Good value PMR446

watty

I got these before in Blue
Same power as any other legal PMR446
All the features (CTSS, VOX etc)

On Thursday 29th Nov 2007.

http://www.lidl.ie/ie/home.nsf/pages/c.o.20071129.p.WalkieTalkies

29.99 Euro per pair.


No licence required.
5km range on open fields and 200m in built up area.

Taildragon

Watty

Are these the ones that are easy to move to 70cms?

watty

Why whould you do that instead of getting a 4W to 6W handheld that can take a external aerial?

I've no idea how easy it is to modify.

I have an Alinco DJV5 for 2m/70cm FM, up to 5W on good day, and an FT817ND that does all modes and bands 1.8Mhz to 440MHz except 60m channels and 4m band with a real 5W.

If you have a licence you can get cheap single band Hong Kong/Chinese 2m or 70cm 5W radio on eBay, though I'd rather save and get a better radio from Icom (E90, E91), Kenwood (THD series) or Yaesu (VX series) that has maybe 100kHz to 1300MHz RX also.

Taildragon

watty

Thanks for the reply.

watty wrote: »

Why whould you do that instead of getting a 4W to 6W handheld that can take a external aerial?

Em, because it's a way to get someone QRV on 70 cms for €15?

I'd take it as a given that anybody contemplating hacking around with SMD components and a soldering station is capable of handling the task of adding an antenna connector.

I've no idea how easy it is to modify.

OK, thanks watty

I have an Alinco DJV5 for 2m/70cm FM, up to 5W on good day, and an FT817ND that does all modes and bands 1.8Mhz to 440MHz except 60m channels and 4m band with a real 5W.

If you have a licence you can get cheap single band Hong Kong/Chinese 2m or 70cm 5W radio on eBay, though I'd rather save and get a better radio from Icom (E90, E91), Kenwood (THD series) or Yaesu (VX series) that has maybe 100kHz to 1300MHz RX also.

All good stuff Mike, my take on what constitutes hobby radio is obviously very different to yours.

To anybody who might contemplate trying this, here are some links. Note that I have no idea (yet) whether the Lidl radios have the Telcom type board inside.

http://home.cbkn.dk/TE157/
http://www.delboyenterprises.dsl.pipex.com/446_2003/telcom_te150_mods.htm
http://oh3tr.ele.tut.fi/~ftp/modifications/telcom/te150/

watty

I'm certainly into modding, building etc.. I'd have just thought a 500mW FM only 8 ch only radio was hardly worth the effort. I've modded car Mount PMRs for 70cm & 2m.

I'll have a look at what is inside mine.

There are lots in Tyrellstown Lidl still and the pair has a base charger too for under €30

Unless you have a local 70cm repeater it can access your are getting no advantage out of the effort of modding it.

I'll post up my recent mod to convert a cheap 27Mhz SWR meter for 144Mhz to 1.2Ghz. (I needed to test some 900MHz aerials)

Taildragon

Quick update on this one. The mod to 70 cms wouldn't result in any useful frequencies, so it was a nice idea, but as Watty said, not worth the effort in this case. They are very nice feature-rich radios though! Guess what my nephew is getting for christmas ?