Having been searching the Internet this afternoon for the instructions to disassemble my Sirio magmount (which I did find on Charlie Tango as I remembered they were there) I was distracted by some interesting news from Delboy which he referenced on the Charlie Tango forum, digging deeper, by following a link to his blog, he revealed that on the 21st of this month PMR446 becomes 16 channels rather than 8, it makes sense in cities where the band can get quite congested but here in this part of North Yorkshire is not that busy.
Though I don't use PMR446 as much as I used to owing to spending more time on 2-metres, I still think 16 channels is a sensible solution, though again I stand by that in small towns it doesn't get used all that often.
Obviously the same technical requirements remain, 500mW ERP, hand portable, and existing equipment would clearly still be approved for use for the life of the product provided it's not modified, I've yet to see many radios on the market or announced that would work on all 16 channels out of the box, though I suspect most people will just buy and programme Baofeng BF-888s for PMR446, something which I advise against doing, as these radios are meant for licensed use only (usually the 70cm band for duly-licensed Amateurs).
Though I most likely won't be on PMR446 on this historic day, I may have a listen if I have time on that day to see if anything changes (though here in this part of North Yorkshire this could be unlikely)
On another note there is supposed to be a CB net in June to celebrate the anniversary of the UK getting AM and SSB on 11-metres, I have failed to take part in it thus far but should be able to this year, new car, no clutch problems (one hopes).
73 de 2E0EIJ/26CT730
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