UHF CBs with Remote LCD Mikes

Submitted: Saturday, Nov 22, 2008 at 22:56

ThreadID: 63728 Views:4369 Replies:7 FollowUps:9

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UHF Radio

If you are considering a trip into Australia’s vast outback, then a UHF Radio is an important communications device to have. Besides the entertainment value, such as chatting with other travellers,

Gone Bush (WA)

Has anyone had any experience with the UHF CBs that have a microphone with built in LCD screen, full controls and a speaker?

The Uniden UH400SX
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and GME TX3440
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I'm wondering what the speaker is like in the handset and how easy they are to use.

Any other comments welcome.

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Reply By: Shaker - Saturday, Nov 22, 2008 at 23:15

Saturday, Nov 22, 2008 at 23:15

GME don't have a speaker in the handset, the Uniden speaker is quite good.
Also the Uniden has a display on the main unit & comes with a standard mike, so if the main one has aproblem you can still use the radio.
In this instance the Uniden outpoints the GME.

AnswerID: 336506

Follow Up By: Gone Bush (WA) - Saturday, Nov 22, 2008 at 23:24

Saturday, Nov 22, 2008 at 23:24

Thanks Shaker,

I didn't realise that about the GME.

Prestige Comms here in Perth have a pretty good price on the Uniden (on most other stuff too).

Uniden UH400

I'll look into it a bit further.

cheers

I'm glad I ain't too scared to be lazy
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Reply By: Shaker - Saturday, Nov 22, 2008 at 23:53

Saturday, Nov 22, 2008 at 23:53

I got mine from Prestige, amazingly fast delivery!

AnswerID: 336507

Reply By: Gone Bush (WA) - Saturday, Nov 22, 2008 at 23:56

Saturday, Nov 22, 2008 at 23:56

Shaker does the Uniden mike have an ON/OFF switch for the entire unit?

In other words if I put the main unit well out of the way, like under the seat, where I can't reach the ON/OFF switch, can that function be carried out on the microphone?

cheers

I'm glad I ain't too scared to be lazy
- Augustus McCrae (Lonesome Dove)

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AnswerID: 336508

Follow Up By: Gone Bush (WA) - Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 00:24

Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 00:24

Found the answer myself after a bit of digging.

It does have an ON/OFF switch.

I'm glad I ain't too scared to be lazy
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FollowupID: 604185

Follow Up By: Shaker - Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 11:28

Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 11:28

Under the seat could be dangerous, a friend of mine fried his on an ugly river crossing, I put mine up under the dash.

FollowupID: 604221

Follow Up By: Gone Bush (WA) - Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 11:32

Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 11:32

Thanks Shaker,

I'm afraid the days of even contemplating a river crossing have long gone.

Being a retired ol' fart now, I would probably just park up on some high ground, crank up the Sat TV, open a bottle of chardonnay, some nibblies, and sit back.

Let all the young bloods take the risk.

cheers

I'm glad I ain't too scared to be lazy
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FollowupID: 604222

Reply By: Crackles - Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 00:33

Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 00:33

The Icom IC-440 UH is possibly the pick of the remote head radios both for quality & features. The speaker is particually clear & the mic has a lock to avoid accidently bumping a button. It comes with an extention cord so the mic can be mounted a couple of metres away from the main unit which fits into a cradle.
Cheers Craig........

AnswerID: 336511

Follow Up By: Member - Warfer (VIC) - Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 00:49

Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 00:49

Hiya crackles

Spot On i agree,

Another thing to the GME does not have the speaker in the mike like the Icom

Cheers

FollowupID: 604186

Reply By: Boobook2 - Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 07:13

Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 07:13

It does have an external speaker socket which I use given the location of the main unit.

I guess they all have that though.

AnswerID: 336518

Reply By: P7OFFROAD Accredited Driver Training - Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 07:18

Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 07:18

my work (not P7offroad) ute has the Uniden fitted, it seems to work okay, the buttons are a bit fiddly.

A customer had the GME and i found the buttons to have a terrible 'feel' and the lack of speaker was an oversight IMHO.

I haven't used the Icom yet, but being Icom, it will be better than the other two ;-)

Bear in mind that this particular Icom is a recreational only unit, it does not share the 'commercial' capabilities of the IC 400pro.

Oh, and if you go the Uniden, turn the volume down (right down) on the head unit, the volume control on the microphone does not control the volume of the speaker on the head unit (which is a bit dumb actually. They gets all of their vehicle works contracted out (they were fitting a company VHF at the same time) and the installer left the volume right up on the head unit, sadly the head unit was inside the transmission tunnel cover. It's VERY loud.

AnswerID: 336520

Reply By: Boobook2 - Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 07:34

Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 07:34

Gone Bush

Is this for your 200? If so the GME fits nicely at the rear of the center consol. I put the head unit on the side of the consol at the front. let me know if you want more info.

AnswerID: 336522

Follow Up By: Gone Bush (WA) - Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 09:58

Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 09:58

Hullo Boobook,

yes it is for the LC200.

I've got a lot of good info from LCOOL (as you have too, I see) and I was very pleased to see that post the other day about being able to remove the plastic section running down from the roof along the side of the windscreen because I will use that to run the antenna cable up to a Rola Rack on the roof.

I was fiddling around with the head unit from my Unden UH-012 in the 200 but I think just the microphone from the UH-400 will fit better.

There are now a lot of options with remote mikes, extension cables etc.

cheers and thanks for offering your help. I'll keep in touch.

I'm glad I ain't too scared to be lazy
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Follow Up By: Member - Captain (WA) - Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 23:20

Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 23:20

Hi Gone Bush,

I have the GME 3420 remote head UHF and mounted the base unit under the dash, just above the drivers left foot (3420 and 3440 have identical sized cradle and base unit). There is a great place to bolt the cradle in and this gives easy access to the drivers side firewall grommet and thus easy to run the coax up the windscreen channel. It also gives a clear sound to the speaker as it projects into the open footwell area.

I also installed a 3440 into my brothers LX470. I mounted the microphone on some blanks, this way he can just replace the blanks in the future and not have any holes. The blanks are in the same spot as the centre diff lock button on the 200, its a handy place to mount it relatively unobtrusively.

Cheers

Captain

FollowupID: 604319

Follow Up By: Gone Bush (WA) - Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 23:35

Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 23:35

Thanks Captain,

love to have a look at your vehicle one day.

I've been looking at Uniden's 2 metre microphone extension cable (EC-100) and I need to find one hands on. I'll find a shop somewhere with one.

Reason is I would love to see if it could be flush mounted as a socket somewhere in the centre console and just plug the LCD microphone into it. That would be very, very discreet and all I would need to do is unplug the microphone and no-one would have any idea that there is a CB in the vehicle.

cheers

I'm glad I ain't too scared to be lazy
- Augustus McCrae (Lonesome Dove)

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Follow Up By: Member - Captain (WA) - Monday, Nov 24, 2008 at 00:00

Monday, Nov 24, 2008 at 00:00

Actually, what you suggest is what we were going to do in the LX470, but ended up not doing it simply because we wanted to complete the install. The GME cable is just standard computer Cat 5 connections (RJ45). Also, the GME comes with a ~2m extension cable and joiner already.

You could buy a standard RJ45 flush mount connector (type used in wall sockets) and just adapt a way to fit into the blanks under the centre diff lock switch. This way you can simply unplug the cable when the UHF is not required, just as you suggest.

Cheers

Captain

FollowupID: 604323