GME vs Uniden

Submitted: Monday, May 25, 2009 at 11:11
ThreadID: 69157 Views:11850 Replies:13 FollowUps:9
This Thread has been Archived
I'm looking at getting myself a new UHF radio. I'm on a budget and wanted some opinions on GME vs Uniden. A lot of my mates tell me GME is the way to go but they can't tell my why. Any thoughts?
Back Expand Un-Read 0 Moderator

Reply By: Chev-Patrol 6.5 V8 D - Monday, May 25, 2009 at 11:23

Monday, May 25, 2009 at 11:23
I've had both over the years.

It's a bit like the Toyota v Nissan (or Ford v Holden) debate.

The Uniden is the "underdog". I found that they worked quite okay and the only issue I ever had (after it'd been fitted for about 10 years, was that the microphone was playing up; a loose wire in there somewhere.

I now have a GME 3200 and there may be a slightly better sound quality if anything; but that could be attributed to the remote speaker I've fitted as well.

The GMEs do have a more solid "feel" about them; less plastic involved in the casings etc I believe. But that shouldn't be a concern either, as they don't get knocked around much, once they're set-up in/on/under the dash or where ever you decide to mount them.

I'd get the best $$$ deal you can find for the size/style you require for your particular application.

Roachie
AnswerID: 366594

Follow Up By: Time - Monday, May 25, 2009 at 12:00

Monday, May 25, 2009 at 12:00
Couldn't agree more. Had a Uniden for 7 years in my old truck and it worked fine, never an issue, have a GME in my current truck and it works fine as well, no issues. I'm in a 4WD Club where there is a mixture of both brands, I have yet to hear a complaint (past 7 years) about either.

Prices are pretty close between Uniden and GME, Icom are a bit dearer. With my current UHF I chose it based on price at the time (Prestige Comms in Perth had a radio and antenna plus free postage deal going).
0
FollowupID: 634333

Reply By: warfer69 - Monday, May 25, 2009 at 11:26

Monday, May 25, 2009 at 11:26
Hiya TWA

Do not overlook the Icom unit..GME does not have a speaker in the mike as the Icom and Uniden do..


AnswerID: 366595

Reply By: A J - Monday, May 25, 2009 at 11:56

Monday, May 25, 2009 at 11:56
TWA - GME has served us well over the years - have been able to receive when others in convey have not.

I would purchase another GME before I looked at other brands.



A J
AnswerID: 366598

Reply By: Member - Doug T (NT) - Monday, May 25, 2009 at 12:34

Monday, May 25, 2009 at 12:34
Go GME, over the years of using UHF I find that Uniden is not a good radio for others to listen too,they will work ok for years but a Uniden owner cannot hear what his/her transmission sounds like on the recieving end, As someone who doing a job that involves talking to every truck driver and caravanner ( if they're on Ch 40) that I noticed Unidens sound very distorted and hard to understand, where as GME and Icom's were clear and readable, After a lot of this trouble I began asking drivers what brand of radio and always got the answer Uniden, Very funny event near Meekatharra once I heard a bloke talking to a woman, he was distorted, she had very good readable signal, I broke in and said your using a Uniden and the lady is on a GME and he said How the ..... did you know that.

.
gift by Daughter

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  Send Message

AnswerID: 366605

Follow Up By: SteveL (WA) - Monday, May 25, 2009 at 12:49

Monday, May 25, 2009 at 12:49
I work for a transport company with around 50 trucks in the fleet.The vast majority have GME TX4400 or TX3200's fitted.There are also a few Icoms and a few Unidens (mostly older models).You can pick the Unidens by the hollow sounding audio and the amount of background noise transmitted.-Steve
0
FollowupID: 634340

Follow Up By: Member - Kroozer (WA) - Monday, May 25, 2009 at 14:00

Monday, May 25, 2009 at 14:00
Thats strange, because my Uniden transmits way further and heaps clearer then my mates GME. We both have the exact same GME aerial, and yet when travelling with another friend with GME we can hardly understand what my mate is saying, yet mine comes across clear as and he can always pick me up way before my other mate. All were installed by the same bloke, with the same aerials. Only difference is mine was $150 cheaper then theres. We use Icom handhelds at work and they are shocking, they arent as good as they are made out to be. Non stop failures. I would definitely buy Uniden again.
0
FollowupID: 634345

Follow Up By: Sand Man (SA) - Monday, May 25, 2009 at 18:37

Monday, May 25, 2009 at 18:37
hey there Doug,

I remember you making similar comments in the past and I considered this most carefully when buying a UHF for my new vehicle.

I needed a detactable head unit and chose the GME TX3420 this time round, just to please you mate:-))
So you should contact GME and claim a reward for convincing me to buy one.

Bill.
Bill


I'm diagonally parked in a parallel Universe!

Member
My Profile  My Blog  My Position  Send Message

0
FollowupID: 634369

Reply By: Member - Stephen L (Clare SA) - Monday, May 25, 2009 at 13:07

Monday, May 25, 2009 at 13:07
TWA
Like most of the above, I use and prefer GME, but there is a lot more involved.

All GME Vehicle mounted UHF radios are 100% made in Australia with 3 years warranty and they make a very wide range of antennas to compliment their radios.

All Uniden Radios are made in China and also offer 3 year warranty now to keep up with their competitors, previously 12 months.

With the economic climate the way that it is, I would prefer to keep Australians employed, than those overseas.

One point also is that GME only deal with communications, either commercial and private individuals like you and I and all there R&D goes into one field only-communications. Uniden make everything from TV's, phone to in-car navigation units.

You will always have good and bad in any product, but I would save up your extra dollars, get the GME and Keep someone employed in Sydney.

Cheers

Stephen
Smile like a Crocodile

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  My Position  Send Message

AnswerID: 366611

Reply By: get outmore - Monday, May 25, 2009 at 16:13

Monday, May 25, 2009 at 16:13
its very much like the engal vs Waeco both do the job recreationally butfor commercial and tough use operations you find out the difference.
Having used GME radios for minesite use both handheld and in vehicle with extremely dusty conditions and 24 hour constant use
that would be my choice.
One of the main radio suppliers and installers in Kalgoorlie wont even deal in Uniden because they are not up to commercial standards
AnswerID: 366629

Reply By: DIO - Monday, May 25, 2009 at 17:31

Monday, May 25, 2009 at 17:31
GME - you'll never regret the decision.
AnswerID: 366640

Reply By: BenDiD - Monday, May 25, 2009 at 18:13

Monday, May 25, 2009 at 18:13
I have a GME which has been great, but Uniden seems to be just as reliable.

Whatever you buy just get a basic model, you really don't need all the whistle and bells like sellcall. As long as it scans (and they all do) you're in business. The only thing you might want as a 'nice to have" is dual watch - so when the radio is in scan it keeps checking a particular channel more often so you don't miss a call on your working channel.

good luck

ben
AnswerID: 366647

Follow Up By: Holden4th - Monday, May 25, 2009 at 19:25

Monday, May 25, 2009 at 19:25
Forget 'selcall'! Your new radio will come with CTCSS (Continuous Tone Coded Squelch System) and possibly DCS (Digitally Coded Squelch). Both are useful if you are travelling in convoy and don't want to be interrupted by everyone else around.

I work as part of the PE staff at a school on the Gold Coast and after a few incidents where instant communication was vital (but not available as we were outside) we decided to equip the 5 of us with 1W handhelds linked back to the main office. As the only person in the group with experience of UHF comms I was given the task of setting them up. I did this by choosing a channel away from 40 and then chose a DCS channel that was the same for each handheld (I had 104 choices). The only people who can hear us is ourselves and we don't hear anyone else because of DCS. The radios also had CTCSS but they were limited to about 20 channels and the slim possibility of someone being on our channel and also using the same CTCSS channel was higher but highly improbable.

This coded squelch system can work for one, or many channels - it's your choice and you can still scan for the other channels. If you make the channel you and your mates are using with DCS or CTCSS as your working channel it means that their communications will be preferred over all others.

The GME TX3220 has CTCSS as does the TX3420 and these are base models.

I use an older GME (the TX3400) which has a detachable head mount meaning I can put the base wherever I like. However, if given a choice today I would get this



The idea of putting the display and controls in the handpiece is a work of genius and surely so much safer.

BTW, our work handhelds are Uniden and I have to agree that sound quality could be much better.
0
FollowupID: 634379

Follow Up By: SteveL (WA) - Monday, May 25, 2009 at 21:28

Monday, May 25, 2009 at 21:28
Sorry,but if you are using CTCSS or DCS other people can still hear everything you say.They just can't talk to you without the correct code. The correct code opens the squelch so that the other station can be heard but doesn't give you extra "channels".-Steve
0
FollowupID: 634408

Follow Up By: Holden4th - Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 20:18

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 20:18
OK, I didn't realise that. I can check this out a work quite easily. The main plus for us, regardless, is that we don't have to worry about being interrupted or have to wait for others transmissions to end.
0
FollowupID: 634521

Follow Up By: BenDiD - Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 20:38

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 20:38
Holden4th

You will still have to wait for other transmissions to end - if someone is transmitting near by with a higher powered unit they will go "over the top" (i.e., block) your transmission. You also run the risk of unknowingly interrupting someone else or blocking a channel already in use because you cant hear them.

cheers

Ben
0
FollowupID: 634527

Reply By: OzTroopy - Monday, May 25, 2009 at 19:12

Monday, May 25, 2009 at 19:12
Geeeezzz ... I love these topics and the responses.

TWA,

This "new UHF radio" you want to buy ????

a). What is your budget amount ???
b). How often will you use it ???
c). How much mounting space have you got in your vehicle ???
d). Will you have a need to use a portable radio away from the vehicle ???
e). How far do you need to transmit any messages ???
f). Is a vehicle mounted antennae going to be needed ???
g). Do you want to be able to use it hands free ???

Sort the basics and then work out what radio best suits your requirements .... regardless of brand ... and then get some feedback on that model ....
AnswerID: 366662

Reply By: anglepole - Monday, May 25, 2009 at 20:15

Monday, May 25, 2009 at 20:15
TWA,

As you can see Uniden and GME, 6 of one, half a dozen of the other.

I worked 40+ years in aviation communications and I have a GME.

Support the Aussy industry.

Good Luck with your final decision.
AnswerID: 366682

Reply By: Member - Prickle (SA) - Monday, May 25, 2009 at 21:19

Monday, May 25, 2009 at 21:19
Have both Uniden and GME (latest purchase about 4 yrs ago) both do the job and have good features. GME were Aussie made, I assume they still are. Uniden a bit easier to use as far as the features go in my opinion.

Have a mate who has an Icom & I feel it is a bit more complicated.

Hey, but you need to buy what you want.

The info above is all good.
Russ


Life-often hell but never boring.

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  Send Message

AnswerID: 366705

Reply By: Mad Cowz (VIC) - Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 09:13

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 09:13
After many years and about 2 dozen radios we have had 3 of the 4 unidens die, all 15 GME units are still going although we have had a few microphones give up.

MadCowz
Carpe Cerevisi

Lifetime Member
My Profile  Send Message

AnswerID: 366773

Reply By: TWA - Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 23:15

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 23:15
Well, thanks for the advice guys. I was torn between the Uniden UH400SX and the GME TX3220. Both were on sale on prestigecom.et.au bundled with an antenna for just over $300. Not sure about the quality of the antenna in this package but I figured I can upgrade that at a later date if its no good.

On the one hand I liked the idea of having the controls in the handpiece. I currently have a Mitsubishi Triton which has no space in the dash to mount a UHF, hence the appeal of the controls in the handpeice. Unfortunately, the GME TX3440 was a little out of my price range. Anyway, all the talk about being Australian made sold me and I went with the GME TX3220 in the end. Basic unit but at the end of the day I figured I don't need anything too fancy for my first UHF.



AnswerID: 366902

Follow Up By: Inkbandit79 - Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 20:37

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 20:37
Have you thought about a dash pod from the department of interiors I had one fitted to my 100 series with the gme 4400( I used to drive interstaters and used them all the time) i programed all the regional police uhf channels in WA into it and can swear by it, the newer models allow you to program more channels if you like but most use the same frequencies as other states my dash pod also house's the swithces for the air lockers and compresor,GPS and im about to mount the hands free kit for the next G phone to it. I just didn't want to be drilling holes in the dash every were i wanted to put an accessory, wouldnt hurt to have a look
0
FollowupID: 634732

Sponsored Links