This is somewhat of a specialist radio, due to its use of the microwave bands namely 1.2Ghz.
This radio has been retained by the Cardiff group and is one of two available, other groups may have similar 1.2ghz capability.
This radio is utilised for deployment into difficult comms areas and in the past was used (Prior to fixed comms installation) in the Severn tunnel where range was unimportant but reliability was, and was the only reliable comms resource to effectively work, hence our retention.
A recent enquiry from SWFRS has brought these radio’s out of the closet for potential deployment in confined locations with difficult comms requirements.
This particular radio can be used for Analogue, D-star Digital and Slow Data (Old dial up speeds, for those that remember). It was a unique and novel radio when released, but due to its short range (a few miles line of sight) it was unfavoured by radio amateurs so was soon discontinued. Whilst a relic of amateur radio is still a very good resource for emergency comms. As you can imagine with the quick demise of this radio it has had very little use. To increase its capabilities, we can add mast-head amplifiers to increase its operating range.
Whilst this radio is underused we can with little funding increase it’s ability to be very reliable with experimentation using specialist antenna configurations such as helical beam antennas or slot beam antennas, these can help with the losses incurred at such high frequencies.