PMR 446
A licence-free short-range UHF radio system.
PMR446 is designed for ease of use - simply buy the radios and use them - no licence is required, no forms to complete, no knowledge to set them up.
The main limitations of this system are that the radios are limited to portables (walkie-talkie type), can not be connected to an external antenna, and are limited to 500mW output.
Typically these limitations give a maximum range of about 3 miles in the open and possibly half a mile in a built-up area, although as with any type of radio it is impossible to guarantee any range because much depends upon local conditions.
A wide range of microphones, earpieces, headsets etc. are available to go with these radios - for use by security, on motorbikes etc.
Unfortunately there are many cheaper versions of these radios available, from places such as Argos, which although they claim the same specifications are often disappointing when used. We have compared "cheap" radios from Goodmans with others we stock and under the same conditions found the range to be only a third of the better radios!!
In addition, many of the cheaper radios use non-standard fittings for microphones - so you often find many of the accessories from other manufactures will not fit, so at best you are limited to the range that they produce for their own model.
All our popular radios, from Alan and Cobra, have standard accessory sockets which will accept a wide range of microphones and accessories.