Welcome to the Forum Black Pete.
Choice of communication devices depends soley on your perceived needs. To most Nomads getting messages to/from vehicles intending to overtake, occasionally relaying a message to travelling companions in another vehicle, or finding out where Mum has disappeared to in a Supermarket, 40 channel UHF will cover all of these.
Actually, a small low-powered handheld transceiver is sufficient for most uses - If you are trekking in remote areas, you may perceive the need for an high power 80 channel unit whereas in reality a PLB would be a better option.
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Possum; AKA:- Ali El-Aziz Mohamed Gundawiathan
Sent from my imperial66 typewriter using carrier pigeon, message sticks and smoke signals.
Yeah mate ... my GME unit was installed 20 yrs ago when I bought the MH I am still enjoying, and the radio keeps on going nicely
When / if?? it eventually goes-to-god, then I will get the new 80-ch unit
As to daily use, it's operating most days that I am on the road (ie-12-months each year) and I very rarely see a need for the upper channels
Truckies + road traffic controllers + most others are quite audible on the lower 40 channels, so what's to bother about?
Problem with a 40 channel is that you may not know whether the truckie using an 80 channel has heard you or not, because you may or may not be able to hear his/her reply.
Problem with a 40 channel is that you may not know whether the truckie using an 80 channel has heard you or not, because you may or may not be able to hear his/her reply.
All trucks monitor #40 - If they are too far away to hear, what's the point of attempting to talk to them?
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Possum; AKA:- Ali El-Aziz Mohamed Gundawiathan
Sent from my imperial66 typewriter using carrier pigeon, message sticks and smoke signals.
Problem with a 40 channel is that you may not know whether the truckie using an 80 channel has heard you or not, because you may or may not be able to hear his/her reply.
All trucks monitor #40 - If they are too far away to hear, what's the point of attempting to talk to them?
It has been discussed previously & I have direct hands on experience. The issue is a compatability one. Can vary from unit to unit, so you can't know without direct testing. The volume from an 80 channel unit to a 40 channel unit , using channel 40 (or any other channel) can be so low as to be inaudible inside a moving vehicle.
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From https://www.readytrekgo.com.au/a-beginners-guide-to-40-80-channel-uhf-radios/
What is the difference between 40 and 80 channel UHF radios?
Okay, now for the question on everyones mind. In 2011 the channel bandwidth was split in two from 25kHz to 12.5kHz, doubling the number of available UHF channels from 40 to 80.
Obviously, the main difference is that one has 40 channels available and the other has 80. While both the 40 channel and 80 channel UHF radio use the 476.4250-477.4125MHz radio spectrum, the 40 channel radio is a wide-band radio (expecting a signal of 25khz), while the 80 channel radio is a narrow band (expecting a signal of 12.5khz).
Do 40 and 80 channel radios work together?
Simply put, yes. An 80 channel UHF can communicate with someone who has a 40 channel UHF (using only the first 40 channels of course), and vice versa.
The only issue here is that due to the difference in bandwidths, the person on the 80 channel may sound quiet and be difficult to hear to the person using the 40 channel. Similarly, a 40 channel can come through distorted or significantly louder due to their varying bandwidths.
For the best possible signal, it is recommended to have units that use the same bandwidth, either 40 channel with 40 channel, or 80 channel with 80 channel.
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In my case the 5w GME 40ch handheld could only hear transmission from Icom 80 ch (on various channels, including 40) with volume turned to full & the handheld hard against my ear. Volume was too low to be heard over the noise of a running vehicle. This was with both users looking at each other & about 30 metres apart.
-- Edited by Cuppa on Monday 10th of July 2023 12:02:23 PM
