--- On Fri, 11/1/13, Joe Leikhim rhyolite@nettally.com wrote:

I am planning a trip to UK and was wondering about VHF repeater usage.

1. I have an ICOM W32A and it does not generate 1750 Hz tone

as far as I can tell (US Version). Is CTCSS widely used in OK?

All 2m repeaters use CTCSS, info on repeaters and coverage maps are at http://www.ukrepeater.net/

2. The radio is dual band 2M/70CM but I can disable 70CM

band from front panel. Will Customs hassle me for that model?

Don't know but I've not heard of anyone having problems. BTW can't you open up the 70cm coverage to give 420-450 MHz ? That would enable you to use the UK 70cm repeaters.

3. Any recommendations for good PMR446, dPMR or similar

radios (low cost) to communicate with my wife should we get separated? Preferably something readily available and using AA (not AAA) batteries.

4. Is GSM still the way to go for basic cell phone service

in UK? We got my son a used blackberry  "world phone" for his trip last year and it seemed spotty. Maybe he was getting SIM cards for the wrong provider?

If all you want is voice and SMS text messaging then yes GSM is what you are after. For data/internet use you'd need 3G. It's worth checking the coverage provided by each of the Four networks in the areas you'll be visiting before you buy a Sim.

Personally I've found Vodafone and O2 give best voice/text coverage as they use the 900 MHz band, other networks EE (Orange/T-Mobile) and 3 are only on the higher bands, 1800 and 2100 MHz with shorter ranges.

Coverage Maps: Vod - http://www.vodafone.co.uk/our-network-and-coverage/uk-coverage-map/ O2 - http://www.o2.co.uk/coveragechecker EE - https://explore.ee.co.uk/coverage-checker 3 - http://www.three.co.uk/Support/Coverage

73 Trevor M5AKA