Since it is a good idea to be able to radio with family members, who don’t have a amateur radio licence, I bought PMR radios. The choice was between “DeTeWe Outdoor 8000” and “Motorola T82”. As the title hints I chose latter one.

Introduction: What is PMR?

PMR (precisely PMR446) stands for Private Mobile Radio on the Frequency 446MHz. It is a service with general licence, meaning you don’t need to be an amateur radio operator to use it. Everybody can use PMR446 free of charge.

Quick Facts:

  • General licence (usable by anybody)
  • Frequency starting at 446MHz
  • Modulation: Narrow FM (NFM)
  • Channel Spacing: 12.5kHz
Channel Frequency (MHz)
1 446.00625
2 446.01875
3 446.03125
4 446.04375
5 446.05625
6 446.06875
7 446.08125
8 446.09375
9 446.10625
10 446.11875
11 446.13125
12 446.14375
13 446.15625
14 446.16875
15 446.18125
16 446.19375

For more Info see PMR446 (Wikipedia).

Unlocking channels 9-16

To unlock the channels 9 to 16 you need to do following two steps (taken from the manual):

1. Press [Menu] until the channel number starts to flash.
2. Press and hold down [+] and [-] simultaneously for 3 seconds 
until you hear a beep and “16 CH” is displayed briefly.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Cool “hidden” display
  • Rotation nob for volume
  • Vibration
  • Torch inbuilt
  • IPx2 (dripping water at 15° angle)

Cons:

  • Beeps at bootup
  • 2,5mm stereo jack (ixtn4011a): Mono headphone with mic

Why did I choose this model over the DeTeWe? To be honest, for design reasons. I didn’t get a chance to compare the two side by side yet.

Further reading