As many of you know by now, I sold the ELG forum to WAPI. There are a couple of reasons for this and I will explain below why I did it.

When I co-founded ELG with Neil Sheppard in August 2007, we had a vision that the forum would be a community where those of us in the trade could hang out, teach and learn from each other. Four years on, our community grew from nothing to nearly 600 members, most of which are practicing private investigators. All the other eGroups looked on with concern that we would take their members away from them. We did acquire some members from them but it wasn't a case of them having to choose between ELG or those eGroups. A member could be part of them and enjoy our radically different community here.

One of the main reasons that our members liked ELG so much was that it is not an old fashioned yahoo email group but rather an interactive online forum where members can ask questions that they did not know the answer to in an helpful supportive environment. Here we don't get unsubscribed for asking questions or for "advertising"!

Four years after I was interviewed by The Register in an article entitled "UK private eyes invite public into forum" where I stated, "The world of the PI has always been a shadowy world and the fact is a lot of investigators preferred it that way. However, it's time to drop the secrecy and step out of the shadows. e-LEGAL | Gathering will help bring the industry into the 21st Century by demonstrating our commitment to each other, ensuring respectability, trust and confidence in our standards.", little did I know that the industry would be entering a perfect storm of controversy and economic disaster!

As we all know now, the industry is severely depressed with many of the big players barely keeping their heads above the water financially speaking. The smaller players are quietly looking for run of the mill jobs in any industry that will have them and the one man bands are dead in the water, either insolvent or their businesses parked until better times come round. I have spoken with many of the bigger players over the last few months and they are telling me that their UK operations are barely turning over.

I have recently started a small business (publishing) separate from anything to do with the PI industry. I also have an office in my country of origin in Chile and I plan on staying in Chile during the UK winter months.

In order to do this, I needed an injection of cash. For this reason, I decided to sell ELG. Almost immediately I received an expression of interest from a Solicitor and from WAPI. After a few weeks of considering their offers, I went with WAPI as together ELG and WAPI suddenly became larger than any other Association in Europe.

WAPI will be making some changes but overall those changes will be for the best. I know that in the long term, the industry will make a comeback. In the meantime, i suggest that you all try and have as many strings to your bows as possible.

It is widely known that clients prefer fixed fee agreements for instructions but, in general, Private Investigators still prefer an hourly rate on the basis of charging a fair day’s fee for a fair days work. Moreover, there is always the question of mileage costs (bearing in mind the cost of fuel these days) and out of pocket expenses (which on most occasions are not easy to estimate in an on-going assignment). With these considerations in mind can PIs address their client’s demands and offer fixed fees for work carried out and still remain in profit?

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Before the advent of web 2.0 many businesses didn’t have a website. In those days building a website was no easy task. It was an expensive undertaking and was the sole domain of the professional web designer. Things have moved on since then and now there aren’t many businesses in the market place that don’t have a web site. Many private investigation agencies have produced their own web sites using the many WYSIWYG web design software packages on the market.

Nowadays things have progressed even further with blogging becoming.................

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What is Asset Stealth?

Asset stealth, asset protection or ‘hiding your money’ is nothing new. Taking steps to preserve your wealth is something that is probably older than the concept of money itself. It was common practice for sharecroppers during the ‘dark ages’ to hide a significant portion of their harvest to avoid some of the levy placed on them by the wealthy land owners. These days asset stealth has taken on new meaning and has developed into a multi-billion pound industry with the advent of Offshore Financial Centres (OFCs) and International Business Corporations (IBCs).

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Generally, corruption consists of bribery, kickbacks, extortion and conflicts of interest. These types of activities involve some kind of inducement in return for some sort of advantage (usually financial) or perhaps preferential treatment, a relationship that has not been disclosed can literally net someone a financial, operational or strategic advantage.

There is little doubt that corruption can deprive businesses and companies, their owners and employees of honest services. It can also make it impossible for companies to compete on a level playing field in the bidding process or to earn all the profits to which they are entitled. When an employee or associate is ‘skimming’ money off the top of a business transaction, the harm can unquestionably be more wide-spread than the employee realises.

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We now live in a society where acts of fraud are common-place and the effects of fraud can be felt by many people in many different situations. Where fraud is concerned, businesses and the work-place can be a very vulnerable place and therefore measures to protect a business or corporation against fraud has never been so important. Where fraud counter-measures fall short; in order to limit loss, or recover assets, the investigative process must then take over.

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What is Process Serving?
Process serving is the procedure employed to give legal notice to a person of a court or Administrative body’s exercise of its legal authority over that person so as to enable that person to respond to the proceeding before the court, body or other tribunal. Usually, notice is furnished by delivering a set of court documents (called “process”) to the person to be served.

Can I Avoid A Process Server?
I hear this question time and time again usually from people desperately trying to avoid court proceedings of some description.

A straight forward answer is, yes you can avoid a process server if you try hard enough, but a more important and accurate question to ask is; can you avoid the legal process being served upon you?

That is not so straight forward.

Nowadays the courts understand that some people will try always to avoid court action and those people believe that avoiding service of legal process is the way to do it. I urge those people to think again.

Read the full article

An investigation is the collection and analysis of factual information that assists in answering questions or solving problems.

It is really more of an art than a science.

Although a person carrying out an investigation is ostensibly a fact-finder, he or she must develop theories and hypotheses and arrive at conclusions based on information that is available. In short, the investigative process is a wide-ranging activity involving the collection of information, the application of logic, and the implementation of sound reasoning.

The investigative process isn’t restricted to the remit of the criminal justice and security fields. It is an activity found, in virtually all areas of human activity. There are too many spheres of activity to mention however, below are some of the people that can call themselves investigators.

• Medical doctors can be investigators
• Academics can be investigators
• Supervisors in corporate positions can be investigators
• People involved in the appraisal of antiques can be investigators

Read the full article

As a legal professional, you may find yourself in the uncomfortable position of having to instruct a new London process server for a variety of reasons. It could be you've been dissatisfied with the service you received from your old server, or that server may have retired or gone out of business. Perhaps you're simply tired of paying too much for too narrow a range of services, and your local London process server simply doesn't provide the nationwide service you need.

Whatever the reason you now need to find a new server, consider this an opportunity rather than a headache. Take the time to instruct a quality service of process server agency you'll be able to rely on for a full range of services at affordable rates long term.

The following are signs you're hiring a professional London process server you can rely on today and in the future:

Staff members are trained, experienced professionals.

The difference between hiring a process server with genuine expertise versus someone with little to no experience in the industry is obvious when you ask about training. Don't trust your firm's reputation and your clients' needs by relying on any server who lacks training and experience.

Related services are available.

Today you may only need to rely on your London process server to deliver legal documents in your local area. What will happen when you need to serve an individual located across the UK, or in another country altogether?

What about those individuals who deliberately evade being served? Choose a server who can handle your local, day-to-day needs as well as those occasions where additional, specialized people tracing services are required.

Utilizes the latest technology available today.

A London process server who relies only on a mobile phone and a vehicle in terms of technology isn't going to provide the most efficient service possible. Today, you can choose a London process server who relies on electronic databases to locate hard to find individuals. You can have a professional who utilizes computer equipment and the Internet to find people they need to serve fast.

A process serving firm that keeps up with today's technology may literally have a team of experts at hand, each with their own mobile offices, ready to serve your needs. Before you hire a server in the london area, find out if they're up to date with the technology that equates to timely, cost effective service processing.

Legal firms have many, many important decisions to make every day. The choice of who you will rely on as a Croydon Process Server may seem like a small detail to be handled quickly and forgotten about, but it's something that can have very serious ramifications.

Unless you know you're relying on an experienced professional, you should think carefully about who you choose as a Croydon Process Server. Choosing the wrong person could cost you in time and money.

First, consider that allowing a non-professional to serve process could result in violation of current Civil procedure Rules of Service CPR which amendments came into force in October 2010. It's unrealistic and foolish to expect anyone but a professional to understand how current laws regarding process service actually work in practical settings. If process serving regulations are violated, the service could be declared invalid. You could lose your case or at the very least, be forced to start the entire process all over again.

If you lose a case due to something as basic as process service, your reputation as a professional will be seriously compromised. More than anything, clients despise losing cases due to "technicalities." You'll almost certainly lose income for every case you lose due to process server mistakes. You'll also lose your ability to gain future clients' trust in your expertise.

Consider that even if your inexperienced, non-professional server manages to deliver your legal documents in accordance with the law, they may not know how to complete a proper proof of service. For example does the serve require a Statement of Service, a sworn affidavit of Service or a certificate of Service?*This may prove just as detrimental as an obvious illegal act during service. Once again, the service may be declared invalid. You may lose your case or have to start at the beginning once again.

It isn't impossible to overcome complications that arise during process serving due to violations of regulations or incorrect procedures. However, it will involve delays and costs you most certainly want to avoid. Consider, too that once an individual is aware of your need to serve them, evasive tactics can hinder the process even further. This will equate to another unnecessary delay and costly complication you could avoid by simply hiring a professional Croydon process server in the first place.

Once you've found a reliable professional, your legal firm will no longer need to wonder or worry about how process serving will be managed on a regular basis. You'll have an expert you trust completely at your fingertips, and you can focus on the many other important decisions you must make on a daily basis as a legal professional.

AlliedDetectives.co.uk provides a professional and confidential*Croydon process service to all legal, corporate and private clients. Allied Detectives Process Services is committed to providing reliable*London process service*within Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Hampshire and throughout the United Kingdom.

10 Top Reasons Why Your Business might not be Working as well as you'd like!

Part 1
What is my competitor doing?

Did you, or have you done any research? Many people enter into business with a blind fold on, it's all well and good looking around you and thinking people are doing well and that you can replicate the same, it takes a lot more!

Have you checked out who else operates in your area, doing what you are doing? So many people I come across wouldn't know one of their competitors, yet alone a handful. I can probably name all but one or two, and to be honest those one or two aren't worth worrying about.

So what is the benefit to this exercise, in case you were wondering! The benefit will have a massive impact on your business success, without being too obvious about this, it is suicidal NOT knowing;

a) who your competitors are
b) what are they doing right/wrong
c) what percentage of the local revenue do they have control over
d) what they offer
e) what can you offer that they don't (without the gimmicks)
f) where are they advertising
g) why are they successful (or not!)

This should also be revised regularly, it's no good spending days, weeks, months setting everything up and thinking you are the bee's knees only to find one day your competitor has outdone you. In order to stay in the public eye (especially in your local area) you need to heavily focus on this all the time.

let's look at some of the topics above and break them down...

Who your competitors are...
I wonder how many people reading this know who their competitors really are? When was the last time you looked in the Yellow Pages (book) and realised there were more PI's in your area than you first envisaged! This could be one reason why enquiries and income is low. So how do we change that?

Imagine if you wrote down every conceivable advertising media you could think of that was within your reach (financial outlay or free), only then do you realise that Yellow Pages is a very small pebble in a big pond. It will make no difference at all if you were at the top or bottom but if it was your only form of marketing then you would be totally dependant on it. The reason I say this is because a number of my competitors (bless 'em) only advertise in hard copies (yellow Pages, Thomson etc) I don't see them on the internet, which, as we all know, is now the primary source for information etc.
I am going to repeat myself here but a website is a MUST and a good one is an even muster... hang on, no such word! Oh well, stick that in your dictionary and... [attitude!]

Actually, the last sentence is so typical of failure... why? You ask!

Only recently did I view a website created by a PI (self developed) and I have to say it was awful. Spelling errors, poor grammar, poor graphics, no SEO etc... I could go on!

What that tells me (and your potential client viewing your site) is that you have spent hours building it (dedication, which, is good!) but failed to give a toss about the fundamental aspects of creating the right impression. It tells me that "this will do" and in my book, that simply isn't good enough. You client is no doubt considering employing your services, until, they read some of the context of your site and then they wonder what on earth the statement of service, affidavit or report will look like, especially when it's up in court being read out by officials who would struggle to come to terms with the fact a professional document has been written by a 7 year old.

It doesn't have to be gold plated, but it does have to be right. If you spend that amount of time on something don't dismiss the five minutes it takes to check it over, check spelling, grammar, images etc. You will be rewarded!

So getting back then, look at where your competitors advertise and ensure you do the same, better still, find places where they don't advertise! You will be surprised. There are literally hundreds of free business listing sites... go find them and take the time to list your company and your web link (important)

Look at what they offer that you don't - Some only offer process serving, others only investigation assistance and so on. Get training, get knowledge and get the confidence to offer a broader range of services. If you can't commit yourself due to lack of knowledge or skill, spend some time getting to know those that can, negotiate with them and do a deal. When the work comes in, you either offer a finders fee or you sub it out.

Another task to carry out, which, I have mentioned before, is to visit every one of your legal firms in the area. Take a couple of days out and arm yourself with some quality business cards (no not the cheap DIY printer ones - they look terrible) a set of business cards costs around £25.00 for 250 (give or take) and is worth it as they will last, believe me!
Get in front of the secretary/receptionists and ask questions, have a laugh and build a report but be professional, it's amazing what you will get out of them, such as who does the enquiry work at present? Do they have much call for your services? etc, etc....

Prices: In my opinion, DO NOT advertise your prices on-line, why? Obvious really but here goes. (say it slowly!) If you do then your competitor will have the upper hand - There, simples!

BUT people do still do it, if your happy doing it, fine, but it makes no sense at all. Whilst we're on the subject I have also noted on a number of sites, agents offering packages. Yes, "Packages"
Forgive me if I am wrong but I thought I was in the legal/investigative industry, so why offer "Buy Now", "Half Price", "Discount" DONT!!!
Have you ever seen a solicitor offer half price divorces! Or half price criminal injury cases! or for that matter a "Civil defence package" NO.

It looks tacky and bloody awful. The only thing it will do is put you in the Walter Mitty bin!

"SAY NO TO PACKAGES CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES SOON" ;-)

We are all victims of doing too much too little. You want to make an impression, an impact but often we end up making things look a total mess. KISS is something I learnt many years ago in sales and it has many variations, one being... "Keep It Simple Stupid" or Keep It Short & Sweet"

Start off basic, don't over do it with the bells and whistles, tell your prospective clients want "they" want to hear, not what you want to tell them. 90% of visitors to a website never read the content, they look at headers and buzz words, such as, "Process Server" and "Affordable, Reliable, Efficeint" (AKA buzz words) then they look at your contact details. The rest of the marketing and glossy image can come later but for now, concentrate on what matters, getting the bills paid.

Next time in part 2 I will talk about how to approach a client and how to make them want you more than you want them!

...I get asked this a lot, so I thought I would share a little knowledge!

And because I have some free time... "hip, hip...."

Although I haven't contributed much recently on the forum lately, there has been a good reason for it. It's a long story and I am certain many of you "couldn't care less" what I have been up to, the fact is, I started my business exactly one year ago this month... with nothing!

I had no capital, no bank loans, very little in the way of credit card funding and only very basic equipment (laptop and phone... literally!)

The company is now doing exceptionally well, to be honest, and this is the truth, I hadn't noticed that much. I get on with work and I enjoy it immensely, which, leaves me little time to realise what is coming in and going out (I leave that up to my skivvy - oops, sorry, I mean "Office Manager", as she likes to be called!)

From the first day I enlisted myself on another forum and had my first contact/call from an established PI offering guidance (thank you Dave (ISW), I really do owe you one!) I never realised then that I had found my forte in life. I was destined to be a professional Investigator but I hadn't realised it until recently.

The business started part-time with nothing more than a laptop and a mobile phone, a printer, some undesirable stationary and terrible logo BUT within a few weeks I had my first Agent to Agent assignment, oh man, I was buzzing!
In November (5 months on) the business went "full time" quite literally utilising 18 hours of my day, promoting the business, improving the image, creating a brand for the company and ploughing every penny back into it to buy materials, books, equipment...

It was bloody hard but then again, I believe in the saying "you reap what you sow". It is a FACT, no doubt about it, that if you want to make something work you have to put work into it. It's all well and good "thinking" you know what you are doing or "believing" you think that what you are doing is the right way to do it. Sometimes, people cannot be told either way, this is where things go wrong!
It's all about using snippets of other businesses success, even looking at the bigger boys and commercial organisations, analysing what they do and simply follow their lead on a much smaller scale.

It's pointless spending hundreds of pounds thinking the ROI (Return of Investment) is going to blow you out the water if it has no purpose or relevance to the industry you are in. Forgive me for saying this and no offence intended to those I know that use it... BUT, in my personal and professional opinion, social marketing is POINTLESS!!! - YES IT IS! If you can provide me with an example of how profitable it is to your business (that being Private Investigation) spending hours a week or day on there I will bow at your feet at profusely apologise.

It may be fun, sometime interesting, you may even make a few friends doing it, BUT, it will not make your business a success, not this one anyway! Don't get me wrong, if you enjoy (and it can be fun and interesting) then that's all well and good but if you are in it because you think it will make your business more profitable then forget it, go and buy some Asprin and bang your head against a wall, why? because it's just as pointless.

There are no secrets to making a business work for you, there are no secrets as to how you can make it profitable, successful or bigger and better than anyone else. It is simply hard work, dedication and motivation. Not sitting on your behind waiting for work to come to you, actually going out there and getting it - I mean go and get it, no, not by advertising, or social networking, or even emailing (which I detest, as I am sure you do when you get tons of junk email) I mean go out there, yes you may have to do some walking!

IT'S ALL TO DO WITH HOW MUCH YOU WANT IT and deciding WHAT YOU WANT!

Some people are happy to earn "beer money" part time, others are equally happy as long as the bills are paid.

One thing is for certain, it has been said many a times and proven in many different ways. I even remember Jorge (PI Guy) mentioning this a while back, IT PAYS TO HAVE A DECENT WEBSITE!
I don't just mean make it look pretty or have fancy graphics (although this can look good if done right) you also need to pay considerable attention and effort to SEO (if you don't know what that is - then get someone to build your site, re-vamp it or take a look at it for you) Believe ME, it pays off to have a good site, rich in SEO and well marketed!

In fact, in some cases, it is the difference between no enquiries and receiving 2,3,4 or more per day! - This then leads onto other topics... such as customer relations...

Imagine a trainee solicitor is tasked with obtaining three quotes from an Enquiry Agent for a process serve...

You can either put on your best voice and charm or you can sound like you have just been dragged away from playing on the XBox! - You have one chance to impress the client, if you succeed that client may remember you and use you again, better still, do a great job and they might remember you for life and in 5 years time when the trainee solicitor starts their own law firm, you may just be remembered when the need arises!

Have fun, stay safe and don't work too hard! ;)

Starting a business or indeed running a business is in itself full of all kinds of issues, some good, some bad. SO what do you do when it comes to accepting payment from a client, especially private clients. As a Private Investigator or Detective, or even someone who just offers Process Serving or Surveillance (service based assignments) would seem that getting payment from clients can be fraught with its own issues.

As most of us know a lot of private investigator work is tracing work or desktop based, some covers surveillance assignments and so on. For some of us we rarely get to see the client for one reason or another (it's not possible due to distances or simply because there is no need) so how do you go about getting your money/fee.

Well it sounds simple for some but for others it can be a minefield.

PayPal...
...is one option and probably one of the most recognised brands when it comes to electronic payments. They offer a simple way for clients to pay, simply click a link from your website and you are taken to a checkout screen that enables you to enter the agreed price and any details the client so wishes. PayPal will take a proportion of the fee, this varies and changes but on average it is about 3 - 5%. The downside of using PayPal I have found with private investigation businesses and any other service driven business is that they don't understand our business, or rather, they prefer to see a transaction of goods in order to satisfy themselves that you are not a fraudulent user.

PayPal also have one rule for everyone, whether you are someone selling collectable matchbox cards or a fully fledged business, it appears that everyone endures the same terms and conditions, rules and regulations. The downside of this, as we discovered recently, is that when PayPal carry out their periodic auditing (which according to them is random!) and they don't like the feel of how your account is managed (i.e. you have no physical products to sell or see) they get very nervous and place your account on hold until they have verified your details and conducted security checks. The result however, isn't always a happy one, as we found out. Which, meant that PayPal are now holding on to our clients payments for 180 days.
The moral of the story here is DO read the terms and conditions, rules and regulations etc and have a back up!

Google Checkout
As we have only just joined Google Checkout we can't comment too much but can raise the awareness that there are other payment providers.
Google checkout appears a much better option, we can email clients an invoice in seconds and they can pay with credit card or debit card instantly without having to sign up for an account. Unlike PayPal, if you have for any reason been banned, restricted or otherwise you can no longer register for an account, as we found out some weeks ago from a client who wanted to pay by card and tried to do so through paypal but refused it as the card was registered on an old account they once had.
The downside with Google Checkout is that you have to wait 10 days initially for them to transfer the money into your account once it has been verified, though, after 60 days, they reduce this to 3 days. so not a bad option. As for the fees, these are competitive and in-line with other similar companies offering the same service.

Merchant Bank Account
Obtaining a merchant banking account is no easy task, firstly you have to have an excellent credit rating, secondly you need to ideally have a registered company, and also they prefer to deal with companies that sell products not services so private investigators and the like are classed as high risk. Apparently, Private Investigators are high risk as we tend to bill clients before the job rather than after it. There theory is that, if a client was unhappy they would receive a lot of charge backs (refunds)

The main banks that offer Merchant Accounts (similar to a credit facility) are RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) Barclays, Natwest - Streamline (effectively part of Natwest) and others. To apply you either register through your own bank or use many other available options such as companies who will do it all for you and set it up for a small fee. If you are lucky to get one you have the option of having a terminal (PDQ Machine) whereby you take payment over the phone or an e-terminal for using the facility online through your PC

Nochex
Nochex is different again, once you have set up your account and verified your bank details they can accept payment on your behalf, there are restrictions and fees on the amount you can accept and withdraw so it pays to read the small print.

BACS
Probably the most effective method of them all, simply provide your client with your bank details and more often than not the money is transferred within a couple of hours. There are no fees or charges either (unless it is a payment received from an international client)

There you have it, a taster of what is available for anyone who is stuck in a rut or can't think of a better way of receiving payments from private clients. Needless to say, we are steadily converting over to BACS payments for all our clients, private and business, where possible of course!

The names and addresses of all vehicle owners in England and Wales are held and electronically stored by the Driver Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) at Swansea. This data is protected by the Data Protection Act 1998 and therefore is not information which is generally available. However, there may be occasions when obtaining the name and address of a vehicle owner from the DVLA is permissible.

The law requires the DVLA to protect the privacy of individual motorists and to ensure that personal data is used fairly and lawfully. However, whilst the vehicle register is not an open record, there are a limited range of circumstances in which data can be used properly for other purposes.

Read more

Radio equipment for the Private investigator

After reading various posts on different PI forums there seems to be a fair bit of confusion as to what is the best radio to get for the Private investigator. One of the most vital pieces of equipment you will need if you wish to perform a surveillance operation is good reliable radio communications.

Yes you can use mobile phones but you can't always get through and also, unless you are on a conference call can usually only speak to one person. Mobile phones are for use in lulls in radio comms. E.g. nothing has happened for some time and you need to relay a message that is not going to tie up the net, then use your phone. Note: Very slowly a system called PTT (Push to talk) is being rolled out in the UK with some commercial users using this system. Basically it’s a feature of a mobile phone that allows it to be used as a radio but without the range restrictions. However, I doubt very much that this will be free and will have the same restrictions of network coverage, another good reason for sticking with radio.

Out of radio range (usually means one of you has got held up) then use your mobile. Live commentary? Radio only!
Okay so what radio will you need and where should you purchase them from?

I have heard people say that they bought "a lovely little set from Argos for 20 quid" they will go on and say that they were great radios for the price etc. First of all you do not want to be buying cheap radios from Argos. These are the PMR 446 Licence free radios that every kid on the block had for Christmas, 8 channel jobs. This means that if you are using these radios on say, channel 1 any kid (or adult) that has a set of these tunes in to channel 1 quite innocently and is in your vicinity then he is going to be hearing your transmissions with great interest. Not only that but these radios being licence free are restricted to half a watt ERP (Effective radiated power) which is not good enough for our needs as the range is far too short. Most sets do not have a removable aerial either which means using any sort of vehicle mounted antenna is out of the question.

What you need is something designed for professional use. First of all you will need a radio licence. You will have to apply to ofcom and fill in a form stating the use of the radios. As they are radios not used at a fixed site you will require a UK general licence which covers the frequencies of.

Low VHF
Mid VHF
UHF

The licence costs around £60 and you can use any number of radios on that licence.
Radios are either VHF or UHF, you take your choice. Note this is in no way a statement condoning the practice of not bothering with a licence but its fact that if you don't then no one is policing the airwaves, checking that every transmission is being used by a licenced operator. If you fool around interfering with legitimate users then yes you will draw attention to yourself. But the law is the law so you should adhere to the rules and purchase a licence.

Personally I would not bother with the low VHF frequencies as the lower the frequency, the larger the antenna that is required, resulting in a large antenna at these low frequencies. The Mid VHF is more practical and it’s said that VHF glides through open spaces better than UHF.
UHF is supposed to be better at cutting through buildings in built up areas and requires a smaller antenna. I must say here that radio is an unpredictable science, sometimes you can be amazed at the ranges that can be achieved, other times you can be dismayed at the lack of range. Usually there can be an explanation such as a high vantage point for achieving long range and being in a dip for short range but sometimes there is no obvious explanation for the range extremes. Whilst we are on the subject I have heard statements like “We get ten miles range with our handhelds” Ok maybe if you are on top of a tower block on one side of the city you may achieve this, especially if the other chap is on a high vantage point too as radio works on line of sight. But in real life situations you are going to be getting a lot shorter range on a 5 watt hand held radio. So how do taxi drivers etc. get such extreme ranges being able to communicate all over the city with good clean signals? They use what is known as a repeater.

Basically a repeater can be an antenna system on top of a hill top or block of high rise flats that rebroadcasts the radio transmission it hears from a mobile unit. Example, A council worker driver wishes to tell his colleague who he knows is going to go on a certain route later and witnesses a car accident that is likely to congest the road for several hours and he wishes to tell him of the hold up. As he is seven miles away his transmissions will fall short and he won’t be heard by his friend or at best will receive a very scratchy signal. So a repeater is utilised, how this works is like this: Pete sees the accident and transmits on his radio on 459.950 (the frequency the radios are programmed to transmit on) the signal is easily heard by the high up repeater system and is re broadcast on 453.150 (the frequency that the council radios are programmed to receive on) as the repeater is high up and higher powered than the vehicle radios it is easily received on Bob’s radio and the message is clearly received. This system is called Duplex. Think of it like this, you and a friend are working on a house, your friend is in the front garden and you are in the back garden. You wish to relay a message to your friend in the front garden but the house is blocking your voice to your friend. Now if there was another chap on the roof he could hear you and relay your messages to your friend and vice versa.

So how does this all work for a Private investigator? We do not have such a luxury we will be using what is called Simplex, where the radios transmit and receive on the same frequency at a lower power, usually 4-5 watts handheld and 25 watts mobile. I will discuss later how to increase your range on such a system.

You now have your licence and ready to purchase some radios so where do you go? Well you could go to a PMR (Private mobile radio) dealer (Think it’s now changed its name to PBR-Private business radio) and pay top end prices or you could look on eBay. There are countless radios for sale on there from cheap Chinese radios to top end Motorola’s. So what about these cheap Chinese radios? Yes they are cheap but surprisingly good. I have purchased Puxing 777 radios for a very cheap price and they are very good value for the money giving excellent range and features.
Another word of caution here. By law all radios have to be type approved which means they are suitable for transmitting without causing interference on adjacent frequencies etc. these Chinese radio are not type approved. This does not mean they are not up to the job in fact they are more than capable. When a radio goes out of production it is also no longer type approved but does that mean it's no longer up to the job? Of course it doesn't. Again no one is policing this, and there are still people using gp300 radios which are still at this time considered one of the best pmr radios ever built but as it's no longer produced, technically it has no MOT! But again the law is the law!

There are numerous models of radios out there from Icom, Yaesu, Vertex, Motorola just to name a few, most of which should be up to the job. If using handhelds you want at least 4 watts which is the norm for UHF or 5 watts for VHF.
Mobile (car mounted) 25 watts. (Although this will infringe your UK general licence rules which is restricted to 5 watts) Again no one will probably know or care but again the law is...You know the rest.

CTCSS/DCS
Most Commercial radio users use a sub audible tone programmed into the radios that will open the squelch only on radios with the same sub-audible tone. Their own
radio system will all have the same CTCSS (Continuous tone coded squelch
System) or DCS (Digital coded Squelch) tone. This ensures that if any one
else on the same frequency but with a different tone transmits within range
then their radios will not hear any interference from those radios. This tone is
transmitted along with your voice but as stated earlier is sub audible so is not
heard.

A good example of this is a community repeater, not used as much today as they were a few years ago could have several users on a single frequency. So lets say there was a community repeater on say 453.050 MHz you could have say Bobs taxi’s, Sids skip co. and a veterinary surgeon all using the one frequency but as long as they all use different CTCSS tones, Taxi co. on one tone, skip co. on another tone and the vets on another tone, then they would be able to use their radios without interfering with each other.

So now you see the importance of having this set up on your radios? It would be no good you being on a job watching a worker from Morrison’s and finding you are on the same frequency/ctcss tone as Morrison’s who also use UK general frequencies. However, even if you are on the same frequency but using a different tone you should not interfere with each other. Don’t be fooled into thinking these CTCSS/DCS tones make your transmissions secure because they don’t. Motorola calls this feature PL or Private line which can cause some people to feel that their transmissions must now be private i.e. secure.

To make your transmissions more secure it helps to keep radio traffic down when it’s not needed. Surveillance voice traffic stands out like a sore thumb and anyone using a receiver such as a radio scanner will soon lock on to you with interest as your voice traffic will add a bit of excitement to their day. Even another radio user can tune in that is on the same frequency but using another tone. What normally happens on a radio that is using the same frequency is although their radios remain silent due to being on a different sub tone, on some radios the tx/rx (transmit/receive) light on top of the radio will flash red and a lot of radios have a squelch defeat button that when depressed lets in the audio from the other users radio!

To further secure your transmissions try to avoid using specific road names as you may find some unwanted guests turning up for a nose and most probably compromising your position.
Also remember if using 25 watt radios, although this is great for longer range comms, it also makes you fair game from eavesdroppers from further a field.

If you want to get serious about avoiding your comms being compromised you should consider some form of encryption. The Puxing radios mentioned earlier in the Puxing 777+ guise offer basic voice scrambling which should lock out all but the most determined of eavesdroppers. It has been said that if someone stumbles across a scrambled transmission it will make the listener very inquisitive and determined to hear what is going on. I say so what? If you were in the clear he would be tuned in anyway, if you are using scrambling then the chances are unless he is very determined and downloads the relevant software he won’t be able to listen to what is being said.

There are more advanced encryption solutions out there should you really want to get serious (Personally I wont use any insecure radios on any of my jobs) such as rolling code inversion scrambling and digital scrambling.

Digital radios
It’s a fact that we are entering a digital age, our music is now digital and soon all our commercial radios that we listen to, Radio 1 etc on are now becoming digital with DAB radios coming to the fore. Also Television which is sent via radio waves is due for a digital switchover very shortly. All the blue light forces now use secure digital radios using a system called tetra http://www.tetramou.com/tetramou.aspx?id=44 and on a network called “Airwave” which is only open to government bodies. Slowly the same can be said for pmr radios. To the forefront of this project is Motorola with their Mototrbo digital radio system. http://www.zenitel.com/Global/Denmark/Dokumenter/Motorola/MOTOTRBO_System_Brochure.pdf The advantages being digital clear audio with no hissing or crackling as the range increases. One to one calling facility, with my radios I can call any of the team at any time and all other radios remain silent, should a group call come in from the rest of the team it will cut us out of the one to one call and put us back into the group call. Although I do not use this facility as it will be an unnecessary drain on battery power and can be done via the mobile phone. Text messaging is also available on the models with a display such as the DP3600. Kenwood have their “Nexedge” system Icom has IDAS and before we know it digital will be the norm.

Mototrbo does not use ctcss or dcs it uses another format called colour codes so if the colour code does not match your colour code then the radios will remain silent. Actually there’s a lot more programming that goes into a digital radio before it will talk to another radio such as a group ID number and an individual radio ID that has to be on the group setup.
Digital also means that any eavesdropper will be listening to digital white noise and just for good measure should they manage to decode it (Apparently it has now been achieved by using Linux and a discriminator tap on a receiver, however this is only possible on the systems that employ a repeater not simplex as we would use them) the software for programming these radios has a privacy (Encryption) feature that will stop them in their tracks! The range of these radios is supposed to be greater than their analogue counterparts, I have not however conducted any tests to prove or disprove this theory.

One thing to be aware of though, when you get out of range on these radios the signal will just drop completely as digital is all or nothing. Think how your mobile phone calls sometimes just drop when you are on a call, whereas analogue goes scratchy and intermittent at least you know you are moving out of range, but the advertising hype says that digital will stay audible where analogue struggles and will drop out beyond the range of analogue. Like I say I have not conducted any real tests.
Again these radios can be picked up on eBay
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m570.l1313&_nkw=mototrbo&_sacat=See-All-Categories

Magnetic mounted (Mag mounts) antennas.
When a radio is in the confines of a vehicle with the supplied helical antenna. Commonly known as a “Rubber duck” the radio is restricted as it is shrouded by the metal of the vehicle. This cuts down on the range and to combat this you will need a mag mount antenna that sits on the outside of the vehicle. The vehicle metal acting as a ground plane to assist in the range of the radio transmissions giving you much better range. Obviously you will want to place it somewhere not too obvious such as hidden behind your existing broadcast antenna. I do know some people use the mag mount inside the vehicle for maximum discretion, however that for me defeats the object as I have run tests inside and out and there is a marked decrease in radio range when using inside the vehicle.

Remember that the antenna will have to be cut for size depending on the frequency used. In the case of UHF a small 6” quarter wave antenna can be used which does not stick out like a sore thumb. If lower frequencies are used then a longer antenna will be needed. Try to avoid using eBay mag mounts as they are mainly receive only scanner antennas that are not built with good quality components. I get mine from a pmr radio dealer. Just tell them the frequency you will be using and they will cut it to the appropriate length and will use good quality cable, as using cheap cable results in loss on the signal.

Speaker mics
You should also invest in some fist mics so that you don’t have to keep holding the radio to your mouth, these give far more flexibility and much easier to use than just using the radio. Try not to scrimp too much here as although you can buy cheap non OEM types they can be quite “tinny” in sound quality. Using speaker mics you can put the radio in a suitable spot in the car and not having to keep reaching for it and fumbling about if you have it in say the passenger seat. My car has an arm rest which lifts up and exposes a compartment for storing items. I find my radio sits lovely here and is away from prying eyes if anyone was to walk past and look into your vehicle.

Batteries
All radios unless they are mobile vehicle units in which case they will be powered from the vehicle. Will require batteries. Remember the more you use your radios for idle chit chat etc. the shorter the battery life. If possible take a spare fully charged set with you in case you are on plot for longer than was envisaged. Also remember if you charge up your batteries after a days surveillance and don’t use them again until a couple of months your batteries may well have self discharged so always charge the day before.

Ear pieces
I don’t like most ear pieces especially the supposedly “Covert” curly wired ear pieces that shout out “FBI” to all and sundry. If you can get them (probably have to have them made up) go for the walkman type earphones that everyone is used to seeing and people if they even take a blind bit of notice of you will assume you are listening to your ipod or if they hear you talking will assume you are on your phone. Wireless earpieces are another good option.

© M.Rattenbury www.investigateit.co.uk 2010