Comments by "" (@adamswl969) on "Ringway Manchester" channel.

  1. A P25 radio will NOT drop it's key on power loss. Inifinite key retention is a thing.
    7
  2. Antennas AND hard beats! 🥁 This channel has it all!!
    7
  3. Nicely spotted and documented Lewis! Did you take along a handset to see if you could still place a call? ;)
    6
  4. That was excellent Lewis! Interesting re portable use in cars. In certain UK Police TV productions showing the Police going after stolen cars, you often see the officer using his vest mounted portable from inside the car. Hardly a great way to ensure a good signal into the network and keep the battery life good when out of the car. Cannot say I have seen an officer in that circumstance use a vehicle mounted radio. But yeah TV and all that.
    6
  5. I would cross that Police line for the EB200 Miniport! And to think I had my PRO33 confiscated when I took it to school and had a small crowd gathered to listen to the Police at lunchtime. I'm sure it got well used in the staffroom because I got it back with flat batteries! *Not in the UK so no arrests were made as it is not illegal to listen here (although P25 with encryption has been in use since 2006 where I am)
    6
  6. The ID-51 is a really good radio which can be had for good prices now that the ID-52 is out and people are upgrading. I managed to get one with near new spare batteries and it is now my go to radio for carry. Cannot beat real dual receive (especially with VHF air band RX) and the battery life is very good also. Shame you got a damaged one Lewis. A worthy video showing the perils of screwdriver experts at work! You really need to get another one as I am sure you will be very pleased with it.
    6
  7. Ah yes the uproar from the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) crowd, who would be the first to complain when they "only get 1 bar" of service when lying in bed. Then cue the silence when said hated/maligned infrastructure delivers a marked improvement to public amenity! Great video as always Lewis!
    6
  8. Better to be a piss holder than a piss taker! Really interesting stuff Lewis! Thanks for another great one. Would like to see the locks and swing bridges in operation.
    6
  9. Came for the buzzer, stayed for the gong! Enjoy your trip Lewis!
    6
  10. Great video as always Lewis. If I were a communications company operating radio networks commercially I would be getting rather worried about now. A huge advantage with these devices is the coverage within city buildings and structures. The network radios work perfectly fine inside underground rail systems and shopping centres where 2G/3G/4G LTE and soon 5G networks are installed. (And free WiFi!!) Spoke with a bicycle courier whose employer has dropped using traditional two ways in favour of network radios, purely because they can keep in touch with staff who may be inside buildings or areas of the CBD where 4G is adequately covered by micro/pico cells. The old two way would become useless in many areas of the city shadowed by high rise. As far as amateur use goes, well the same coverage principle applies, which is a huge advantage. But....no technical challenge, learning or skills required. No experimentation with antennas (what would the point be?) or gaining knowledge from making improvements to your setup to be had. And if most amateurs do migrate to network radios....it will be spectrum auction bonanza time at OFCOM/ACMA/FCC....etc...."What is the opening bid for 10Mhz worth of 70cm?"
    5
  11. So sad it's true...and hilarious!🤣
    5
  12. Awesome video Lewis! Definitely like to see more antenna arrays. Really enjoyed looking at this amazing structure. Interesting to see the damage inflicted by a wayward ice chunk on that microwave antenna.
    5
  13. I wish I was rich enough to have purchased the vacant Radio Australia site at Shepparton in Victoria when it was (sadly) closed down. Ready to go Shortwave Broadcasting station!
    5
  14. It only appears that way because Lewis is filming everything in reverse 😁
    5
  15. Any wonder they broke down, using dishes and small dipoles like that 🙄 Love the numbers stations stuff Lewis, please show more content if you have it!
    5
  16. As the drummer of Death Tower, I would play the drums with a pair of low gain UHF co-linear sticks. The drums would of course be upturned microwave link dishes. Guitars would be fashioned from 5G panel antennas. The debut album would have to be called "Non Ionising Radiation"
    5
  17. Excellent video as always Lewis! This is why it is a good idea when putting up antennas and you have neighbours. Leave the antenna unplugged with the cable clearly showing as disconnected. That way when Ethel next door starts complaining of headaches that mysteriously started when the antenna went up, just point to the unterminated cable and let her know it is not even connected! It's like when Smart Meters for electricity were introduced. Oh the headaches and nightmares they were causing 🤕
    5
  18. This series is excellent! Will send you some more content soon Lewis!
    5
  19. Very interesting video Lewis. Really like the handset collection you have. The Motorola ZEON TETRA network here in Australia is in the process of being shut down. It operates 865-870Mhz and occupies valuable spectrum wanted for mobile telephony. It is used by private business users, who are having to move to other radio systems to avoid having no radio network soon. So TETRA is becoming redundant here too, not that there was much of an uptake here due to the geographic size of the coverage areas v's population density.
    5
  20. There seems to be a number of weird CW stations scattered about on HF lately. It sounds as though traffic is being sent by hand as it is poorly timed and tends to sound sloppy. Going to start logging these as I hear them.
    5
  21. Yes it is so much easier to measure everything in increments of 11 and 3/16th's.
    5
  22. One of the activities that hastened the rollout of encryption was people setting up audio streaming of various services radio traffic, so anyone with a smart phone can now listen in. Made many radio users suddenly aware of how public their comms had become, and worldwide at that.
    5
  23. Would be interesting to plug it into a Nano VNA and see if it is resonant anywhere!
    5
  24. Well spotted Lewis and a great explanation of what it is all about. Free to air TV is dying a slow painful death here, so external antennas will eventually start become less common.
    4
  25. I never liked that Dr Stupid! This is why I love this channel!
    4
  26. Roger Diddly Dipole!!! Thanks you two, now I want beer and it's only 9:00am. But yes, the radio hobby is often met with confused stares and comments of derision when non radio people ask about it. I have even been accused of being a police operative spying on people (when using an Icom ID-51A at the beach) and abused. There was a time when I would not leave the house without a transceiver on my belt, but not these days due to people being more paranoid and ignorant. Plus as Martin alluded to, smartphones are the norm now, so carrying a hand held around seems very strange indeed. If I do carry one on occasion, it stays buried under clothing. And it does not help matters when doing a demonstration to someone, particularly young persons, when you come across a QSO of two OM's discussing which artery they are having stented and how much Warfarin they have to remember to take! Thanks for the video Gents! 73 from that wierdo in the house with all those ugly antennas listening to all the strange noises!
    4
  27. Very nice collection indeed Lewis! Now you need to tune them all to the same frequency and key one up at a distance just to see how you sound over 99 radios at once! Thanks for sharing!
    4
  28. I bought one these a short while ago. Very nice little radio with a USB micro socket on the battery for charging which is very handy. But I cannot find any programming software for it. CHIRP does not support it. Have put in a few channels by hand, but really need to use software to make the best use of the memories. Otherwise the 8600 is solid performing (and built) radio as Lewis has shown!
    4
  29. Gees seeing these makes me feel old! I would love to stroll down the street with the unit slung over my shoulder pretending to be deep in conversation on one of those! Some of the looks from people would be interesting. And yes, monthly subscription fee and no ability to call other numbers ensured the services speedy demise no doubt. Thanks Lewis!
    4
  30. Starting to get a bit hot on this channel! Might have to go quiet until this blows over. Be careful Lewis 😜
    4
  31.  @RingwayManchester  Always Lewis!! Watching and listening until the bombs drop 😉
    4
  32. Must admit that the colour of the radio is a sort of hack green! A rather appropriate SDR choice there Lewis!
    4
  33. Hey Lewis I think we have our weather mixed up. You seem to have ours and we have taken yours! Enjoy it while it lasts! The scenery around Stockport is beautiful. And yes, 8 watts over 5 watts....pure marketing wank, like stereo equipment with the "Peak Music Power Output" figures stating ridiculous numbers like 500 watts (usually from a 4" full range speaker). Great video.
    4
  34. Excellent Lewis!! Really nice photography of scanning gear and tower sites in there along with your great descriptions. Part III please!!
    4
  35. Really good Lewis! Not many videos have gone into this sort of detail. A part 2 is definitely needed!
    4
  36. Another cracking video Lewis! Very good insight into what is in place if ever there was a major outage (unless it's a decent solar flare!) The dirt on those dishes has triggered my OCD. I want to get up there with a scrubbing brush!
    4
  37. It was just before everything got ruined and the music was just awesome. So much good music!
    4
  38. A very Dank plan indeed! 😀
    4
  39. In Australia, Metro Trains Melbourne use GSM-R at 1800Mhz for the DTRS (Digital Train Radio System) which replaced an MPT-1327 UHF network in the early 00's. If you want to listen in, you need to sit up front behind the drivers cab to hear any traffic directed to your train/line etc...
    4
  40. Think it might be best to unsubscribe. They will be on to us all now! 😱
    4
  41. Excellent video as always Lewis! Tried the TYT TH-9800 and while it worked OK, it had annoying firmware bugs that really let it down. If you set the radio to scan, it would stop on an active channel and emit a beep that could be heard from down the street, regardless of volume setting. Managed to turn it off in software, only to have it self enable at random. Sold the radio on before I did something nasty to it. The Yaesu FT-8900R is a much superior radio. The UV8DR handheld is OK too, but has the annoying feature of "vampire standby" which means a flat battery if left powered down with the battery in place.
    4
  42. Or in more recent years, streaming audio over the internet so anyone can listen anywhere at anytime. Has caused many services to encrypt or switch to LTE.
    4
  43. Really nice video Lewis! The drone footage is awesome. And it doesn't seem to be bothered by any high RF close to the antennas. Thanks for the effort in putting together the Documentaries! Aways wanting to put a discone up and have remote monitoring via SDR in a place like that
    4
  44. Still have my MAX 800 HH version which was the later model. No coax section and connector up in the housing, just a BNC male on a solid section going straight to the antenna. Analogue phones were quickly taken over by GSM here in the early 90's (gee I wonder why?) so later on my MAX 800 became useful on 800Mhz Motorola Type II trunking or Smartnet as Motorola called it. I had to laugh at the baby monitor dipole, the ad for which I had long forgotten about. Now going to have to dig the crates and find my MAX 800!
    4
  45. V13 is very strong to me most evenings on 20095kHz. Nice catch Lewis! Will be keeping an ear on 4480kHz as we head into our winter soon.
    3
  46. Your documentaries are really great Lewis! Very interesting and interspersed with excellent pictures. The late 80''s and 1990's would have been an interesting time to have been an FM BCB listener around the UK's major cities.
    3
  47.  @bryngerard4334  Apart from railways using GSM-R, the GSM or 2G networks are long gone in this part of the world. Amazing it is used much anywhere now.
    3
  48. These MAXON radios have the form factor reminiscent of the Ericsson GH-337/338 of similar vintage. LPD433 came out here too....much to the horror of Amateurs. Quite a few 70cm repeaters had their frequency pairs changed to avoid the LIPD band.
    3
  49. But you must be ready for when they rotate the board 🤩
    3
  50.  @jagohazzzard  Great info! Thanks for that! Our rural ambulance service uses an in vehicle cross band repeater. VHF trunked to base and UHF to portable radios in the field carried by personnel. Maintains portable coverage where the high power of the vehicle radio is required.
    3