As I head toward Camooweal the into NT to Barkly Homestead and then either north or west (?) seems a UHF radio might make be feel safer in case of an emergengy etc. Seems you can get a Uniden or GME rfor about $300 or so. (In the absence of Telstra, god love 'em - not!).Do they need to be fitted? or can you get a hand held. Completely ignorant in this area .I'm in 'The Isa" which would appear to be the last place I may get one before i REALLY go to the outback. Does ayone use one?....thanks Sue
A hand-held UHF radio would be a handy distraction if you wish to simply eves-drop some chatter.. (not forgetting that around large towns and cities the 'language' can be more than colourful!) Both those units are good brands, but remember one thing, and that is that as a hand-held unit, its range can be severely restricted if transmitting from within the 'drivers seat .. It is 'line-of-sight' dependant and having the mass of the vehicle around you will restrict your ability to get out too far.
A little more expensive but more appropriate woud be to have one fitted that benefits from having an antenna fitted externally and in a elevated position.
Cant help you much at the moment as I'm still house-bound, but once I'm nomadic, if you still need a hand, then let me know ..
GME inboard with a 7.5 db gain external hairyall is the way to go if you want to listen to endless prattle, but a good quality handheld used outside of the vehicle would be O.K. for emergencys but remember it has very limited distance and wont bounce over hills, line of sight is the way to go with uhf
try to update your phone, we have the telstra next "g" with external hairyall, we can get out nearly everywhere with that, money well spent, uhf is basically a puddle jumpers toy
Just installed a ICOM 440 and a 6.5 db gain whip . I got the 440 as it can be mounted under the seat and all the controls, channel selector, vol and speaker etc ;are located in the hand piece.
The antennas are the key to performance there is a good diagram on the BENELEC site which shows that 3db gain is good for hilly terrain and a 9 db is good for straight line such as flat stretches in the GAFA . There are quite a few antennas out there all with different performance data and vehicle mounting location setups . .
The one I got is not top of the market but came with both a 3 and 6 db gain whips for less than a $100.00 The radio came from Repco at $370.00, book price elsewhere $489.00. Fitting DIY, no big deal just follow the destruction list, if still unsure get onto the forum for a tune up on how to stuff it up big time. LOL
Had hand held for a long time but was only 3 watt output really need the max of 5 watt. Highly recommend the following site for a good read on UHF before you jump in .
http://home.iprimus.com.au/rfh/uhf_radio.html
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Thanks Jon, Dave. I'm a fool for not getting an external aerial fitted for my nextg phone when I had the chance months ago. Don't think I'll have a need for UHF anything when I think seriousy about it. Will endeavour to have an external NextG aerial fitted. Was going to anyway. The cost of the aerial doesn't bother me but finding someone to fit it does. I've met some who have paid roughly $400 just to fit.. But thank you both. The M3 is gorgeous and comfortable. Dave, you've cofirmed what I suspected anyway. 'twas only for an emergency. Decided I won't have any - this trip anyway.. cheers
Thanks Wombat. I can do a lot of things but this DIY - not. But being a gadget person it's always interested me. I will check out the Benelec cattledog. I'm familiar with the high gain antennae...though can stuff it up without the forum's help..lol.. thanks for the offer..
I get absolutely sick and tired of the dribble that streams from our uhf, we never seem to be "out of range" of any idiot, I put it on "scan" just for emergencies but all that does is to find the closest drongo and locks on to him
truckies are shockers (language and dribble) puddle jumper jockeys should just "get a life" and if you call up "peggy and Bill on uhf 40" (clearly marked on the back of that doddering sharabang you will be greeted with a speaker full of "SILENCE"
we recently came back from Tassie (roughly 3,500 kms all up) I turned it on a few times but got fed up with it very quickly, and subsequently shut it off
however I installed a next G antenny on the camper, its a magnetic base one so I can take it off and whack it on our Magna as well and it worked a treat all through the mountainous terrain of Tassie, not one dropout, had it on the Magna all through Vic without a dropout as well
some of the best $200 bucks I ever spent, except for that time down in the cross, but thats another story!!!!!!!!!
I had to update my gps as well, my old kmart special decided to die just when I needed it most (always the way) I bought a garmin nuvi 760 widescreen with red light and radar detector (I wonder how that would go in the cross), it has "bluetooth onboard"
now I used to knock the "bluetooth" something chronic, noting it as a "gimmick" but after installing my phone or "pairing it" I now would not be without it, phone rings, press button on gps and talk, no more struggling to get the phone off the side of pants at 110 kph (probably a bit dangerous)
another thing it has is "breadcrumbing" basically what that does is to leave an electronic "trail" for one to follow, I park the car in a huge parking lot on the umpteenth floor of some indistinguishable building, I remove the Gps from the holder and it is able to "pinpoint" where I left the car regardless of where the dragon and I may wander
no more lost old farts wandering aimlessly amongst a huge multistory car park, whistling up our car
The only problem with relying on your mobile is it's only good for making or receiving calls to or from another mobiles , hardly a useful means of coms if you or someone else out there is in trouble and needs to get a message out. If only those with mobile phones are driving by or coming up onto a situation oblivious to the needs or dangers ahead then lives are put at risk .
Unlike UHF users mobile phone users are reluctant to have their mobile number displayed on their van so others outside their immediate group can call them .
Had a situation where a following UHF user noted I had a tyre about to deflate ,call me up before I blew the tyre , that's one instance where a UHF set came in handy and may have saved my life, didn't know them from a bar of soap but very grateful for the heads up on the tyre
Most UHF users stay on CH 18 , locking the scan mode to monitoring the emergency channels only, once contact is made they move up or down to another channel for chit chat then return back to monitor 18 for more calls . Stay away from ch 40 which is the truckies . If a truckie needs to get in touch to let you know he is about to overtake then let him come onto ch 18 for the brief discussion.
If going really bush then an investment in a VHF radio is the go, you can talk to anyone anywhere but you need a licence and some coms training to get the full safety potential out of it, It's like carrying a first aid kit , you pray you never need to use it but you still carry it regardless of the weight
Each to his /her own there is no one fool proof system but a combination may help
-- Edited by Wombat 280 on Saturday 4th of July 2009 09:35:14 PM
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well I must have a special kind of mobile phone because I can call anyone anywhere in the world on any type of phone with my mobile, and that includes all sorts of emergency services,
I dont display my mobile number or our names, our vehicle is instantly recognisable by all our freinds, even some we havent met yet, made half a dozen new ones in echuca who keep in touch, but not through uhf
when we were travelling the inland I never had any kind of communication, but if I did it again now I would have the mobile, with antenny, a uhf and an epirb as BASIC'S
I have a uhf, dont know why, I rarely turn it on,
I guess it's a matter of the checklist,
(1) BULLBAR, check,
(2) SPOTLIGHTS, check,
(3) AT LEAST TWO AERIAL'S check
(4) FOX TAIL, check
(5) WOBBLY HEADED DOG ON DASHBOARD, check
with the mobile I can at least make the emergency call and someone somewhere will come and get me, well I like to think so, worked for Tony Bullimore, so in theory
or I may just go over to that service station across the road and ask them for assistance, after all that is about as far away from civilisation that most travellers go these days, me included
the ones that are out there in the backblocks alrady have all the gear they need
hi dave. whats this foxtail on the aeriel, and a noddy doll. david it sounds as if we are back driving our old "coburg cadiallacs". they were fun days.????? i used to have a big blow up doll,i called it my tourist terrorising kit.
a. Mobile 'phones only work up to appx 100km from a tower. There are huge gaps in the networks of towers. Telstra has the broadest coverage in non-metropolitan areas.
b. UHF is essentially 'line of sight' and rarely has a range exceeding 9km except where there are repeater stations which may increase the range to appx 20 km from the tower.
c. HF will give varying range depending on the atmospheric/sunstorm activity and requires a certain amount of 'nous' to operate effectively. It is completely wasted on those who are reluctant or unable to comprehend the underlying principles. The trancievers are quite expensive to buy but cheap to operate.
d. PLBs and EPIRBs are for life and death emergency only and do not normally provide for two way communication.
e. Satellite 'phones will give the best coverage and reliability but are subject to some peculiarities depending on the service provider and the positioning of the satellites at any given moment. They are expensive to buy and to operate.
f. Homing pigeons can be quite reliable, but require the user to provide continuous care and attention. Their range is limited principally by water availability and are not entirely reliable in areas of eleveted falcon activity. Only one way communication is possible.
Does this help?
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Old age and treachery will overcome youth and enthusiasm any day.......
More to the point if you want to be selective with who you can coms with then mobile phone is your answer but if you want to be on air just in case you or someone you don't know is in trouble or your unsure of the travel conditions ahead then a UHF VHF unit is the go. The range is limited by the antenna but if enough users pick up your call then it's like an inbuilt repeater station , in some cases if the incident location can't be positively ID or is unknown then triangulation may be possible between units.
Every type of coms has it's limitations but in the bush it could be confidently argued that a UHF or VHF set is a good option verf the others . If only road running then a mobile is ideal to contact the next CP or round up a mate with a mobile.
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Pets are welcome but children must be leashed at all times
Gday Sue as you no doubt have found out by now NextG or any other land based mobile phone just doesnt work very well in the NT . Once you leave Camooweal you have no service till you get close to Barkley Homestead , then nothing till Tennant Creek etc etc . As Dave has said in close to the coast there is a lot of chatter on UHF and gets worse the closer to the coast you get but west of the Newel Highway you can travel all day and hardly hear a sound out channel 40 . I have travelled thousands of kilometres and called hundreds of vans on the UHF and had about 3 answer , why bother having the stickers on your van or are they a fashion statement .
Gday Mick welcome to you, I agree that around the well beaten track then the silence is deafening on the uhf and the call signs on the back are only for show but I'm a "desert dweller" I just love the deserts and the outback, traversed most of them in past years and still doing them today, I love them
if I call anyone north of port augusta or up around parachilna then I am sure to get a "howdy" back,
as I stated above if one travels then there is a "checklist" of must haves, all this gear is not used of course, good god half of them wouldnt know how, but the further in to good country the more it is used and apreciated
dont get me wrong I rarely use my uhf simply because of the rubbish that is put on there by the "convoy" or the truckies but I would never be without it, any lifeline in a bind will suffice
Gday Dave I dont know what you call the well beaten track , but I have covered most of the eastern states and done a couple of Darwin Adelaide trips and I will stand by
"I have travelled thousands of kilometres and called hundreds of vans on the UHF and had about 3 answer , why bother having the stickers on your van or are they a fashion statement"
I have called on both 18 and 40 and very rarely even heard any body talking on 18 .
the well beaten track to me is always bitumen and mainly services the major towns and citys, I prefer the "b" roads, they still get you there but are a lot less travelled, the further north I get on "b" and gravel/dirt then the more people will use the uhf
once up around and past hawker, parachilna and angorichna heading into the good country then people will say G'day a lot
on the highway I doubt that 90% of uhf private users are even turned on
