Dear Mrs Abrams,

Following on from my article ‘WHY RADIO?’ in the spring Bulletin, I feel that one point ought to be clarified, as one member has written to me to say that he cannot find a hand-portable CB radio with the facility of receiving marine VHF.

This is not surprising as such a beast does not exist, to my knowledge! I should have made myself clearer: of my two CB radios, it is the more ‘permanent’ set, a Quasar MCB 40 as supplied by Ladyline Ltd, which has this facility. Unfortunately Ladyline have stopped supplying them, and I believe the firm itself has stopped trading now. Second-hand sets should be snapped up immediately!

However, Gerry Donellan’s letter reminded me that I had read only one article on CB radio afloat in the yachting magazines, and similarly only one article on the use of car-phones by sailors (apart from Gerald Levenson’s). I had not rediscovered these before writing for the DCA magazine, but my interest was regenerated by the letter, and I spent a couple of hours in the archives (the back bedroom).

I found both articles, ‘Breaking into CB’ by Bill Robinson, Practical Boat Owner no. 199, July 1983; and ‘Are you on the Phone?’ by Dag Pike, PBO no. 220, April 1985. I note with pleasure that both writers cover different ground from that in my article, or take some issues further. I have found the PBO very helpful in supplying photocopied articles; or I am prepared to send them to any interested member on receipt of a SAE, as long as I am not breaking the law!

Yours sincerely Keith Muscott 20 Lomond Grove, Ellesmere Port, South Wirral, Cheshire, C66 2TS