Lots of old Zycomm stuff in there. You could probably make a whole video on the history of Zycomm. You still see their vans knocking about around Derby all the time. I bet Ian G3ZYC the founder of Zycomm has a few stories to tell. I've never met him myself but I know a few who have and he sounds like a top bloke.
I worked for Zycomm for a while, it was a fun place. I believe it’s very different now. I’m still in contact with most of them. Ian ZYC started at Lowes and started Zycomm in a small shop in Ripley, their current location is huge in comparison.
There is slight correction on naming in the US. SMR = Specialized Mobile Radio which was the early analog and Nextel trunk systems at 850 MHz. The US equivalent to PMR in the UK is called LMR = Land Mobile Radio. This includes all services at VHF Lowband, Highband, and UHF including PD,FD, business
Hi mark, I remember converting a pye Olympic from met police low band rig to 4m , we had loads of them as just changed the Low band main set system to high band interim scheme running 250w burndept be527 , then 5 site quasi system on 152mhz output and 143mhz i/p . Regards mark g8rde ex met police comms eng
I go back to the early days of TWO WAY RADIO when Ian G3ZYC was selling reconditioned Pye radio's in the Exchange and Mart. O those far off happy days. Thanks for the GREAT video Lewis. 73's
@Ringway Manchester we pronouce it as PMRrrrrrr here in Norfolk because its commonly used as FARrrrrrrM Radio. I've got really hooked on these radios, looking to find the ones that will reprogram on to 70, 144, 430 on ebay but I end up going down rabbit holes so this video was perfectly timed. I'm still looking for videos about the ROC use of PMR radio 80Mhz, have you had much luck?, your much better at digging gems of information on these subjects then I am because I'm so easily side tracked. Keep up the great work you do on this channel.
Can you share or let me know where you had the images/ads for the Zycomm FM9000? My dad had one for many years when working for the local authority, I'd love to show him. I remember the build of the unit so vividly, built like a brick s**t house, seriously. The channel selector and Watt toggle. Cheers
Wow that's rare to see/hear about now, most don't even have radios in their car now but mobile phone with a data connection to base... I bet if you've had you license for like ever it would have been 50watt AM radios on low band
Yes, that might be good! Sadly not many radios available for lowband vhf being made available for "cheap" compared to highband vhf and uhf, sadly there is very little made for the ham users too however the past 10 years has seen a couple of radios with 4m built in but generally people still using ex-pmr and transverters. Many ham radios can be unlocked to tx on 4m but the problem is the band pass filters and the surrounding components are not designed to work out of band and can eventually damage the radio as you probably already know :)
What would be great for a ‘natter band’ is an equivalent of GMRS as they have in the States. I don’t mind paying for a licence on an online form, getting a call sign, and being able to use heftier equipment than simple 446 everyday stuff, home to every Walker, hiker, skier, and B&Q staff member in the area... local repeaters, mobile units... basically something with a community feel but less ‘radio enthusiast-based’ than HAM. Oh, and everyone in the immediate family comes under the licence too! I wish there was something like that in the U.K., and if there is, then anyone reading this, please let me know!
Interesting info. I'm wondering if OFCOM in the UK, may in the future deregulate parts of the spectrum (analog) for non licenced use? It's a possibility!
NXDN is Icom and Kenwood. The Icom version is called IDAS. Kenwood use the Nexedge brand for NXDN and dPMR (which are different protocols) which is probably where the confusion came in.
Hi Lewis, another great video, I did notice in for if your pics that is a low band folded dipole in horizontal polarisation, I wondered who used that set up . Regards 73s de mark g8rde
@@6643bear If for paging it would most likely be used to communicate with clocks that use gps time to sync them together precisely. Often used in Schools and Hospitals.
While government and some large or specialized businesses still use 2way radios but, most small or medium businesses now use Cellphones as they are global and even have a unit to unit option. I worked for two-way shops in the past and most are now gone, smaller and doing other electronics jobs. You might go visit one and chat. Also, they often have used equipment for sale.
