UHF radio - do I need one?

Hi there. Just completed 16,000km around NT and WA, with a UHF radio previously bought for the desert. I have to say, it was nice at times to talk to a truck coming up behind, or to road workers and Wide Load pilots. But apart from that, and with the limited range of UHF (unless you play the repeaters) it doesn't really add much to comfort or safety.
At least, once you are out of the cities, you don't get the obscene talk etc. that prevents you from having the radio on at all!
You can certainly forget about any serious 'emergency' purpose, unless you go for other technologies (HF or Satphone).

tartankoala

Hi mate. I bought the GME TX6200 hand held. I installed all cabling / external aerial and just plug in when required. I also got the hardwired mic/speaker to connect to it for ease.

I find it usefull to talk to the road trains when following and tracking the positions of the road trains on the road when they call in. They are hard to pass on the single bitumen and dirt roads.

Cheers

tartankoala,
If you are going to be doing such a large trip, to me it would be unwise to travel without one. You will be surprised how much you will use it, for general conversations with other vehicles and checking on track conditions etc. Buying a UHF Radio will only be a very small amount of money to pay out, compared to the rest of the expenses that you will face on this large trip.If you are limited for space and are looking at hand helds, make sure that you get a 5 watt hand held, so you can get you call out and be heard by other vehicles. It sounds like you have not had a look at the GME TX 3440 Vehicle mounted Radio. You mount the main part of the radio well out of the way, say under your seat or dash and all the controls are on the microphone. They are a top unit and I can recommend them.
Have a great trip.

Cheers

Stephen

For that sort of trip, I would have one, but you could certainly get by without.

I reckon it is hard to go past the GME 3440. It is the one with all the controls on the microphone. You can install it anywhere as you don't ever need to see or touch the radio (well unless it breaks down). Andrews Communications has them on special for $399, including a good GME antenna and free postage.

I just got one to go in my new LC. HAven't installe dit yet, but hope to find a spot up under the dash out of the way.

If you buy a radio, you'll be hard pressed to beat the prices at Andrews. I did a pretty extensive web search when I was looking. They had the best deals I could find.

Andrews Communications UHF Radios

i have a pair of cheap uniden hand held uhf radios got them for use with the commode to stop my sweety yelling at me ,any waythats another story ,but if i put one on the dash it works almost as good as the gme 3400 in the cruiser i made an l shaped bracket that fits under the dashmat the belt catch of the radio clips to it works fine any where can also take it into shoping centres my sweety is always getting lost.

I broke down at 4.30pm 170k from Kununurra a couple of years ago and a UHF would have been very handy.

Now have the 3440 and thankfully have not needed it since.

Pedro

Very handy to have one in the vehicle, if you come into a Town and not sure where to go or want general information, you can call up on a channel and ask directions, I did this on several occasions called up on CH40 and spoke to a local truckie very helpful.

Probably nice to have one but not essential. You'll be kept busy enough with general traffic flows most of the way. A radio won't add anything warm and fuzzy to the experience of travelling east to west although if you're a bit short on swear words radios are a sure way to learn some new ones.

An el cheapo $30 handheld will probably suit your needs.

Most of these little jobs have a range of about 1 to 3 km. If this doesn't work for you, then consider a $400 in car unit. In all reality, the in car jobs only get a few extra km's. They will only offer you extended communication, not lifesaving contact.

Our in car unit is still sitting in the garage, two cars on. I keep meaning to fit it, but can't be bothered as the little handhelds are doing everything we need.

Jim.

Some funny replies here - usually on this forum you'd be getting recommendations to not leave the greater Sydney area without a satellite phone, HF radio and SPOT messenger!

As a few people mentioned, they're very handy for talking to road trains when required, and also to fellow travelers - you'll be surprised at how often your trek will overlap with other folks and you'll end up spending a couple of days in the company of otherwise complete strangers - we found the UHF was quite useful for communicating about the conditions ahead, oncoming traffic etc. Plus if you DO have an incident and need to request assistance, it gives you a greater chance of getting someone's attention sooner.

Something I'm glad I did was get some self-adhesive letters and numbers from Bunnings and spell "UHF 18" on the rear window - had a few people connect with us this way. Saw it on quite a few caravans. If you're not towing, channel 10 is the more conventional channel to use for 4WDing - but in most parts of the country you can raise someone on channel 40.

Even if you don't think you'll use it, it can be very entertaining listening to others on scan once you get away from the major centers :)

I am having a GME Electrophone TX3440 UHF CB Radio fitted to my vehicle this week in preperation for our darling river trip.

You can get some good deals on the net but just make sure that you can easily have warranty work done if you buy outside of your area.

Thanks to all for the ideas and recommendations. Will think I'll get a cheapy one but also hire a sat phone for emergencies.