Radio

The District owns several handheld radio transceivers which are available for loan to Units and Groups within Mersey Weaver for use on Scouting activities.

Activity Ideas

Wide Games, Hikes, Communicator Badge

Legalities

Use of the radio equipment is subject to the terms of a licence from Ofcom. Users wishing to borrow the equipment are required to abide by an Operating Procedure to ensure that we comply with our licence.

Capability

The type of equipment and frequencies that we are licensed to use will give ‘line of sight’ coverage to the visible horizon.

The more obstacles obscure the line of sight, the less likely it becomes that a transmission will be received; a few trees and buildings will be ok, but a hill will not. It is sometimes necessary to place a station on a hilltop (or other elevated position) who then has line of sight to all other stations and can act as a relay to pass messages on.

We have 7 channels available in the VHF band and 3 in the UHF band. Broadly speaking, VHF will give better coverage in the countryside and UHF in built up areas.