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UHF Hand-Helds

Submitted: Tuesday, Aug 02, 2005 at 11:42

scottywiper

Hi guys,
Just looking at some hand-held UHF radios. at Dick Smith. $85 for a pair, 0.5w, range of 3km line of sight, with rechargeable batteries.
Will only use then a couple of times a year, when on fishing trips.
Any thoughts?
Cheers,
Scotty
ThreadID: 25275 Replies: 7
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AnswerID: 123314   Submitted: Tuesday, Aug 02, 2005 at 11:53

Member - Mozza (NSW) replied:

as you said above.. if your only using them a couple of times a year.. $85 is cheap alternative for easy way of communicating between two boats...
also a good safety measure too....
as long as you are within the 'limits' .. these UHF units are fine.
we use them at work (large building site) and i've noticed they take a bit more of a battering then the more expensive ones too.. well worth their money.. keep them charged and clean and you'll have no worries...

are these the ones that come with the desktop chargers ?..
Its clean for once !schoonerofnewthanksmate
Reply 1 of 7
AnswerID: 123317   Submitted: Tuesday, Aug 02, 2005 at 11:59

Member - Tonester (VIC) replied:

I got a pair for around the same price. Used for car-car communication until I got a 5W unit, and I definitely found limits (volume, distance), but overall worked great and was good value. Can't see any problems for what you said your requirements are. Carry a spare set of AA batteries with you might be an idea too.
Reply 2 of 7
FollowupID: 378387   Submitted: Tuesday, Aug 02, 2005 at 12:04

Becky 34 posted:

Do you want to sell your old ones Tonester?
FollowUp 1 of 2
FollowupID: 378389   Submitted: Tuesday, Aug 02, 2005 at 12:13

Member - Tonester (VIC) posted:

lol. Sorry Becky, no. Still need them when out of the car, on the inlaws farm, etc. Not expensive, but very useful things.
FollowUp 2 of 2
AnswerID: 123318   Submitted: Tuesday, Aug 02, 2005 at 12:04

Member - Roachie (SA) replied:

I bought 2 packs of 2 radios ( ie: 4 in all) last year from Tandy. The packs were $59- each and the radios use 3 x AAA's. I thought the kids might be able to use them for entertainment (as long as I policed them to not use a channel that others are using!!!!)
The batteries don't last very long (about 4 hours if the radios are being left on and used). The are around the place at home gathering dust.
I must advertise them in the Trader soon. There's nothing wrong with the way they operate and I can sell you a pair for $40-; ideal for you if you only want to use them infrequently and are prepared to put new batteries in each time you go out.
Cheers
Roachie

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There's only one thing more painful than learning from experience and that is NOT learning from experience!
Reply 3 of 7
AnswerID: 123327   Submitted: Tuesday, Aug 02, 2005 at 12:24

Wizard1 replied:

We bought a pair last year, great value for money. We use them when positioning the caravan, as well as convoy communications. HAven't found a better priced package.

Have had trouble with the NiCad batteries going south after a couple of uses. Be careful to do the initial charge in accordance with the user manual and don't remove from charger when the light says to. Ours are now cactus as a result of not doing the first charge proprerly. We now carry good quality disposables as back up.

Wizard
Gold Coast
Reply 4 of 7
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AnswerID: 123336   Submitted: Tuesday, Aug 02, 2005 at 13:27

Member - Smocky (NSW) replied:

We've got a couple of Uniden UH-036 I think they are. I didn't bother with the desktop charger version. Just use rechargeable AAA Energizer's if you want to.

They are really small, great for short range comms and cost me I think $30-odd for the pair. Really handy. Work car-to-car for up to about 1,000m or therabouts.

I don't think the Uniden's are any dearer and mine are really well made for the price.

Smocky.
Reply 5 of 7
FollowupID: 378411   Submitted: Tuesday, Aug 02, 2005 at 14:15

Utemad posted:

I've been considering getting a pair of these. RRP is $65 but the best I've seen them for is $58.

Where'd you manage to get them for that price?
FollowUp 1 of 3
FollowupID: 378414   Submitted: Tuesday, Aug 02, 2005 at 14:44

Member - Smocky (NSW) posted:

K'Mart I think. There or Target. Kids have dropped them and kicked them about. They're nice and small too and work well. Used them on a convoy prior to getting 3200 fitted and it worked fine. From front of convoy to back. I was in the middle.
FollowUp 2 of 3
FollowupID: 378431   Submitted: Tuesday, Aug 02, 2005 at 17:08

Member - Roachie (SA) posted:

I've just placed an ad in the Trader for the 4 of these that I bought new last September. The kids don't seem interested in them and you can have them for $20- each.
Cheers
Roachie

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FollowUp 3 of 3
AnswerID: 123415   Submitted: Tuesday, Aug 02, 2005 at 19:14

motherhen replied:

For anyone else - Scotty will no doubt take up Roachie's offer - i got 2 Unidens new from eBay quite a bit cheaper than Dick Smith's price. I just need the rechargable AAAs now.
Reply 6 of 7
FollowupID: 378507   Submitted: Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 00:41

Sand Man (SA) posted:

Can recommend the Digitor Charger sold by Dick Smith's.

I have deliberately selected all my portable battery operated gizmo's portable UHF unit, GPS, Digital Camera to use either AA or AAA batteries.

I now only use the NiMH rechargeable batteries and with a 12 volt adaptor cable which plugs into the Cigarette socket, I can recharge the batteries at any time.

The initial charger purchase includes 4 AA Batteries from memory.

Digitor Charger

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FollowUp 1 of 3
FollowupID: 378535   Submitted: Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005 at 09:38

motherhen posted:

Thanks Sandman - our local DSE didn't tell us about that one. Where did you get the 12 volt adaptor? Chargers all seem to be for 2 or 4 batteries, and the hand held take 3! My cameras take AA & AAA, and i have a charger with the camera which does the 2 AA and about 8 hours on mains power, and i think can also be used for AAA. 12 v charging would be ideal. Motherhen
FollowUp 2 of 3
FollowupID: 378895   Submitted: Friday, Aug 05, 2005 at 10:01

Sand Man (SA) posted:

The 12 volt adaptor cable came from Tricky Dickies as well.
It elliminates the need for an inverter.

Even though the Digitor charging unit takes 4 AA or 4 AAA batteries, you don't have to charge all four at once. Any number from a single to four batteries can be inserted at any one time.

The only restriction is that you cannot insert a combination of AA and AAA batteries at the same time. A flip down adaptor is used when inserting the AAA's.

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I'm diagonally parked in a parallel Universe!
FollowUp 3 of 3
AnswerID: 124090   Submitted: Saturday, Aug 06, 2005 at 16:47

prado_95 replied:

All of the radios that use AAA batteries are will keep you digging into your pocket for another set of batteries if you use the radio very much.

The fewer the number of batteries the greater the battery consumption for any given power output. The small the battery the less charg it can hold.

So, fewer smaller batteries is not the way to go for battery life (or opertaing expense).

BUT, if you use them twice a year for a short time, and have a bulk battery pack purchase I guess they are OK.

Another thing, the smaller lower cost (ie sub $99) usually dont have provision for external aker and microphone. These are great if you are out of the car & need to be in comunitcation with the vehicle recovery team but need to keep your hands substancially free.

Dave

Reply 7 of 7