NEW President Randy III Handheld CB Radio

So President end their 40th anniversary year announcing a new handheld CB Radio.... The President Randy III

- 40 channels AM / FM
- Up/down channel selector
- Volume adjustment and ON/OFF
- Manual squelch and ASC)
- Multi-functions LCD display
- Frequencies display
- S-meter
- ANL, NB, HI-CUT filters
- Scan
- F function key
- Beep Function
- Roger Beep
- Mode switch AM / FM
- Dual watch
- Tone
- CTCSS / DCS
- Key locking
- Preset channel programmable (EMG 1 & 2)
- Eco mode
- External microphone plug
- External loudspeaker jack
- Flashlight

An interesting way to end the year for sure, and a lovely looking radio, I could certainly be tempted myself.

I'm sure many will be disappointed that with 12 new radios announced there is only one SSB radio. I would certainly have liked to see at least one more SSB radio but I guess the President McKinley will just have to do....

Let's just hope they dont make a pigs ear of it like they did with the Lincoln 2.....!

 

Something Special From President?

The coming days (possibly hours) will see the final announcement of the year from President Electronics.

President have been announcing new radios every month in this, their 40th anniversary year.

But the big question is..... Have they something special lined up for December?

With 10 AM/FM ONLY radios and only ONE SSB radio announced so far, have they kept the best until last?

Well, with the exception of the upcoming McKinley EU SSB Radio I think most of the CB radio community have been a little disappointed in the same old, same old, AM/FM radios which have been announced, so I really do hope they come up with something special this time!

Watch this space!

International Space Station School Contact 27/11/2018

A video from today's ISS contact with Ecole Primaire Jean Jaurès et Arnaud, Troyes, France.

The Space Station was at a very low angle here in the North East of England so I was pleasantly surprised that I managed to hear any signals!

Space Station Contact 27/11/2018

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Ecole Primaire Jean Jaurès et Arnaud, Troyes, France on 27 November 2018.

The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 16:28  hours GMT/UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be between OR4ISS and IK1SLD. The contact should be audible across much of Southern & Central Europe on 145.800Mhz FM.

The contact is expected to be conducted in English.

5% OFF @ Knights

Knights in the UK have recently updated their website and until 3rd December you can get 5% off your orders using code QUXPQ

Link: https://www.kcb.co.uk/shop2/

Yaesu FT-DX101D/MP Leaflet

Yaesu have produced a new leaflet for the upcoming FT-DX101D/MP radio...

(Click images to enlarge)

Bishop Auckland Radio Rally 2018

A video from today's Bishop Auckland Radio Rally...

Picked up a few goodies myself this year including a 4m radio, some very bright LED torches and some coax.

BLACK FRIDAY @ Moonraker

Loads of BLACK FRIDAY deals at Moonraker for you to look through....

Including:

CRT-2000 CB Radio for only £89.99

Moonraker HT-500D DMR Handheld only £150.00

Anytone AT-588 4M band mobile radio only £129.95

Yaesu MD-100A8X desk microphone only £99.95

You can see all their Black Friday deals here: LINK

BLACK FRIDAY @ LAMCO

More black Friday deals, this time from LAMCO 

Website: www.hamradio-shop.co.uk

BLACK FRIDAY @ Waters & Stanton

More non-specific Black Friday deals, this time from Waters & Stanton...

Website: https://hamradiostore.co.uk/

BLACK FRIDAY @ Nevada

Black Friday comes to Nevada Radio with a promise of 'Deals on almost everything!'

It will be interesting to see what you are offered if you call them....

Website: https://www.nevadaradio.co.uk/

BLACK FRIDAY Deals @ Thunderpole

The guys at Thunderpole have kicked off their Black Friday deals! 

Including:

CB radio starter pack for £99.99

K-PO DX5000 for £149.99

Sirio Gain Master H/W for £84.99

Also....

"Save 5% at our Black Friday Event

Simply enter the code black5 when placing an order"

Visit their website: https://www.thunderpole.co.uk

Midland CB Talk App - Final Nail In The Coffin?

It was an app and microphone which seemed so full of promise, the ability to talk to CB users around the world via your smartphone, taking CB radio into the 21st century.... but not long after launch it faced criticism about privacy issues (requiring your phone number, access to your contact list, revealing your EXACT location to anyone who cared to look!). These issues were raised with Midland who only appeared to make a half-hearted attempt at appeasing critics but the main privacy issued remained. 

There was then talk about making the app subscription only....in a world where people have come to expect apps to be free in exchange for a little user information, this may not have been a good idea either...

Well things have now taken another turn for the worse, the app appears to be 'location locked' with access to chatrooms limited to those in your country, meaning you cannot listen or participate in conversations taking place in chatrooms from other countries around the world.....

I've never been a fan of this app due to the major privacy concerns and indeed I've always said that if you want to chat online there were already much better alternatives such as the long established Zello. Location locking for me is the final nail in the coffin for this short lived app... time to send it to the trash can!

No McKinley EU This Year!

President have confirmed that their long awaited McKinley EU SSB CB radio will not be available this year.

Responding to an email sent by Robert Gibbs, a member of the President McKinley Users Group on Facebook, President said that they could not give an exact date, but the radio would not be on sale before the end of the year.

So the wait continues......🤔

Video - The Big Net 2018 Gary 26CT104

Video:YouTube/104's Outdoors

Yet another 'Big Net' video, this time from Gary.....

VIDEO - The Big Net 2018 - Fred In The Shed!

Video:YouTube/fredintheshed1

Another cracking video of this years 'Big Net', celebrating 37 years of legal CB radio in the UK. This time from Fred In The Shed in the South East of England. Great to see that his first contact was with a 'new' breaker, just goes to show that events like this encourage new and returning stations to pick up the mic as well as encouraging existing breakers to get on the air more often. 

Hopefully new friendships are created thus boosting activity across the bands....!

VIDEO - The Big Net 2018

Video:YouTube/V8CSW

On Friday 2nd November 2018 the UK celebrated 37 years of legal CB radio. 

'The Big Net' is an annual event which always proves to be very popular. Indeed, here in the North East of England channel 37 was absolutely buzzing and several other nets popped up on other channels due to 37 being so overcrowded.

Myself, after an hour or so on channel 37 talking to loads of stations on FM, I ended up on mid band SSB with a net stretching across Northumberland, Durham, Teeside and Tyne and Wear.

Anyway here's a video from Jason in the South West of England. He say's it wasn't as busy as he expected it would be in his part of the world, but the video still shows that there was no shortage of stations taking to the air!!!