IP radio

[Southwales]

Have just downloaded the Zello app and it works great, bonus is not needing a licence so can start talking straight away.

[Southwales]

Hi, what network radio would anyone recommend and why? I was told this one was a good buy from Moonraker https://www.moonraker.eu/inrico-t320-4g ... -radio-poc

[G4RMT]

Based on the comments on the radios I have read - it really comes down to one thing. Screen size. Typing on small screens is a pain - so think about your phone. How easy is it to normal texting on your phone? If like me, you have chunky fingers I make spelling mistakes, and on my iPhone it took a while to get the various groups in, typing letter for letter and repairing the typos.

For me - that's what I look for. The smallest radio with the biggest screen. As they all run the same software, the usual "how easy is it" questions don't work. Power and antennas are largely irrelevant. So something the right size for you is key. Nobody seems to complain about battery life. I think USB charging can be a bit of a pain - so a drop in charger is pretty handy. Other than that - I doubt the differences are much more than cosmetic.

[m0lsx]

Hi, what network radio would anyone recommend and why? I was told this one was a good buy from Moonraker https://www.moonraker.eu/inrico-t320-4g ... -radio-poc

Yes it is certainly a decent buy price wise & the Inrico's are certainly popular & I like mine. But only having had mine for only a few weeks & it being a slightly different model, I am not sure I would go beyond saying more than that.

[Darkstar]

[quote="Southwales"]Have just downloaded the Zello app and it works great, bonus is not needing a licence so can start talking straight away.


Why not get your foundtion license and get access to all ham freqs? Instead of playing 'let's pretend' on VOIP.It's not rocket science. These apps are really going to kill amatuer radio along with DMR. Because if numbers drop any more ofcom will take the band allocations away and saell them off. Maybe some amatuers don't care, but i for one do and feel quite strongly about this.

[brian-w]

........ Why not get your foundtion license and get access to all ham freqs? Instead of playing 'let's pretend' on VOIP.It's not rocket science. These apps are really going to kill amatuer radio along with DMR. Because if numbers drop any more ofcom will take the band allocations away and saell them off. Maybe some amatuers don't care, but i for one do and feel quite strongly about this.

Whilst I don't feel as strongly about this as Darkstar, nonetheless each user that chooses to run with Network Radios, is one less user on conventional amateur modes.

There are enough people complaining about the lack of activity as it is. Network Radio maybe a good tool for communicating with each other, but it just dilutes the pool of operators, leading to more complaints of 'why bother with amateur radio - there's never anyone to talk to'.

Eric - G6FGY

[m0lsx]

Whilst I don't feel as strongly about this as Darkstar, nonetheless each user that chooses to run with Network Radios, is one less user on conventional amateur modes.

There are enough people complaining about the lack of activity as it is. Network Radio maybe a good tool for communicating with each other, but it just dilutes the pool of operators, leading to more complaints of 'why bother with amateur radio - there's never anyone to talk to'.

Eric - G6FGY

I now occasionally use Network Radio in the same way that I USE to use 2 FM, many years ago.
I cannot remember the last time I even bothered to put a 2 meter FM radio in my car unless it was for a long journey & even then I often do not bother as no one uses simplex. And it's the general standards on the repeaters that leaves me feeling annoyed & avoiding the band.
It is the general poor conduct & the lack of intelligent QSO's on 2 FM repeaters & the total lack of simplex FM activity, unless a lift is on that stops me from using the band & before anyone suggests I go & use it & help to change that.
Using a band does not change anything, it does not stop half wits talking to each other for hours on end base station to base station using 25, 50 watts or more, into a collinear antenna, when I live further away from the repeaters than them & can easily gain access using a 5 watt handheld.
It basic poor conduct to use a repeater when every station could work each other simplex & with ease using foundation level power. And the reason these idiots were regularly using higher power? some one was allegedly keying the mike up on them. So they used even worse conduct to clutter the band up even more & also desensitise the radios of others wanting to use FM simplex in the area.
I have the right to choose what bands I use & which I choose not to use & 2 FM I choose not to use because of the idiots.
If more people used 2FM simplex , I would the band more, but in reality whilst the repeaters remain, so will the bands poor reputation.

[G4RMT]

I've read a lot on those for and against, but Ham Radio is a multi-faceted hobby. Most people primarily use it to communicate - and normally that's a two person scenario. A few like to just experiment in isolation - those who perhaps like to tinker with antennas and if their new gizmo gets them more signal from a distant repeater, that's what gives them pleasure. for some, it's the skill in tuning your hearing so you and nobody else can pick out the faint signal and identify it on an HF band somewhere. Others use Ham radio to do something else - like the folk who like being in RAYNET. Others want to to fill time. People who are perhaps lonely or housebound and making new contacts is their aim. I don't see this new strand of ham radio as being much different, but it's world wide, and a ham can talk to a non-ham, which means linking families. The very things that make PMR446 attractive - no real rules and plenty of activity.

Is there a difference between buying a £20 Baofeng and Zello? Hello gives you more contacts by a factor of thousands or more. Clearly there will be idiots, but I see it co-habiting with FM and digital ordinary radios.

[m0lsx]

It is also worth noting that we never hear people talking about 137 khz or 10Ghz saying that things like network radio is going to ruin it, as it's taking users away from the hobby. So why say it about 2 & 70?
I do not know about anyone else but there are several amateur radio bands, including 1.8 MHz & 10 MHz that I have NEVER ventured onto & I do not think my non use of those bands has spoilt anyone elses hobby.
We have so many bands available, that I really do not understand why anyone would say that people replacing one or two bands that have nothing for them, with another form of comms is going to kill the hobby.

[m0lsx]

I have just seen this on the Network Radios FB page.



Togther with these comments..

Zello, Echolink and hamsphere loaded up and working. But no handheld mic for Echolink and hamsphere.

The mic for these radios are tragic, audio is one of the worst I’ve experienced.

I think I am correct in saying it's a SenHaiX H60?