UHF Radio
Submitted: Sunday, Apr 23, 2017 at 18:35
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Geoff and Janice
Hi Guys,
I have a Nissan Patrol ute. Does any body know if you can wire your
UHF Radio so when you transmit and receive, your car radio temporarily goes off while you are using your
UHF Radio?
thanks Geoff
Reply By: Les - PK Ranger - Sunday, Apr 23, 2017 at 18:46
Sunday, Apr 23, 2017 at 18:46
I'd reach over and turn the radio off at the power button, then push same button when car radio reception is again desired :)
Seriously, I'm sure an electronics bod could do this, but it' be a fairly involved job and thus costly.
Maybe some sort of relay could be set up on the car radio power wire so when transmission is happening on the UHF, it'd cut power ?
Transmit outwards would be likely simple, a wire in the mic cord perhaps, but imagine incoming transmissions would be more involved to tap into.
AnswerID:
610476
Follow Up By: Geoff and Janice - Sunday, Apr 23, 2017 at 19:15
Sunday, Apr 23, 2017 at 19:15
Thankyou for your response. What you say makes sense so I guess I will just have to continue to use the on off button. :-) It does sound a bit complicated.
Thanks Geoff
FollowupID:
880397
Reply By: Member - Boobook - Sunday, Apr 23, 2017 at 19:55
Sunday, Apr 23, 2017 at 19:55
It depends which radio you have.
The GME 3600 / 3800 for example have an output that turns on when you transmit. You could easily connect that to a relay.
Other GME's MAY have a similar output.
Another way to do it is based on the fact that UHF's use more current on 12v when they transmit. ( and possibl receive when turned up loud).
You could put in one of
these current sensors and set it up so it is off normally and on when transmitting. Use the relay to turn the radio speakers or power off.
It *may* be possible to even set it so it turns off when the radio receives if you have the volume up a little, in addition to transmitting.
AnswerID:
610478
Follow Up By: Geoff and Janice - Sunday, Apr 23, 2017 at 20:51
Sunday, Apr 23, 2017 at 20:51
Thank you for your response Tony. I will
check if my
UHF radio (Icom 400 Pro) has this sort of output you are speaking about. This and your additional
information has given me something to start with.
Thanks Geoff
FollowupID:
880399
Follow Up By: Member - peter_mcc - Sunday, Apr 23, 2017 at 23:00
Sunday, Apr 23, 2017 at 23:00
The radio may have a "mute" input used for phone handsfree - if so it might be easier to drive than cutting the signal going to the speakers.
Depending on how handy you are you could get the OPC-617 cable for your radio. I think pin 6 tells you if it's receiving (based on this
http://www.sm5nvc.se/erak/mod/rig/Icom/ic-f3xx-f4xx-f5xx/repeater.pdf - see towards the end)
FollowupID:
880406
Reply By: Robin Miller - Monday, Apr 24, 2017 at 19:52
Monday, Apr 24, 2017 at 19:52
I have designed a few systems along those lines Geoff but I have to say that in general they have fallen into disuse.
First time it was fun but idea of voice /music from radio suddenly switching to UHF voice didn't quite work because brain doesn't instantly catch up and sometimes won't recognize change for a few seconds (content dependant).
What I currently do is have an external speaker from CB up near my ear such that when CB comes on, I as the driver hear it loudly and positively know its the CB and this doesn't interfere with passenger listening to music whatever to much.
As required I might then mute car radio.
If you do wish to modify your radio then on the transmit side one of the mike wires usually earths as you press "Press to talk" , on the receive side these days there is usually a logic
gate which goes high to un mute the receiver. These two signals can be feed into a logic
gate which drives a relay supplying power to the cars radio.
Bit of stuffing around depending on model - also some UHF radios are hard to modify as most of logic is inside a larger chip e.g. GME usually harder to modify than more basic Oricoms which often have just an internal variable pot to affect power etc.
AnswerID:
610516
Follow Up By: Deejay - Tuesday, Apr 25, 2017 at 20:09
Tuesday, Apr 25, 2017 at 20:09
Hi Robin.
Nothing to do with this thread but I was reading one of your threads from a year or so back about how you couldn't decide on what car to upgrade to. Now I can't find the thread so I'm contacting you this way (will I get in trouble?).
1. What car did you end up purchasing?
You (maybe someone else) also made a comment about a friend leaving their 200 series on the Canning.
2. If it was you, could you elaborate on the story please?
We drove it the year the guy stopped doing break down recoveries and encountered 2 broken down vehicles and several abandoned or burnt out ones. Hoping you reply.
Deejay.
FollowupID:
880483
Follow Up By: Robin Miller - Wednesday, Apr 26, 2017 at 10:05
Wednesday, Apr 26, 2017 at 10:05
No Worries Deejay.
I am very reluctant to get a new car which can't match my current 4800 patrol in ways that are important to me (like being able to sleep in it and
suspension) , hence I have not yet got a new car. The Navara NP300 king cab I recently
test drove has come closest, but the 200 series is better in other ways .
My next door neighbour was the one who lost his 200 series in a solo drive on the canning in a
swamp and got choppered out. The helicopter dropped a couple of rescue packages with sat phones in the night and they were never found , despite some from here looking for them.
He never saw his car again and insurance covered the lost with extras fully.
I can't remember just when the thread was , and some other exploroz people knew other details from the rescue side point of view.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Deejay - Wednesday, Apr 26, 2017 at 18:51
Wednesday, Apr 26, 2017 at 18:51
Thank you for that Robin. I drive a 2006 TD42ti Patrol and it has turned out to be a great car - easily the best 4wd I've owned. I used to be a mechanic in a previous career and had a small fleet of 105 series to maintain plus my own 80 series. It is for these 2 reasons I went over to Nissan and have never looked back. Everyone raves about how wonderful the 200 series are but from my experience they are too problematic, too heavy and criminally overpriced. I think it's the snob factor that keeps their sales up. I drove the Canning in 2011 with 1x105 series and 2x200 series. The 105 series developed fuel pump problems from the second day but I managed to get it started each day. One 200 series blew a power steer hose just after Bililuna and was tilt-trayed to
Alice Springs for $3600 and repaired for $968. The other 200 also had problems with the dash warning lights coming on periodically. They also used considerably more fuel than me - I even had to loan them fuel on 2 occasions. My Patrol was the only car not to develop any faults of any kind and also used the least amount fuel. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that LandCruisers are over rated and survive on an exaggerated reputation. I had many 4wds to look after over the years and most, if not all, were as good and as bad as the Toyotas. If I had to replace my Patrol I would be happy with practically anything on the market today but I must admit the NP300 and the Pajero would head the list. If I were you, I'd keep the old 'Troll. Better the devil you know .......
FollowupID:
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Reply By: The Bantam - Tuesday, Apr 25, 2017 at 09:31
Tuesday, Apr 25, 2017 at 09:31
there where some radios in the past that had that feature... some of the early
mobil phone car kits also had this feature.
Back in the day I had an AWA 27 meg unit that had a loop thru from the car stereo .... the CB used the same speakers as the stereo and muted the music on recieve or transmit ....... seemed like a good idea a the time ..... but in practice it is an utter PITA.
seriously ..... it is worse that not worth the effort.
cheers
AnswerID:
610531
Follow Up By: Geoff and Janice - Tuesday, Apr 25, 2017 at 13:13
Tuesday, Apr 25, 2017 at 13:13
Hi Bantam,
Thanks for your response. I have received some good
feedback as to what I could do about my
UHF radio query. After reading your response and some other people telling me it would not be worth the trouble as
well, I think it is time to leave things as they are.
Geoff
FollowupID:
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