Glossary
Two-way radio terms, in plain English
Every term a wholesale buyer meets in an RFQ, a spec sheet or a customs form — defined the way our engineers explain them on calls.
Radio services & licensing
- PMR446
- The European licence-free UHF service at 446 MHz, limited to 0.5W with fixed antennas. Radios work out of the box across the EU and UK with no registration — the reason PMR446 dominates European retail.
- FRS
- Family Radio Service — the US licence-free UHF service at 462 MHz. Consumer walkie talkies sold in the US are FRS certified; power is capped at 2W on shared channels.
- GMRS
- General Mobile Radio Service — a US UHF service allowing more power (up to 50W with repeaters) under a low-cost, no-test family licence. GMRS-capable radios must be licensed to transmit.
- Amateur (ham) bands
- Frequencies reserved for licensed radio hobbyists and trained operators. Dual-band handhelds like the YD-5R class transmit on amateur bands only with an operator licence — but can listen freely.
- UHF CB
- Australia's licence-free 477 MHz service with 80 channels — so dominant locally that "UHF radio" is the everyday term for walkie talkie in AU/NZ.
Technical terms
- UHF (400–470 MHz)
- Short wavelength, penetrates concrete and steel well, shorter antennas. The default for buildings, cities, warehouses and events.
- VHF (134–174 MHz)
- Long wavelength, carries farther over open terrain and water, struggles indoors. Favoured in farming, forestry, mining and marine use.
- DMR (Digital Mobile Radio)
- The mainstream digital standard: two voice channels per 12.5 kHz, HD-quality audio, encryption and group calling. Worth it for fleets above ~20 users.
- CTCSS / DCS
- Tone (analog) and code (digital) filtering that decides which transmissions a radio accepts on a shared channel — the reason two companies can share a frequency without hearing each other.
- Squelch
- The gate that silences the speaker until a signal strong enough arrives. Set too low and you hear static bursts; too high and weak-but-valid calls get cut off.
- VOX
- Voice-operated transmit — hands-free transmission when the radio hears speech. Used with earpieces in security and events.
- PTT
- Push-to-talk: the side button held to transmit. The single most-used control on any radio.
- IP rating
- Ingress Protection code. IP54 handles dust and splashes (most business fleets); IP67 is dust-tight and survives 1 m submersion for 30 minutes (outdoor, marine, festivals).
- Repeater
- A rooftop or tower station that receives and retransmits, letting radios that can't see each other connect. One repeater upgrades an entire fleet's coverage.
- Dual-band
- A radio that transmits and receives on both VHF and UHF. Removes band-selection risk for mixed environments; the world's best-selling handheld class.
Wholesale & shipping terms
- MOQ
- Minimum order quantity per model. Ours run 50–200 pcs depending on model, with samples always available at sample pricing.
- FOB
- Free On Board (Xiamen port, for us): the quoted price covers the goods delivered onto the vessel; you arrange and pay the main freight. The classic comparison baseline between factories.
- DDP
- Delivered Duty Paid: we handle freight, customs duties and VAT to your door. You receive stock with zero customs steps — how most of our US/UK/EU buyers take delivery.
- AQL
- Acceptable Quality Limit — the statistical sampling standard for final inspection. AQL 2.5 on critical defects is the norm for consumer electronics and our default.
- Golden sample
- A signed reference unit kept by both buyer and factory. Quality disputes become side-by-side comparisons instead of arguments.
- OEM / ODM
- OEM = our platform with your branding (logo, colour, packaging). ODM = engineering to your requirements. See the OEM/ODM page for thresholds.