Thursday, Jan 04, 2007 at 21:27
I'm sorry you've had a bad trot. Your HF experience should have been much better.
Installs...hate em. They are labour intensive and nobody wants to pay big $ for a job that can take all day ++. But a professional installer should have done the job to your satisfaction by informing you what had been done.
Installing a radio is individual to the vehicle and owner. Its not just a 123 job, so the time taken can be elastic. Whatever can go wrong, usually will.
The last Barrett I installed was in an F350, and it cost me two days and a new drill. It cost the owner exactly $100 as he was part of a charity bash.
Water dripping out of the tape ? That shouldn't have happened with or without the self amalgamating tape. I've never seen it..but the fact that it was near the exhaust....hmmm....I hope I don't know the installer. I've heard a few bad stories about a couple in WA.
Sending someone bush without them being able to use their new radio properly is not a great thing to do. But once again training takes time and money. Some people say they're right, and then when they make a mess of it blame the trainer, who hasn't bothered to evaluate their readiness. Either you're comfortable using the radio or you're not.
HF is a variable medium but you should have been able to listen to a base sked on at least one of the networks. Unlike a phone, these aren't "facilities on demand", you do have to make an effort and be patient. You need not worry that you'll make a mess of it...most people do the first couple of times and the ops are very forgiving and helpful. Doesn't take long to get into the swing of things, and once there you'll be glad you persevered.
I agree with you about the phone provider. Another service with poor customer service. On the
bright side, if you pay more than about $70 to have the radio reprogrammed , assuming its a current model, you've paid too much. Many people use the phone facilities and have no worries.
I've found that there are HF people and there are sat phone people. A few manage both easily, but not everyone. Sat phones can have their downside also.
Your battery was too small for the radio. That should have been pointed out to you on install. Also the engine should have been run, and the interference noted and suggestions offered. ( I assume that its petrol or common rail diesel ?) Interference is a multi horned frustrating beast, but remember that if you need to use your radio in an emergency you'll probably be stopped. Hence a decent battery.
I had extremely poor experiences with a certain sat phone service provider. However I accept the fact that I chose the wrong mob. Next time I'll spend more money and have a decent sat phone provider along with my trusty HF.
“so-called” remote areas of Australia "...where did you go ?
Mate, remote is remote. And you'll know it when you're there, and be B%oody glad you've got HF or a satphone.
On a recent trip across the Plenty, Tanami,
Gary Junction track and the Kidson Track (and
home) , I had HF comms at least once a day(usually twice) with one of the networks you joined. No worries. I had NIL communications for 2/3 of the way (the 2/3 I tried to use it ) on satphone. And NIL satisfaction from them when I got
home. But that's another story.
HF is great for 4wders. Sat phones are great for 4wders. But they are very different beasts, which do different jobs.
They sometimes suit very different people.
Personally, when I go into remote areas, I take both. If I had to choose I'd pick HF. But I'm not everyone.
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