UK Ham Radio, 868MHz LoRa Mesh & Nationwide HF NVIS Skywave Hub
How to stay connected across your town, county, or the entire length of Great Britain when mobile phone masts and landline broadband go dark.
Most UK 4G and 5G cellular base stations have only 2 to 4 hours of cabinet battery backup. When a severe winter storm knocks out regional 11kV power lines for multiple days, mobile phones quickly lose all signal. Off-Grid Academy structures household and community radio resilience in four progressive layers.
Layer 01 requires zero licence and zero exams: our pre-flashed 868MHz LoRa Meshtastic transceivers (OGA-RF-001) and solar chimney repeaters (OGA-RF-002) operate legally under Ofcom IR 2030/1/19 (869.40–869.65 MHz, 500mW ERP, 10% duty cycle) to relay AES-256 encrypted text messages and offline GPS positions across 2 to 15 miles. Layer 02 covers 100% licence-free nationwide reception of BBC Radio 4 Longwave (198 kHz), Marine VHF Channel 16, and DWD HF Weatherfax charts under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006.
Layer 03 unlocks 25 Watts of VHF/UHF transmit power via the UK Foundation Amateur Radio Licence (upgraded by Ofcom from 10W to 25W), enabling Yaesu FT-65E handhelds and Digirig Winlink packet email gateways. Layer 04 delivers true zero-infrastructure nationwide reach: using a 20W Xiegu G90 HF SDR transceiver (OGA-RF-080) and a low-mounted 80m/40m Inverted-V Linked Dipole (OGA-RF-081) at 5 to 7 metres height, Near Vertical Incidence Skywave (NVIS) propagation reflects signals straight off the F2 ionosphere across 50 to 450 miles of Great Britain with zero skip zone.
Stocked UK Radio & Skywave Hardware
- OGA-RF-080 — Xiegu G90 20W Portable HF SDR Transceiver (1.8–30MHz) with Built-In Automatic Antenna Tuner & Waterfall Display (£449)
- OGA-RF-081 — SOTABEAMS / Moonraker Tactical 40m/80m/20m NVIS Linked Dipole Antenna + 7m Carbon Mast & 15m Coax Field Kit (£139)
- OGA-RF-082 — Yaesu FT-65E Dual-Band 5W VHF/UHF Rugged Amateur Transceiver + High-Gain Whip & 12V Battery Eliminator (£109)
- OGA-RF-055 — Digirig Mobile USB-C Digital Modes Interface + Baofeng/Yaesu/Icom CAT & Audio Lead Pack (Winlink, JS8Call & APRS) (£79)
- OGA-RF-001 — LILYGO T-Echo 868MHz Meshtastic GPS Transceiver (£89)
- OGA-RF-002 — RAKwireless WisMesh Solar Repeater (868MHz Outdoor) (£349)
- OGA-RF-003 — Quansheng UV-K5(8) Dual-Band 5W Handheld Transceiver (£49)
- OGA-RF-004 — RTL-SDR Blog V4 R828D Wideband SDR Receiver Kit (£59)
Frequently Asked Questions
How much power can a UK Foundation Amateur Radio Licence holder transmit?
Under Ofcom’s updated 2024–2026 amateur radio licensing framework, UK Foundation Licence holders may transmit up to 25 Watts (up from the previous 10W limit) across most HF, VHF, and UHF amateur allocations.
What is HF NVIS skywave propagation and why is it ideal for Great Britain?
Near Vertical Incidence Skywave (NVIS) uses a horizontally polarised dipole mounted 5m to 7m above ground on the 80m (3.5 MHz) and 40m (7.1 MHz) bands to radiate signals nearly straight up, reflecting off the ionosphere across a 400-mile radius with no dead skip zone.