Hand held UHFs any suggestions

I saw on this forum previously that Icom make a quality, 5 watt handheld.

I have 2x Motorola at $95 per set and they are close to useless. The batteries do not hold their charge and the Radios will only speak to one another and not to the Uniden UFH in the truck. Plus the charging kit is also not the best.

We thought it would be a good idrea to have them when walking out in the scrub but it has turned out to be a stupid idea and a waste of money.

Will pass them on to some kids when birthday time comes around again.

Cheers

Yes I will back Im.away on that, and also add GME , Willem has given his experience with Motorola, and I will also add that if you want others to hear your transmissions clear and readable then bypass Uniden

I use an Icom IC-40S which is the UHF CB version of the IC-F3 / 4 as used by US military forces.There are also plenty of aftermarket accessories such as batteries and antennas available unlike the GME radios.

Steve,

Being in the same type of business, we also have hand held UHF. We have had the GME 6000 for a few years now.

The battery will last and they have a 12 volt charger for the vehicle as well as the 240 charger that we use between trips. 5watt with a good range. I have spoken, in good conductions, over 30km(line of sight) using them.

The 6000 has been replaced with a later model which I believe is better than the 6000. They are not cheap, but if you want good commutation in a hand held unit than I think that they are the way to go.

All of the guides that work for GDT have one with them when on trips and we also hire them out for those drivers that do not have a UHF in there vehicles for the trip.

Wayne

Steve, my first trip in the simpson I only had handhelds....... A 5 watt and a 2 watt..... With the 5 watt I scored myself 25kms. I was on a dune and some one else was at poepel corner..... I heard them very clearly and probably could have been another 10 kms away
I really was not concerned about contacting people but was just making sure I could talk to people every now and then

I would only consider 2 radios for what you want to do.
I have the GME TX6000 and really have abused it in the car and the bush for about 6 years.
In that time I have had no problems at all with the radio but have had the battery pack rebuilt about 18 months ago when it wasn't holding a full charge.
You can add accessories if you wish and I use mine in the vehicle with the car kit and external 6/9db gain antenna.
I also have the speaker mike which I find great as I am starting to get a bit deaf I can hold the speaker mike up near my ear or even clip it onto my collar and I don't have to have the volume flat out disturbing everyone else in the vehicle.
I think GME now have the TX 7000 which I am sure would be an improvement on my old radio but while it still works so well I can't see me updating.
The only other radio I would recommend as mentioned above would be the ICOM. They make quality gear but not sure if they have the full car kit and accessories like GME have available.

Cheers,
Brett

As a rule of thumb only, allow 1 km of range per 1 watt of output power.

There are many very biased opinions on which brand is best. Personally, I have had absolutely no problem with Uniden 2 & 5 watt radios. The 5 watt versions are both hand held and in vehicle models. I use UHF in convoys in the bush and mountains where all brands are being used and they all have very limited range when in heavy bush. I think you should not be cheap, get a minimum of 2 watt radios (they seem to be have almost as much range as the 5 watt).

Some of the very small handhelds are very fiddly and you almost need a handbook to just change channels, keep it simple and don't go after the bells and whistles. If you are offering them for use by guides it may be useful to have both handheld and in vehicle radios, one radio set to a channel for convoy use and the other radio set to a chat channel for the guides but remember chat etiquette as everything you say can be heard by others within range ! All my battery devices use AA or AAA batteries, I hate being tied to a special battery that costs heaps, has built in obsolescence and can't be used in any other device. AA or AAA can be charged while driving or swapped out from gps, camera, mp3, shaver etc. as required.

I chose the GME 6200 - studied the many features of several handhelds for some time prior - it was the GME or the Icom 5 watt equivalent - far as I recall, the GME had the edge due to the type of battery (NiMH). The Uniden 5 watter seemed too small to me - battery life would have been shorter (the battery in the other two units mentioned here are more than 50% of the case bulk it would seem). The GME comes with a stumpy antenna - it works very well with that but the optional longer antenna would add something for your staff. Got my unit with a leather case (includes belt clip), fast charger and slow charger (best) for $425 in a show special here in SA.