Good Morning happy campers,

Just a question if I may? 

Been doing a fair bit of research re UHF radios to purchase, and have come to a conclusion that the GME is as good as the next one.

The problem I am having, is what aerial to purchase.  There are so many out there for all different types of situations and locations.  Also the question as to where to mount the darn thing. 

Information overload is the problem.

I have a Patrol and personally I do not think the bullbar is the best location to mount an aerial as it is too low down to have maximum effect.

I was thinking perhaps a gutter mount with an aerial of some description.

I have travelled for many years without a radio, however believe it is time to take the plunge.

Can anyone advise me of an aerial which is a good performer, as from what I have gathered, the radio transmission and reception is only as good as your antenna.

There are so many to choose from, so I am seeking your knowledge and wisdom in this matter please.

Take Care and Stay well

Peter

well I pondered the same question so I went and seen an expert, he is a coast guard volunteer and mans all the radios, 

he is also a gme outlet, which I tend to think is the best, I have a secondhand gme 3220 (bought off ebay for $100) in little blue with a 2.5 mtr aerial off the bumper ( I might add that is off the ground measurement, the actual aerial is only about 1m - 1.5m in height) 

I asked him the same question "which aerial for me" his answer was simple "height is might" so he sold me a fibreglass whip, supposedly the right one for me, which I may add works a treat 

having said that, the same can be achieved with a little rubber one mouted on the gutter (wont snap and you have the same height anyway) I didnt want to run the cable up to the gutter so I mounted mine on the bar,
 
whichever one you choose I think you are better off going and seeing a gme man and buying a "matched" aerial for your setup, they are not that dear, mine cost $50, 

they go a lot higher than that once they incorporate spring bases, heavy fibreglass rod  and suchlike I've been told that the little rubber one on the roof is fine as it is basically only "line of sight" communication except when it comes to repeaters which I know nothing about

-- Edited by dave06 at 11:28, 2009-01-25

hi sgt bilko, interesting topic to ponder on.... in the end, generally how high you are situated in the surrounding terrain will be the main factor in your reception qualities. i have 11 uhf radios in operation on my farm and  have a
variety of aerials on them. from a large gme fibregalss one on the patrol wagon roobar to a plastic covered one on the patrol ute roof and various other wire ones on tractors and other machinery.... to be really honest they all seem to work much the same, we work over about 20 kilometers radius... try a cheap wire one for starters, they are flexible when you hit a tree top and seem to work fine... maybe don't look so cool !! but so... what  good listening

It all depends on what you think you want to get out of your set . If traveling in convoy and board but short distance transmission is all that's required then a 3 db gain will do the trick if you want distance and narrow directional transmission then you may want to move up to the 6 or maybe 9 dB gain range . Obviously the terrain you are traveling in will determine the range, unless you can achieve some atmospheric skip, but that's not a reliable method of communications if you're in the do do and need help . There's an interesting article in the latest edition of Caravan and Motorhome which may help you decide on your first setup . Please don't take that as an endorsement of the mag or it's contents

Many Thanks all.

The radio selection is quite easy as you all know.  The aerial selection itself is a pain in the butt.

Thank you all for you input.  It is really appreciated.  Andrews suggestion of trying a cheapo 1st up could be the clue BUT how do you know that another aerial works better.   I guess at this stage of the game its a Pig in a Poke.

Will let you know how things work out.  Will also check out the mag as suggested by wombat.  

Thanks also for your input Dave.

Take care and stay well

Peter

If the one you fit works leave it alone . Never fix or change anything if it's working . Have seen a few rigs with a number of sticks that you can switch from incab position from one to the other as the terrain determines.

go and grab some info from a gme supplier and do it right the first time, but dont fall into the trap of big bold and ugly, you dont need a thumping big thing, you only need a little one on the roof and as wombat says, dont buggarise around with it, once it's there and working, go on to the next job!!! we had an electrical contractor on a construction job with us, he had a great swag of aerials hanging off all over his car, a few of our boys had a laugh and placed a bit of pvc in amongst them, he didnt notice the extra one for three days I had a feller talking to me from hawai once, dont know how but he reckons it was an inversion layer or something I just say WOT THE?????

dave06 wrote:

---

go and grab some info from a gme supplier and do it right the first time, but dont fall into the trap of big bold and ugly, you dont need a thumping big thing, you only need a little one on the roof and as wombat says, dont buggarise around with it, once it's there and working, go on to the next job!!!

we had an electrical contractor on a construction job with us, he had a great swag of aerials hanging off all over his car, a few of our boys had a laugh and placed a bit of pvc in amongst them, he didnt notice the extra one for three days

I had a feller talking to me from hawai once, dont know how but he reckons it was an inversion layer or something I just say WOT THE?????

---

That's the skip I mentioned,  happens a lot in the tropics and in antarctic  all depends on the atmospheric conditions, can come and go without any warning.  It can also work in reverse,  on some clear days the range can be much less than the manual states  especially if there's a lot of particulate matter in the air or traveling over high yeild minerial deposits. .  If you want real distance communication then Sat Phone or Sat link radios  are the only way to go , but bring your  cheque  book with you, not cheap   

 

Thanks for the replies. Really appreciated. I know when I was using CB radios many years back, 27meg, Skip was very predomanent and with a Decent aerial like a Yagi (directional with quite a bit of db gain) and the set boosted to push out more than the normal amount of watts, I was able to receive and talk to many contacts from overseas. However I was of the opinion that with UHF it was clear of Skip. How wrong one can be. Never to old to learn Once again, thanks all for your input. Take care and stay well Peter

just one other thing that I neglected to mention, my whip aerial is a 6db job, I asked the expert is that what I need for my travels and he said it will suit me just fine, don't know much more about the decibel side of things I always thought that a decibel was a measure of sound????

one thing with the old cb's, if they didnt hear what you said then you could walk over and tell them what it was you were speaking about, had one in the seventies, a megaphone worked just as well

breaker, breaker, good buddy, got your ears on, come back

-- Edited by dave06 at 11:05, 2009-01-29

On the weekend I thought My UHF died....you could hear a click when transmitting..when you hit button...and hear replys...but no voice while transmitting.....took it into Autobarn today.....they checked it....replaced the mic.piece.$29.95...I asked if the antana was ok to put on the Paj..they told Me it was 4.5db.and was quite suitable.but I should have new cable and base..with a spring..just incase low branches...as the Paj is a bit higher than the Ford AU Dave

that makes sense!!! one thing more, when I bought mine off ebay, it came with an external speaker about 4" x 3", makes a hell of a lot of difference clarity wise!!