mobile phone network. Regularly we have to refer to ofcom as items such as these radios, signal jammers. Signal boosters etc interfere with the mobile signal. Ofcom then come out and scan along side us and pinpoint the source.Read lessRead more

This is why you use a repeater and broadcast to it from the internet muahahahaha then they only find the radio... not the user we used to do pirate radio this way. Some chavs would go put up a transmitter on the top of some highrise block, hook it up to a point to point wifi link, the other end of the wifi link would use some disposable internet connection or some public wifi and we would use t0r to stream to it from the comfort of our homes.

Know tons of people who did this and not one of them got caught. The transmitters got seized occasionally but nobody got busted.

Of course don't do this. It's just for "educational information" I understand the need for licensing however, and using the appropriate frequencies in the proper manner. But I also think Ofcom is just a money maker and also unfairly hands out spectrum allocation to the big boys and ignores the small fish. This is why public radio more or less doesn't exist and why BBC eats up a huge amount of the FM spectrum.

Oh and you do not need a license to listen. Only to broadcast.

daskapital

But I also think Ofcom is just a money maker

According to their report they made £95,000 in 2014/15 and lost £860,000 in 2015/16 - it's a government backed regulator, not a for-profit business.

They did 3,783 investigations last year resulting in 66 fixed penalty notices and 19 prosecutions.

Source: ofcom.org.uk/__d…pdf

They've got a monitoring station at Baldock and remote receivers all over the country. The guy in charge taught me morse 40 years ago

ofcom.org.uk/__d…pdf

In order to use radios like this and not have a license. They also have to operate at 0.5 watts. These radios don't. It's not just about the frequency.

These radios are brilliant, the battery lasts for ages and they are well made. As mentioned you risk getting into trouble or more importantly causing interference to other users if you do not program them to operate on the 446 frequencies..LISTED HERE

You can use free software called "CHIRP" to easily program them with the supplied cable & set to low power etc, while they aren't legal as they have a removable antenna etc I have never heard of anyone getting into bother using them.

If you like playing with radios then you could get your Foundation licence at a weekend course with your local Amateur Radio club, my daughter passed the test easily when she was only 11 & this entitles her to use nearly all the amateur bands giving the possibility of world wide radio contacts.

Maybe someone can help me here. I had a couple of binatone walkies that we used to use on the slopes but we lost one and these look like an incredible price. Do they have a similar range as the yellow £40 binatones? I'm not too worried about offcom chasing me down the slopes at 40mph but can I change the frequency to something allowed without any need to register/ get a licence. Also, why do they make them with the wrong frequency? Will these pick up police and air traffic frequencies or just mess with mobiles? Are these frequencies legit in China but blocked over here?

joeyjo

Maybe someone can help me here. I had a couple of binatone walkies that … Maybe someone can help me here. I had a couple of binatone walkies that we used to use on the slopes but we lost one and these look like an incredible price. Do they have a similar range as the yellow £40 binatones? I'm not too worried about offcom chasing me down the slopes at 40mph but can I change the frequency to something allowed without any need to register/ get a licence. Also, why do they make them with the wrong frequency? Will these pick up police and air traffic frequencies or just mess with mobiles? Are these frequencies legit in China but blocked over here?Read lessRead more

I have the Binatone 1100 and the range of the baofang is about half a mile more in most circumstances.
Your Binatone will have been on the PMR frequencies which you don't need a licence for and yes you can change these radios to them frequencies. But you can guarantee 80% of these radios are being used on the frequencies they come set to, many businesses included are using them as they come without licences, most emergency services now have gone digital using mobile phone networks. It's more maritime and coast guards etc that are still using 2 way radios and these radios are well away from them frequencies, the only people you may happen to annoy is the local night club bouncers who are using them for there security or the local factory that are using them to communicate with there forklift truck drivers etc. Most of these local businesses can not report you to ofcom for interference to them as they are also unlicensed anyway. You have probably got more chance of winning the lottery than you have of ofcom prosecuting you for being on these frequencies, here are the frequencies they come pre set to.


CH1 462.125 CTCSS 69.3
CH2 462.225
CH3 462.325
CH4 462.425 CTCSS 103.5
CH5 462.525 CTCSS 114.8
CH6 462.625 CTCSS 127.3
CH7 462.725 CTCSS 136.5
CH8 462.825 CTCSS 162.2
CH9 462.925 DCS 025
CH10 463.025 DCS 032
CH11 463.125 DCS 125
CH12 463.225 DCS 331
CH13 463.525 DCS 023
CH14 450.225
CH15 469.945 CTCSS 203.5
CH16 469.950 CTCSS 203.5

These are the licence free PMR frequencies

1 446.00625
2 446.01875
3 446.03125
4 446.04375
5 446.05625
6 446.06875
7 446.08125
8 446.09375

See also the twin pack if you don't need the cable hotukdeals.com/dea…814

Thanks for that and thanks for the link - I almost mistakenly bought 1 instead of 2!

One other question if you don't mind - I was thinking about letting the kids play with these in the house but I read some reviews on amazon about weirdo's scaring the kids since it's an 'open' frequency that they use. Would this be the case with these if any weirdos live within a couple of miles of me?

joeyjo

Thanks for that and thanks for the link - I almost mistakenly bought 1 … Thanks for that and thanks for the link - I almost mistakenly bought 1 instead of 2!One other question if you don't mind - I was thinking about letting the kids play with these in the house but I read some reviews on amazon about weirdo's scaring the kids since it's an 'open' frequency that they use. Would this be the case with these if any weirdos live within a couple of miles of me?Read lessRead more

You are more likely to find other uses on the PMR frequencies that on these but yes there is that possibility, I would not allow them to use the baofang as there could be a local business using them, were you could use common sense and be fair move to another channel your children may not, think of the baofang radios as more professional and PMR such as Binatone radios as a free for all, another option if they are very young is get them toy one from Argos etc which only go about 50 yds. argos.co.uk/pro…686