UHF arials for the bullbar

Submitted: Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 11:38

ThreadID: 65718 Views:6683 Replies:14 FollowUps:11

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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,

Member - DOZER

Explorers, i am interested in feedback on what arial you have used and loved out back. I m planning to venture across the Simpson, and am wondering if i should invest in a descent arial. I have a 6-9db GME s/s whip (thats extendable to 9) but have heard it may break due to the corrigations. Many swear by the ground independant 4.5 up front, but again, it has a s/s top. Ive also been told you cant beat a large GME fibreglass for what i have in mind. I wont be alone. Any and all feedback appreciated.
Andrew

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Reply By: Sir Kev & Darkie - Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 11:44

Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 11:44

If you have a Sand Flag I don't see the point in upgrading the existing aerial. Just carry a spare SS whip in case the existing one breaks.

Cheers Kev

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He was presented with a difficult decision: push on into the stretching deserts, or return home to his wife.

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Reply By: Motherhen - Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 11:51

Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 11:51

Hi Andrew

I don't know what they are called, but we have had a succession of the ones like thick wire snap off. On the farm i just get blamed for 'driving under trees' and not noticing when they go missing. On the Gibb River Road on a good patch (road was good anyway when we were there) our snapped off. It still worked fine for communicating with passing traffic without antenna. We went back but never found it (lost over a known short span). We got one of those bigger thick white ones (probably the fibreglass one you refer to), and that lasted on all the rough stuff for the rest of the trip (Tanami, Great Central). There were two - one bigger and a lot dearer than the other. We got the smaller of the two (as it was the one in stock).

Motherhen

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Reply By: Olsen's 4WD Tours and Training - Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 11:57

Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 11:57

I've broken more than I care to remember. I now run the GME AE4705 without trouble

AnswerID: 347661

Reply By: Member - John and Val W (ACT) - Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 12:14

Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 12:14

Andrew,

Corrugations can cause the 6/9 dB GME to eventually break. They whip around a lot and eventually break where the wire enters the loading coil. Much less mechanical stress when using only the 6dB option (and I couldn't detect any improvement at 9dB over the 6dB configuration). I finished up a recent trip with a fibreglass rod as a splint (part of sandflag pole) taped to the aerial to keep it from vibrating itself to pieces. Looks a bit less than professional, but a cheap and easy fix.

HTH

John

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Reply By: Member - Kiwi Kia - Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 12:20

Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 12:20

Hi Dozer, The range of a UHF is not far so I don't believe that you really get much extra benefit by paying big bucks for a fancy antenna with 'extra' gain. I use a small 'rubber duck' aerial (140 mm long) on the bull bar and have never had any problems with range when in convoy or from the top of sand dunes in the Simpson. I have been with several people who have had their stainless aerials break with fatigue due to corrugations (2 on the Gibb River Rd). I know you would probably get used to them but I don't like the 'broom sticks' sticking up in the middle of my view when I ride with people that have that type aerial.

.

AnswerID: 347667

Reply By: GerryP - Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 12:37

Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 12:37

Hi Andrew,

I too have had several whip type antennas break. Now use a small 3db flexible one mounted on the roof rack which also works just as well with a gutter mount. The 3db actually works better in hilly country than the higher gain ones, although the range is supposedly less - not experienced that problem myself however.

I know it can be a pain to get the cable up to the roof, but it can give a huge improvement over a bullbar mount.

Cheers
Gerry

AnswerID: 347669

Reply By: MEMBER - Darian (SA) - Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 12:42

Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 12:42

Yep - the 6-9db modular one with the phasing coils you mention has two problems - it whips around badly in the long mode while mobile and the wires eventually snap. In undulating terrain (the Simpson etc) the radiation pattern in either mode doesn't have much penetration - short stumpy units (2 - 3 db) do much better there. Any of the 4 - 6db area rigid units would seem a good compromise - my current unit has an elevated feed, ground independent base, with a 6db screw on whip that has a plastic moulded cover that goes about half way up (stops the wire from whipping around). I also have an alternate 2db stumpy to screw on if required.
Wish I had a pic handy, but no.............

AnswerID: 347670

Reply By: qubert - Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 13:22

Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 13:22

look for a 25w uhf on ebay. they are heaps better ( about 20-30km transmission range . )

AnswerID: 347676

Follow Up By: Member - John and Val W (ACT) - Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 13:28

Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 13:28

5w is the legal limit in Oz!!!!
John

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Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (NT) - Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 16:13

Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 16:13

John
Are you trying to tell us all you don't bend a few rules , I take it you do not do 70 Ks in a 60 zone, 90 in an 80, I run 27mhz from the truck when outback at 200w on SSB for a couple of years until I cooked the Linear, but then I do agree to a certain extent 25 w on UHF is a bit high, I think 10w would be ample ,
What they don't know don't worry them ,

.

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Follow Up By: Member - John and Val W (ACT) - Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 20:44

Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 20:44

Doug,

Someone much wiser than I am has said that rules are for the guidance of the wise and the control of fools. I reckon most of us here would not consider ourselves fools!

I'm also a firm believer in the principle that it's easier to get forgiveness than it is to get approval!

I see no moral objection to radiating lots of watts out in the sparsely populated areas. At UHF it won't go beyond the horizon and there aren't many people in between. Those rules are made for the urban majority.

The real issue is, as you say, "What they don't know don't worry them". A public forum like this is not a good place to discuss our misdeads, and I reckoned maybe Qubert wasn't aware of the rules.

John

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Reply By: Member - Doug T (NT) - Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 16:19

Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 16:19

Dozer
This is all I ever use, and they get out for Ks, cheap and reliable.

Image Could Not Be Found

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Follow Up By: stevesub - Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 17:07

Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 17:07

Same as what we use. Had it for 6 years and never broken. Range seems to be OK. Done a lot of corrugations.

Stevesub

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Follow Up By: Member - Fred G NSW - Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 17:58

Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 17:58

Ditto with Doug & Stevesub.

Fred

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Follow Up By: qubert - Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 21:00

Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 21:00

yes those are the best value

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Follow Up By: Member - DOZER- Friday, Feb 06, 2009 at 15:33

Friday, Feb 06, 2009 at 15:33

Thanks Doug, these dont seem to suffer from stress?? Do they ,mount to a UHF screw in female plug (sounds like im talking about other things hey) or do they use thesame base as a 27 meg??
Andrew

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Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (NT) - Friday, Feb 06, 2009 at 15:55

Friday, Feb 06, 2009 at 15:55

Dozer
I have mine as Raised feed , but yes it could be mounted to a normal base

Image Could Not Be Found

Normal base Mounting

"A single antenna that uses a metal area under the antenna for the ground plane"
Monopole antennas require to be mounted onto a Base and need at least one square metre of metal as a ground plane to work effectively, this ground plane can be a Bull bar, roof, Balcony railing, any metal surface area. Monopole antennas are low profile, easy to install, they are available in various colours and do not need tuning.

RAISED FEED

Raised feed antennas can be used in any and all applications including base station
Raised feed are really a simple dipole made up of a monopole antenna and a ground plane
in the form of a 1/4 wave long tube, this tube draws the radiation pattern toward itself producing
a lower angle of radiation that hugs the horizon more effectively producing extra gain.

More Antanna Information

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Reply By: Wayne (NSW) - Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 17:55

Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 17:55

Andrew,

If you want to get the best out of your UHF in any terrain a good aerial is a must.

I have tried a few, have seen a lot more over the years on different vehicles and what I have been using for the last few years is the fiberglass broom stick type.

In the desert and open areas I will use the GME AE 4706. A tall aerial and ideal for the sand flag.

In the Vic High Country I will use the GME AE 4705. Same style only shorter to fit under trees.

Both use the same base so it is easy to swap and unless you give the aerial a good whack they will not break or snap on rough roads.

Image Could Not Be Found

Both aerials on the bull bar. The HF aerial also make a good flag pole.

Wayne

AnswerID: 347707

Follow Up By: Member - DOZER- Friday, Feb 06, 2009 at 15:30

Friday, Feb 06, 2009 at 15:30

Thanks Wayne for your input. found one on ebay, and yes it would work well for the red flag :)

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130285315633&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:au

b4 you bag me out, walk a mile in my shoes, then your a mile away and have my shoes :)

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Reply By: Member - Shane D (QLD) - Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 18:48

Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 18:48

I dunno what its number is but it is a genuine GME aerial, I have had this for 4 years and it has seen the Simmo and Vic high country.
Image Could Not Be Found

UHF aerial is a little higher than roofrack giving me guideance in places where roof clearance may become an issue, The HF aerial (big one) isn't always there
Image Could Not Be Found
This base makes it ground plane independant and was bought for mounting on to a mirrir frame on a truck.
The purist's may tell me that there are better options(probably are), but this works just fine for me.

Here it is on corrugations (video)
Shane

AnswerID: 347712

Follow Up By: Member - DOZER- Friday, Feb 06, 2009 at 15:16

Friday, Feb 06, 2009 at 15:16

Does this look like what you own??
Thanks for your input
Andrew

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=130285077831

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Follow Up By: Member - Shane D (QLD) - Friday, Feb 06, 2009 at 18:24

Friday, Feb 06, 2009 at 18:24

It looks like the right base but that aerial is shorter.
Mine is 65 CM long for the aerial alone.
21 cm for solid base EXCLUDING spring.
Price seems good.
Shane

FollowupID: 616101

Reply By: Holden4th - Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 21:19

Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 21:19

it sounds like we have the same aerial - the GME AE409L which can be extended out to a 9db length (which I've never done). This aerial has now done just short of 100ks over a variety of terrain including the Simpson. It's still in very good condition and in -6db mode can cover a very long range. I can't see a reason for me to change it. Mine is mounted at the top LH corner of my bullbar (thereby avoiding most obstructions) and it's tip exceeds the height of my Paj by about 10 cms.

If this is the aerial you have and it's mounted in a position that will avoid it hitting trees, bush, etc then you should be OK. It's the old maxim - "If it aint broke, why fix it?"

AnswerID: 347738

Reply By: Member - Nick (TAS) - Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 22:05

Thursday, Feb 05, 2009 at 22:05

We run a AE4702 and find the coverage great.
While travelling out to Cape Dommet in convoy with 4 vehicles, the first vehicle had gone ahead and was at camp waiting for us(about 10kms flat ahead).I was chatting to them as clear as a bell but the other two vehicles(one in front and one behind) couldnt hear a thing, not even any static.
The worst thing about having a bigger style aerial on the bullbar is it ruins video and pictures taken out the front of the vehicle.

AnswerID: 347743

Reply By: Member - DOZER- Saturday, Feb 07, 2009 at 08:02

Saturday, Feb 07, 2009 at 08:02

Thanks everyone for your responses, all good info. It seems the centre of the roof is the best position for an arial, but not that practical for me. Bullbar is where it will stay :)
Andrew

b4 you bag me out, walk a mile in my shoes, then your a mile away and have my shoes :)

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