Minicab rdios gone quiet

[David H]

I have a multiband radio which has always buzzed with minicab controllers until this year when nearly all of them have stopped. Have they gone digital instead, as I'd have though it would have cost a fortune to change all the mobiles as well or are they just not as busy as they used to be?

[Buenchico]

Ofcom might have changed the frequency allocations available to minicab companies (or be about to do so). They constantly seem to be shuffling frequencies around because there's not really enough capacity available for all of the people who want to use radio equipment these days. (Mobile phone companies need more and more space within the radio spectrum, as do things like wi-fi and Bluetooth). Perhaps the minicabs have simply moved to different frequencies?

[factor-fiction]

I rmemeber when i used to be able to pick up emergency services and taxis on a standard house radio.
I also remember that the needle on my record player occasionally picked up taxi calls which suddenly boomed out of my speakers - I never really understood how that worked

[David H]

I can answer the domestic radio answer at least. The private band used to reach 88Mhz- my own courier company used 87.9 in the 80s, and was cut back I think to 87 in the 90s to allow for the increase in local radio stations. A lot of pirates still use the area round 88 as well which means a constant fight between their material and the official stations. That means domestic radios can no longer pick up any private broadcasts, the use was general till then but also had police as well but they move every 5-10 years so are never in a fixed band. If you still want to listen on a home radio you can open the back and try turning the FM trimmers until you find the right one for that band, and can usually get around 1mhz out of it although the 82-7 band is pretty quiet nowadays.

[plautus]

This takes me back. Whatever happened to CB radio? It was all the rage in the early 80s. Copy, Rubber Duck!