Practical Airsoft Recommends:
Black Hawk Down (Two Disc Set) [2002]
Black Hawk Down (VHS/PAL UK Video)
Black Hawk Down (Hans Zimmer soundrack Audio CD)
Black Hawk Down (Book)
Fuji Finepix A204 digital camera
Cobra Microtalk 110 PMR446 2-way radio
Radio Communications and Airsoft. Part 1.
(Or, keeping your tactics quiet!)
There's no doubt about it - if you shout to a team mate in an Airsoft skirmish game, you're inviting the other side to shoot at you, and you don't want that, now, do you?
Which is where radios come into their own. You can quietly tell your mates where that damn sniper is, without pointing, yelling, or otherwise letting him know that you're zeroing in on him, and all your team mates will hear, is your quite voice in their ears. All you need is a two-way radio.
Thing is, you can't just use any old two-way radio. Nooo, Sir. Use the wrong one, and, if caught by the government's Radiocommunications Agency, you WILL get a criminal record, fine, and possibly get 'banged up'. Believe you me, you will, one day, get caught. They're rather good at their job, having had masses of practice since the early days of illegal CB in the UK..
So how the hell can you get a legal radio?
Simple. There are three ways. Use CB radio (needs a licence, crowded channels, open to massive abuse), buy a Short Range Business Radio licence from the government (discontinued recently), and a few radios for it (expensive, takes time), or go to your local electronics shop may just have some of the new legal licence-exempt PMR446 radios!
Regarding the Short Range Business Radio (SRBR) service that I just mentioned. SRBR is permitted (licence exempt from September 1999) on the UK mainland only, on the following frequencies: Channel 1 - 461.2625MHz, Channel 2 - 461.4750MHz, and Channel 3 - 461.4875MHz. there's no external antenna, obligatory CTCSS (more on this a little later), and 0.5 Watts out, maximum, from the radio. Currently, SRBR Radios can only be supplied to existing License holders, and no new licenses are being issued. SRBR at 461 MHz was always an interim allocation, and details included in the SRBR licence informed licence holders that the frequencies would be replaced by the new european wide (PMR446) allocation in due course. This has now been confirmed, and SRBR is due to cease on 31st December 2003 (reference an original DTI press release stated 31/12/2000). Additionally, the £30 licence fee was removed from September 1999, to fall in line with the licence exempt PMR446 service. This means that unles you possess an existing licence to use the service, you cannot use the equipment legally, and, in any event, all SRBR kit must not be used after the end of 2003. Bummer, eh?
How come there's a new licence exempt radio system that everyone can use?
Easy, although a little convoluted.
In the United States, there's something called FRS, the "Family Radio Service". This uses low-power two-way radio, to bring licence-exempt radio communications to the masses. However, as the frequencies that these use conflict with existing UK radio frequency allocations, they can't be used over here. Stuffed again.
Or rather, we were, until the European Union, in one of their brighter, and more sensible acts, introduced something called "Easywave", known to us in the UK as "PMR446".
What's this 446 thing, then?
446 is an FM-only system which, in 1999, replaced the UK's SRBR (Short Range Business Radio) licensing system. Intended for short range (under two miles, typically) radio communications, using a combination of eight pre-set channels, CTCSS (Continuous Tone Coded Squelch System) and / or DCS (Digitally Coded Squelch). Using eight channels, it allows licence-free (or 'licence exempt') short-range radio communications.
Hang on, a moment. I've heard that there's over a hundred channels on 446!
Wrong. There are eight. Some radio manufacturers are merely being a little creative with the actual situation, that's all. By using a combination of the eight channels, and two tone squelch systems, you can simulate the appearance of a lot more channels, and this is what it appears that they're doing.
The channels for PMR446 are as follows:
Channel 1 - 446.00625 MHz
Channel 2 - 446.01875 MHz
Channel 3 - 446.03125 MHz
Channel 4 - 446.04375 MHz
Channel 5 - 446.05625 MHz
Channel 6 - 446.06875 MHz
Channel 7 - 446.08125 MHz
Channel 8 - 446.09375 MHz
The more astute or knowledgeable amongst you might notice something about these channels. Yup, they're at 6.25 kHz spacing. This was a deliberate act, thus ensuring that you couldn't perform simple home-brew modifications to existing radio equipment, to adapt them to the new channels. Sneaky, huh?
There are a couple of restrictions on the equipment, of course. You can only use the radios made for 446 (the so-called 'type approved' system) as made by the manufacturers; you can't add external aerials for better range, you can't use signal boosters (or 'amplifiers'), to increase the range, and you can only use the accessories made for each radio. Aside from this, they're free for you to buy and use, no licence required!
Accessories?
Yeah. Plug-in VOX headsets, speaker/microphones, external power leads and chargers, that sort of thing.
CTCSS? DCS? Do what? Talk English!
Sorry. What this means, is that by adding a sub-audible tone (that's a sound that's lower or higher in frequency than the human ear can detect, like a dog whistle) to your transmission, you can ensure that only your transmission will open the 'squelch' of another radio set to the same tone.
This works only in the FM mode, as a squelch is a device used to mute the sound of static. Static is the sound you hear on, say, the long or medium wave, when you aren't tuned to a radio station. On FM, it's amplified, due to the method used to transmit voice communications - in other words, it's louder.
By coding the squelch on your radio to only 'open' with a valid CTCSS or DCS tone, you can stop other transmissions that you don't want to hear. The downside is that, as this is not a secure method of transmission, all the opposition need do, is turn off their CTCSS and DCS, and just nip around the eight channels, until they hear you or your mates.
Which is where voice encryption, or scrambling, comes in.
Scrambling? Coo-ool!
Not really. Currently, there is only one legal way to do this on UK 446 radios, and this is called 'voice inversion'. It's far from perfect, is dead easy to defeat with the right equipment and, as the government has approved it, (for the conspiracy theorists out there!) you can bet your bottom dollar they can, if they want to (and were bored enough to, as well), listen in just like that.
Oh, Nuts. So what use is it to me, then?
Quite a bit, actually.
While the government can listen to you (if they are bored enough to bother), only a similarly-equipped radio can do so as well. And there's only one such radio for 446 equipped to do this, right now (see below).
OK, clever clogs - how does this 'voice inversion' work, then?
Voice inversion works like this: It swaps the high tones of your voice, with the low tones of your voice, and so on, to produce a vocal waveform that mirrors your normal voice. All this is done instantly by the radio, and transmitted to any other radio in range. The trick is, the resulting sound, on a radio that is not equipped to decipher this stuff, sounds really weird, and is similar to listening to someone talking underwater, for want of a better explanation. The only way to decode, if you will, this noise, is for the intended recipient of the transmission, to have an identically-equipped radio.
OK, now the background is done, onto the toys...
Many manufacturers are now starting to sell products originally designed for the American Family Radio Service, which has now been dedesigned for use with the PMR446 system in the UK.
On average, single handsets retail around the £100 mark, although one or two manufacturers supply two for a similar price, however, the quality of these paired units will not, normally, be as good as single units. You pay your money, and take your choice, as the saying goes!
As with all things, most of these radios can be fitted with (optional) extras, or 'accessories'.
These include VOX headsets, or Voice Operated transmission headsets. These have dubious value in game environments, as the last thing you need to hear are the not-so-muffled curses of someone in your team getting hit, falling over, or generally becoming heaved off at the lack of enemy targets!
Much better are the boom mike headsets, with no VOX at all. Just listen, until you need to transmit, then hit the PTT (Press to transmit) button, and away you go.
Oh, by the way, most of these radios accept normal 'AAA' or 'AA' type batteries, so, if you do get some, get a fair few spare batteries (in water and moisture proof bags). The odds are good that when you don't have spares, you'll need them!
Now, rather than list ALL the various PMR446 radios that are available, I've found a website that is kept up to date on the subject; you can find it here. His main PMR446 page is here.
I've also looked around the web within the UK, and found these on-line retailers with reasonably good deals. Note that I have NOTHING whatsoever to do with these retailers, nor am I getting anything from them for noting these details. They're here for information only. Check their websites for their terms and conditions, and their current prices.
Key to Symbols:
|
| Yaesu VX-246 | |||
 |
        
| Other features:
|
|
| Multicom Pro | |||
 |
    |
Other features:
|
|
| Motorola t6222 (replaces the TA200 and TA288 series) | |||
 |
  |
Other features:
|
|
| Cobra Microtalk 220 (Available from this site in association with Amazon.co.uk) |
|||
 |
|
You can buy these items now through Amazon.do.uk! |
|
| Maxon RS-446 | |||
 |
  |
Other features:
|
|
| Entel "Euro-Wave" | |||
 |
|
Other features:
|
|
You can also search Google (I did), to find more, if you like. Have fun!
A word or two of caution. The PMR446 service is not the same as the SRBR service. Do NOT, unless you already possess an SRBR licence, purchase SRBR equipment. Get the 446 gear!
You can, of course, get UK CB equipment, if you wish. The range tends to be a little better, however, again, you need a licence to transmit, which is available from, last I checked, Post Offices.
CB is, however, a poor choice, as just about anyone can listen in, whether playing the games, or not. There are still reports 'doing the rounds' in radio groups of large numbers of completely dumb idiots, who like nothing better than to either jam CB channels, or otherwise abuse verbally other users. This, therefore, is not really any use to you, In a skirmish game situation.
Additionally, in urban areas, it can get quite crowded, and retailers of this equipment are few and far between.
Personally, I'd opt for the 446 equipment, if you can.
This, then, wraps up this article. I hope that you have found it interesting, and useful.
Should you have questions about these radios, there are some useful resources on the internet, which are noted below:
The UK Radiocommunications Agency issued RA357, which introduced the PMR446 service in the UK, from Monday 19th April 1999, after a parliamentary saturatory instrument was issued.
List of CEPT member countries which have adopted PMR446. CEPT, or the body of (mostly) European countries, that share an agreement on the use of major parts of the various radio frequency bands, have signed up, in the main, to PRM446. In Europe, though, it mostly known as 'Easywave'.
Information on the 'EasyWave' legislation and agreements, can be found at the European Radiocommunications Office.
Finally, for more information on the American Family Radio Service, you can visit the American FCC web site, and download the following text file: http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Wireless/Orders/fcc96215.txt
You should also be able to find on-line stores who can sell you PMR446 radios and accessories with ease. A search on your favourite search engine should produce good results (I prefer www.google.com, as it tends, on the whole, to be much faster that other search and directory engines!). In searching, I'd suggest that you use the key words 'PMR446 UK' without, of course, the quote marks!
Good hunting!
Go to part 2 in this series...
About the author...
Roger Stenning has been a licensed Radio Amateur, call sign G1LIW, since 1985. Amateur radio is the hobby of two-way radio communications. For more information about the hobby, please go to the Radio Society of Great Britain.