UHF Radio

I had a radio on another service once with all the controls in the microphone. I dropped it while trying to negotiate some rough terrain. Some or more buttons were bumped and it ended up in some strange mode that couldn't be fixed by just turning it off. And guess where the hand book was - Yep At home. It was useless for the rest of the trip.

You can do as you wish but I steer well clear of these smart microphones.

Phil

Yep lol that would be a prob but I have the book in the consul and like all new tec stuff takes time to learn to use it but find this better with everything on the mic instead of trying to look down under the dash to see if we have it on the right channel, always there in front of us.
Rusty

I would need a bigger container than just the console, maybe even a filing cabinet, to carry all the hand books for our 4WD and camping accessaries, camera etc etc gizmos/accessories. And don't forget the inverter, solar panel Redarc controller and isolator and a wiring layout of the 4WD accessories and their fuses. Not very practical to carry handbooks apart from the cars manual. We just have the car manual.

The console is for emergency and first aid stuff and a couple of immediate action items, satellite phone etc.

I wouldn't think that a CB radio handbook would rate as an emergency item. If it does then you have a more complicated radio than is necessary or don't know enough about its controls and settings.

As I said - each to his own. Cheers.

Phil

You can get electronic manuals for most items to put on your computer or phone.

Who takes a computer or a smart phone!!

Phil

"Who takes a computer or a smart phone"

Lots of people would be my guess.

Cheers
Greg

.
There are some, such as Phil and myself, who have spent a lifetime dealing with complex technology and now, in the later years, prefer life to be easy. For things to be simple.
Simple enough to not need owner manuals at hand. Simple enough to not get locked-up into some irresolvable state. Simple enough for our wives to operate unassisted in an emergency.

I know where Phil is coming from. There are two buttons on my microphone. More than enough.

Allan

How many buttons does your sat phone have?

Hope its not too complicated for your wife "to operate unassisted in an emergency" :)

Cheers
Greg

Hi Greg. I don't know how many buttons mine has. I have only used it once to test it.

I realise that things are a changing (!!!) and people these days can't live without their toys. Some can live without TV but a lot can't even breathe without FB or Twitter.

I actually built from discrete components (thats transistors, resistors and chips) the computer to look after the safety aspects of my model train layout which took up a whole full sized double garage. But I didn't always turn it on. I still enjoyed changing the points by piano wire just like they did in the old days.

Search Youtube for mu userid and look for the train vids.

We have a navigator in the dash, a satellite phone in the console (that even my grand mother couls use - I never met them) but 's it apart from th digital camera.

Out of curiosity, a compass and paper maps were actually used in the Madigan and we ended up 100 meters off after 40 kms (not bad).

Yes, some can live without technology. Just having a good day Greg. I need them. Still doing chemo after 6.5 years.

Phil

.
Well Greg, our Satphone has 2 buttons apart from the keypad and a directional button so it is probably as simple as the ubiquitous cell-phone that most everyone has grafted to their left ear.
And yes, Roz operates it with no trouble.

The GME TX3550S on the other hand has 6 dual-mode buttons, 1 directional and 1 volume, apart from the 2 operational buttons. Screw up on those dual-mode buttons and you won't sort it out while still driving. It may suit some but I prefer a mic. that I can just grab while bouncing along without fear of mishandling.
A good thing about a 14yo Troopy is that one can bolt-on accessories all over the place without disfiguring its appearance! But not everyone is so fortunate!

Even our car FM/AM radio has a cluster of fiddly little buttons that do all sorts of strange functions. Whatever happened to the good 'ol radios that had two knobs and a half-dozen presets?

Good morning

My main point was there are other things in peoples kit with lots of buttons which have the potential to be pressed incorrectly, not just the current range of UHF radios - irrelevant how many actual buttons involve really. The scenario pointed out by Phil (dropping a radio microphone and locking the unit so it cant be use...and then not having the user manual) would happen 1 in 1000 cases if that.

Carrying a user manual (paper or digital ...what ever) is hardly a big ask..

I cant see what the drama is about.

In a broader sense if you simply dont like using "gadgets" that is a different story.... Each to their own ..

Cheers
Greg