Darryn replied:

Hi Carl & Kaz, the general concensuss today is UHF only. I haven't used my 27 mhz rig for nearly a year now and the last time I had it on I was supprised by the total lack of traffic. It was the Melbourne Cup L/Weekend and there were plenty of people camping and driving around. I have also noticed GME no longer lists 27 Mhz SSB sets and retailers like Prestige Comms don't have any 27 mhz SSB sets either. They only list AM only 27 mhz so demand must be non existant. On the other hand it is getting hard to find a quiet channel on UHF especially at holiday times. Go for a GME UHF and you should be right.

Regd's Darryn

Member - John (Vic) replied:

Virtually no one use AM anymore.
Buy a UHF.

Member - Jay Gee (WA) replied:

As everyone else has stated - virtually no-one uses AM anymore.

But considering how cheap and easy it is to get UHF now - and all the idiots who are getting on and jamming up the repeaters - now would be an ideal for AM to get popular again. Just imagine - an almost private network with no idiots interfering with your conversation.

Tim HJ61 (WA) replied:

So how come AM CB went off the boil?

Was it just that UHF was the next big thing? I remember having to get a licence for my AM CB, with upper and lower sideband - it was a great unit.

I found some useful commentary at http://www.alphalink.com.au/~parkerp/cb.htm and http://www.cmca.net.au/motorhoming/communications/cbradio.htm

The general view from these sites was that UHF provided clearer communication over longer distances (not withstanding the skip of SSB), although it doesn't work as well in hilly country. It is FM as opposed to the AM of good ol' CB's. There is also a page on this Exploroz site under Communications. But as you say, you know all of this. I went searching to satisfy my own curiosity.

Seems like you COULD have one as well as a UHF but if so few people use it I'd be thinking it's not worth the money or space. I've got this mental image of a tangle of UHF, AM CB, and HF mikes as someone is calling you and you're not quite sure where the voice is coming from or which mike to grab as you're bouncing around. :-)

Tim

Willb replied:

Hi Carl and Kaz, I fitted a am set into my vehicle in 2001 and travelled 10,ooo k's and had it turned on while travelling and did not hear any one at all. (and yes it was working) did a 5,000 k trip this year and found it invaluable. (spelling?) You get a lot of clowns on it the same as the old am days but the upside beats the downside. one maker does a uhf/am combo, I think that maybe now that a lot of people use uhf maybe we will start to see a swing back to am because not a lot of these units are around.
Who wonts to start a movement back to AM ?
Will