Emergenct equipment

sat phone first and foremost, hire or buy, uhf and Telstra phone and that is it, simple eh ......
Oh, and learn how to use the sat phone and dont forget the pin as i did .....
Cheers

J and A,

Depends where you mean by "off road". You won't do much travelling where there is no existing track, so assuming you mean remote areas (with tracks!) :

It is convenient to be able to talk to other travellers in your vicinity. That calls for a UHF radio. Note that there is a major change coming shortly in UHF and that after the change, many current radios will be phased out.

For longer range communication away from the mobile phone network, the choice is HF radio or satellite phone. There is lots of discussion, and quite a few wars fought here about these. Different satellite service providers have differing reputations, some worse than others, and none are 100% reliable. Hf radio isn't always reliable either, but has the advantage that you can talk to other radios, often including people close enough to assist you in an emergency. The RFDS may also be contacted using hf. In remote areas you cannot generally reach local help with a sat phone.

For last resort emergency use a PLB (Personal Locator Beacon, once referred to as an EPIRB) is a good thing to have, especially one with a built-in GPS. These will report your position to within a few metres to the search and rescue people. They are for use in life threatening emergencies, not for calling the NRMA etc as some think.

So the straight answer to your question about emergency communication is - If you aren't leaving the mobile network a mobile phone is fine. If you are going into remote areas, consider either hf radio or a sat phone. UHF would also be a nice-to-have. As a last resort a GPS PLB costing $350-400 will bring the cavalry.

Cheers

John

J&A

For communications on the road with other users many people have UHF radios. You can buy either hand held or in-car units (better range and quality generally speaking). Highly desirable, but limited distance capabilities.

Telstra-simmed mobile phone (preferably a blue tick phone). Very important.

As has already been said, for emergencies outside mobile phone range it would be advisable to buy/hire a satellite phone (Iridiums are excellent) or get your hands on a PLB, or a SPOT communicator. Many posts on here about using a post-paid Telstra SIM with global roaming activated in your Sat phone - the cheapest option for casual/emergency use. One of these is critical IMO.

If you buy a PLB/sat phone you would get a large slice of your money back when you sell it. PLB is 100% reliable and the Iridium sat network is 99.9% (or better) reliable in my experience - assuming the device's battery is good of course. Neither is complex to use.

You didn't say what you have researched already - have you had a look here for example ?
Exploroz - Comms Pages

Hello John

A few key facts

Others have already covered the low cost short range car to car UHF.

You need a H.F. Radio , the current new models are shown on this page

http://www.lakecomm.com.au/hf.html

Ball park cost figure $3000 new with fixed antenna.

You need to subscribe to a service provider e.g. Vks737 ball park $100 /yr

There are essentially two brands of product as per link - Codan and Barrett
mostly the radios come as a two piece unit (pain in neck)

Barret is more like a radio and I prefer them - Codan more phone like.

Essentially the Radio sits on one channel most of the time e.g. 8022mhz

You can buy some far cheaper second hand models.

E.G. I use a Barrett model 950 which can come as a single piece unit and puts out more power at 125w , these can be found sub $1000 , if not in a hurry.

Hi John and Anne

Basically, a UHF in the vehicle (hand held will do but built in is clearer signal and better range).

Next G for internet (and maybe Next G mobile phone if internet is insufficient for your needs).

Satellite phone for emergencies when out of Next G range (which is most of Australia).

I have other options outlined briefly at Communications on the road

Motherhen