UHF RADIO

Well both will do the trick I have a GME cause its reliable and Aussie made, also you'll need a ground independant antenna, I think the model no is like 4705 or something like that, Uniden is a great unit too

Both Uniden and Electrophone are good brands. I chose the GME partly because it was made here. Choice of antenna is up to you but I find the wire type quite OK. You can get a little rubber duckie for use when there is a lot of overhanging bush or to keep in the glovebox for when the main one gets pinched. Give John at Time Plus Communications in Sydney Rd Brunswick a call - I've always been happy with his service. There's also Dick Smith.

Both work well but GME have far better aftersales service if something goes wrong.
They win that race hands down

seen to many problems with Uniden to consider them.On the other hand GME are proven performers in the mining industry. As has been said any knowledgable retailer will direct you to GME for the local acking of the product

Being a boatie as well I'd have to say that GME has the record for reliability.
EV700

If space (or lack thereof) is the reason for requiring a remote-head unit,
an option well worth considering IMO, is the GME TX4600...

Compact, waterproof & dustproof radio that has better specs all round than the TX3400, and can be had for the same $$$s (or less if you "buy right";-))...

For a pretty thorough description (& pics), check out ebay Item# 130063235497..

I got mine from this seller, and it's mounted in the same spot where I previously had the TX3400 remote head.. (below the heater/aircon controls GU Patrol)...

I'm using a RFI CD900 antenna.. Check 'em out at www.prestigecom.net.au

Dave.

I've got the series II Disco & have two GME UHF radios for it, one is a TX 4400 mounted in the centre of the roof console, & the other is a TX 3200 which fits nicely above the drivers side sun visor in the roof console (the 3200 currently lives in the ute, but will go back for the next big trip).

I also take along two Uniden UH-040XR handhelds, for out of vehicle use.

I've used Uniden in car UHF before, but prefer the GMEs.

For aerials I use GME 4.5 db, one S-steel whip for short range use (on the 3200), & one 4.5 f-glass for long range use (on the 4400) mounted on the B-bar.

Having had both Uniden and GME, wouldnt touch a Uniden again with a barge pole..
I now run the TX3800.

I think it's all been said - TX 3400 for the radio. I use the GME 4702 aerial. Others have shaken themsleves apart.

Peter

Hi Dave,
When you have decided on a model give this lot a go, their service is professional and extremely quick, my unit arrived in Brizvegas in 2 days via express post at no extra charge.

Avagoodn
Pezza

Hi Disco,
I have used mainly GME and never had any issues with them. I know a few people with Uniden and they seem happy with them. The bigger issue is antenna/base choice. I have broken/lost any number of the GME wire antenna. I forget the numbers but GME make two types (at least) of base. The first has a small black base and is usually mounted on a roof gutter or in the bonnet grove, the other is much larger sprung base and I have only seen them on bull bars. The first base I had was the smaller black one that is unsprung. On long stretches of corragated roads the grub screws tend to come undone at the lowest phasing coil (being non tech I assume that is the right name) and the top of the antenna flies off into the bush or worse still takes a chunck of paint out of the bonnet. This has happened at least 10 times and I have ussually been able to find the end that flew off. I have also broken two off about 10 mmm below the phasing coil. Since changing to the larger spring base I have had no issues with either the one piece wire antenna or the larger white fiberglass pole. The sprung bases and the antennas to suit are more expensive but IMO worth the extra money. If you go through a lot of brushy areas I would get one of the stubby flexible antenas as well.

Hope this helps

Steve

Steve

Executive summary: GME 3400 & AE4705 (if mounting on the bull bar) would be my choice.

I have found the 9dB version of the AE 409L (ie with the two blue nobbly bits, rather than one black one) succumbs to vibration quite frequently. All the ones I've had mounted on bull bars after some period break the steel rod just above the base coil. They'd be lucky to survive 12mths.

I'm not overly impressed with the RFI CD5000 (black broomsick. Had one at roof level, range wasn't terribly flash). It was broken and replaced with a RFI CD900 (elevated feed, spring base). Will see how that goes. If it gets taken out by a branch, it'll be replaced quite likely by a GME 4705 - the advantage, beyond strength, is the removable antenna.

GME is the flavour of choice, and the 3400 is great. The only thing I miss which the 4000R had is the key pad. I'm always jumping between 1 & 21, so I reckon it'd be great if you could program the function keys to jump to various channels. I'm just being fussy though!

If I'm not in a rush to get the item (ie; damn, broken. Need a new one NOW!) I order from the site link above or Lake Macquarie Comms. Best online prices I've found. Have no qualms about buying these products online - they're so reliable in my experience.

Hi Dave,

We are very new to all this so not certain what a 2 piece model is... I will press on with what I think it may be....... I asked a similar UHF question recently. We wanted a 5 watt car base unit and a hand held for localised parking etc.

Got similar answersfrom the folks out there. But eventually it became decision time..... Tandy are now called "Leading Edge" in Ballina... maybe this is the same Australia wide. Whilst they are stockists of GME it is to order whilst at the time they had Uniden in stock. We went the Uniden way

A particularly $$ attractive package was called a Celebration Pack. We got a top of the Uninden range base station with an independent 2 watt handheld for $365. The actual base station was being sold separately for $399 and the hand held was $99 so we thought that the Celebration Pack was a good way of buying the 2.

The combo works well ----but it only a month into its life.

We fitted a roof rack mounted 4.5db stubby ariel for $35 and it is doing everything we want. It is a factory sealed (non unscrewable type) We went that way after learning about the number of ariels that are unscrewed and stolen.

Regards
SKI'er

We have used both CMe and other unidens models. GME tx3400 is a fantastic unit, and wins my vote.

Hi Dave,

What i have in the car is a icom 208h it is a vhf/uhf transmitter that can be programmed with uhf cb. It has 5 banks (each contains 100 channels) on 1 bank you can just put the uhf cb frequencies. The radio is a remote head unit has 3 power outputs 5 watts 15 watts and 50 watts not that you should use more then 5 watts. This is a top of the line radio and is used mostly by licensed radio operators, but for around the same price of the GME 3400 i couldn't go past this radio it out performs all cb radios as it isn't one but can be programmed to suit needs.

One thing is you have to remember is that your radio is only as good as the antenna you use. i use a gme AE4706 it's 2 meters long but works well, but not for use around town. Around town i use the RFI CD900 Series Phasemaster II and it also performs well.

I have played around with uhf cb radios for years now and once you use a amateur radio you would never go back to a standard uhf.

Just my 2 cents worth but overall don't touch uniden GME tx 3400's are great.

GME make a commercial version of the 2 piece TX3400 called the TX3600. This model can be programmed (by a GME dealer) to give you the standard 40 channel CB setup (TX/RX), plus it has the ability to have up to 100 commercial UHF channels as well. The extra channels are receive only unless you have or share a commercial licence for a particular frequency or set of frequencies, or work requirement, in which case that/those channels are TX as well. If you are an amateur radio operator one can also pre-programme a full set of UHF ham frequencies into the commercial part.
The TX3600 radio may (or in some cases may not) cost a little more than the TX3400. It is slightly more complex to operate than the 3400, due to more features, but not much and you soon get used to it. It is still only a max 5 watts output.