AberdeenAngus
Registered user
Heh heh...... 1kW 446 anyone ?
Mitex radio
- Thread starter kwallace21
- Start date
Heh heh...... 1kW 446 anyone ?
Very true, some cheapskate taxi companies are using PMR446 illegally up and down the country.
Very true, some cheapskate taxi companies are using PMR446 illegally up and down the country and no-one bothers them.
Boon
Registered user
Just had a look at the mitex radios.............now go look at the cheap chinese h777 radios and see if you can tell them apart
angus ........if you can afford a 1kW amp at UHF frequencies then go for it
most I ever run up there is 50w (I'm allowed)
angus ........if you can afford a 1kW amp at UHF frequencies then go for it
most I ever run up there is 50w (I'm allowed)
roddy
Registered user
Bumpkin
Registered user
I use a BO external antenna kit with my Puxing. In the real world it doesn't achieve quite the range as stated by the guy who put it together. I get, depending on the lay of the land, between 1 and 3 miles @ 4W to another bike with the same kit. Around town or where the terrain is particularly challenging we get even less. I'm sure that in ideal conditions it would manage more though. However, what it provides is enough for my purposes and at less than £45 for the complete kit including mounting plate and cabling it's good value.
If I were operating in the same locality for any length of time I would probably run at low power (0.5W) but on the move run at 4W. Any annoyance I would cause would be fleeting at most, especially as usually our Tx is brief and infrequent (checking that TEC has cleared a junction, range to next fuel etc.). The reduction in output over distance is considerable so the higher output is only going to be detrimental to another PMR user in the same way as if I were closer, on 0.5W, than, or between, another user he was communicating with. In practice, as you move further away the effect of higher ERP becomes irrelevant. Yes, I know that the 0.5W ERP is there to minimise interference and create a level 'playing field' for all users. The most PMR busy environment I've ridden in so far has been the Austrian Alps, possibly the greater range of users up mountains and paragliding came into play there but despite using CTCSS tones we were getting quite a bit of cross-talk.
If I were operating in the same locality for any length of time I would probably run at low power (0.5W) but on the move run at 4W. Any annoyance I would cause would be fleeting at most, especially as usually our Tx is brief and infrequent (checking that TEC has cleared a junction, range to next fuel etc.). The reduction in output over distance is considerable so the higher output is only going to be detrimental to another PMR user in the same way as if I were closer, on 0.5W, than, or between, another user he was communicating with. In practice, as you move further away the effect of higher ERP becomes irrelevant. Yes, I know that the 0.5W ERP is there to minimise interference and create a level 'playing field' for all users. The most PMR busy environment I've ridden in so far has been the Austrian Alps, possibly the greater range of users up mountains and paragliding came into play there but despite using CTCSS tones we were getting quite a bit of cross-talk.
Boon
Registered user
length of exposed whip section ,watson,is 122mm,length of complete antenna with screw in bottom section is 143mm 1/4 wave at 446mhz
length of exposed stainless whip is 266mm ,from bottom of screw in mount to top is 283mm 1/2 wave at 446 mhz
have fun[/QUOTE
an old post from a few years back for those that want to make their own antenna
Mmmm, just had a look at those H777 chinese radios for twenty odd quid each.
Identical to the Mitex ones in every way. I suspect they are indeed the same radio , made at the same factory. Can anyone confirm.
Think I'll give them a go and connect them to my Autocom via thevAutocom Kenwood cable interface.
Cheers
Kev
Identical to the Mitex ones in every way. I suspect they are indeed the same radio , made at the same factory. Can anyone confirm.
Think I'll give them a go and connect them to my Autocom via thevAutocom Kenwood cable interface.
Cheers
Kev
Clarification
Wow, this thread confused me! So I did a little (read ‘a lot’!) of research, which I might as well pass on for anyone in a similar position:
Maplin appear to sell 2 Mitex radios in store at the moment, one being the Mitex 446 and the other being the Mitex General 5Watt. The 446 is Licence free and produces 0.5Watt to comply with regulations (but interestingly can be upgraded by Mitex to 5Watt on 449) and the General is a full 5Watt Licenced radio on 449mHz (Not 446). Both are legal for their intended use. The 446 is Licence Free and the General requires a licence (£75 for 5 years for any number of units). We have got together, called ourselves a name (like a club) and have one licence for 20 odd users, so not really an issue on price for 5Watt. Both Mitex radios are professional quality and do a very good job, but the difference between 446 and 5Watt 449 is a lot, so do not believe otherwise. We have struggled for many years with cheaper 446 units and moving to the Mitex General 449 units has solved any issues we had, it really is quite a difference in terms of clarity and distance. The Mitex units do take the Kenwood K1 Comms lead for the Autocom, so no problems there.
With regard to the H777 commented on in this post, they are not the same radio at all. I know this because I bought some before purchasing the Maplin units and there is no comparison other than they are black and look like most other hand held radios! The Mitex units are in a totally different league. Michelin and Kumho car tyres look the same, but few would doubt the quality and performance gains to be had from the Michelin’s and few would argue that the Kumho are the exact same tyre at a much cheaper price, just because they may look very similar! Generally, in life, you get what you pay for I find.
Finally, antennas, this is a difficult one for the biker. Most antennas are designed to work in the vertical. If you lay your radio down with the antenna attached, most of the signal is radiating up into the air and down into the ground which is not ideal (that said we have had much better results from a Mitex 5watt mounted horizontal than a cheap 446 mounted vertically). Using a separate antenna allows you to stow your radio where it needs to go, but still have a vertical antenna usually mounted in a much better higher position, all of which helps with distance. The next problem is where to mount an antenna on a bike and what antenna to use. You can’t easily use a Mag mount on a bike and even if you do find a bit of flat steel to mount it to, it is unlikely to have a suitable ground plane (which needs to be an area of flat steel around 12cm in every direction from the antenna base on 446 or 449 to act like a reflector). So the only real option is a GPI antenna or Ground Plane Independent antenna which are quite rare. We have all now settled on using Mitex 5Watt Radios linked to the Mitex GPI antenna, making up a small bracket to mount the antenna. The results are really good; some would say amazing. I still strongly believe you generally get what you pay for in life……. Hope this helps
Wow, this thread confused me! So I did a little (read ‘a lot’!) of research, which I might as well pass on for anyone in a similar position:
Maplin appear to sell 2 Mitex radios in store at the moment, one being the Mitex 446 and the other being the Mitex General 5Watt. The 446 is Licence free and produces 0.5Watt to comply with regulations (but interestingly can be upgraded by Mitex to 5Watt on 449) and the General is a full 5Watt Licenced radio on 449mHz (Not 446). Both are legal for their intended use. The 446 is Licence Free and the General requires a licence (£75 for 5 years for any number of units). We have got together, called ourselves a name (like a club) and have one licence for 20 odd users, so not really an issue on price for 5Watt. Both Mitex radios are professional quality and do a very good job, but the difference between 446 and 5Watt 449 is a lot, so do not believe otherwise. We have struggled for many years with cheaper 446 units and moving to the Mitex General 449 units has solved any issues we had, it really is quite a difference in terms of clarity and distance. The Mitex units do take the Kenwood K1 Comms lead for the Autocom, so no problems there.
With regard to the H777 commented on in this post, they are not the same radio at all. I know this because I bought some before purchasing the Maplin units and there is no comparison other than they are black and look like most other hand held radios! The Mitex units are in a totally different league. Michelin and Kumho car tyres look the same, but few would doubt the quality and performance gains to be had from the Michelin’s and few would argue that the Kumho are the exact same tyre at a much cheaper price, just because they may look very similar! Generally, in life, you get what you pay for I find.
Finally, antennas, this is a difficult one for the biker. Most antennas are designed to work in the vertical. If you lay your radio down with the antenna attached, most of the signal is radiating up into the air and down into the ground which is not ideal (that said we have had much better results from a Mitex 5watt mounted horizontal than a cheap 446 mounted vertically). Using a separate antenna allows you to stow your radio where it needs to go, but still have a vertical antenna usually mounted in a much better higher position, all of which helps with distance. The next problem is where to mount an antenna on a bike and what antenna to use. You can’t easily use a Mag mount on a bike and even if you do find a bit of flat steel to mount it to, it is unlikely to have a suitable ground plane (which needs to be an area of flat steel around 12cm in every direction from the antenna base on 446 or 449 to act like a reflector). So the only real option is a GPI antenna or Ground Plane Independent antenna which are quite rare. We have all now settled on using Mitex 5Watt Radios linked to the Mitex GPI antenna, making up a small bracket to mount the antenna. The results are really good; some would say amazing. I still strongly believe you generally get what you pay for in life……. Hope this helps
Renair make a very good GPI Antenna, look at this page, the 0058. I've been using one of these for years.
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