buying uhf radio

UHF stick with GME.... bleep s on Uniden... By a country mile.

Do you need 27meg as well? Not really, but it depends on where you are going, adn what you are doing.

HF is almost a must for long remote trips... LOTS more useful than 27meg, but $$$...


Do i need a good antenna?
No, coat hanger will do :P

Andrew, Both the UHF you're considering and 27meg are CB radios. That is they operate on frequencies assigned for public use. UHF is by far the most common now and with repeaters you will find contacts in almost all areas. Not necessarily in remote off road areas though. I agree that GME electrophone are the way to go and I think you should be advised by an expert on antenna choice but I think good quality is important .... no matter how good your set is it won't work well with a poor antenna. I paid I think it was a bit over $400 for the best you can get - GME4400. It has 20 extra tunable channels which are useful for listening to Emergency Services (and sometimes the local bus or taxi services in the bush!) I guess you'd expect to get a good second hand set for half that. I also have a hand held Uniden which sends and receives extremely well but over a much smaller range. It cost $97, and has open and group scan and priority channel facilities. Great for car to car contact.

As GME's last almost forever, you should be ok with a secondhand one, but it may be worth getting it checked by a tech.

With antenna's watch out for damage to the coax (squashed, rubbed, etc) as this can really affect your signal... If you decided to get a new antenna check out the POLAR brand - and a spring base is definately worthwhile.

Hi Andrew
The GME is an excellent radio, but keeps its price. I paid $150 for a used one last year.
I will have to take Truckster to task,(which is unusual), but the UHF radio relies on having a very good Antenna. Decide how much you ahve to spend, get advise on the best Antenna you can buy, if going onto the bullbar, then you need ground independant, if going into the middle of the roof a standard UHF antenna will do, and then buy the best radio with what money you have over. The Radio needs to duplex and simplex and preferable scanning facilities, selcall is basically useless
Regards Ray
I no longer have a HF CB in the vehicle, but have a HF radio for 4WD network and Flying Doctor

Hi Andrew, I purchased the best 27 meg CB radio i could find for our trip up through the middle, it was 9 parts useless, only really good to listen to the truckies on my trip to sydney each day. You can really get to know all of the four letter words in our vocabulary if you listen to them.In fact i think its the same four letter word, every second word that comes out of their mouths, So i bought a $99 uhf hand held,its great for clubs and car to car, range is about 3kms and clear as a bell. the batteries(3 only AA) last about 3 days using them constantly.The beauty of it is you can put it in the glovebox when finished, out of sight ,and take it on foot with you. cheers Michael

Andrew,

If you are looking for a second hand UHF send me an email on aidan.cashman@bigpond.com I have one for sale, also a 27meg AM radio. Had to replace them as the UHF wouldn't fit in the space I wanted to put it in my new car.

Cashy

Andrew, Regardless of what you pay for the 2nd hand UHF, get a new aerial. Second hand ones are suspect at best, especially when you don't know where they'v been. If the radio is for a extended trip, try Polar or the GME AE4700 series aerials, for starters. Handhelds are a poor second for use in vehicles, unless you are driving in each others dust. Dunno about prices, a dealer quoted me over $200 for radios that were nearly old enough to vote.

Selcall is only useless when you don't have any reason to use it!

Check out the Repeater list on this site, they're everywhere.

Have a good trip...