UHF upgrade from 40 ch to 80ch

Thanks for that however according to gme this started in Dec2010 I bought mine in Nov2010. So just missed out

Stephen,

Me to. I will keep my old 40ch gme but I will upgrade my other old professional 40 channel radio. Lucky me. Cost nil as a mate will write the code plug for it.

Right or wrong it is what we will have to get used to.

RA.

Stephen! I remember in the early 70's i bought a 40ch 27mhz unit, All CB radio was illegal then so the Fed Govt finally allowed 18 channels with a license, later they abandoned the whole thing so 18ch, 23 ch and 40 channel units were on the air without regulation and they got rid of the radio inspectors. Funny how the govt only allowed certain channels yet later abandoned the whole thing... why the regulation in the first place.. 40 channel units will be around till they all die a natural death. Michael

It will be nearly impossible to police, a bit like the old CB days. How would anyone listening know if you were talking on a 40 ch or 80 ch set? Without very sophisticated monitoring equipment, like a spectrum analyser it would be impossible to tell. I for one will not be upgrading to an 80ch set as I use it very infrequently and usually car to car when in convoy.
Just my 2 cents
cheers

Hi RA

Even though I can get a new radio at a very good price, I am not rushing in and will wait until the last moment.


Cheers


Stephen

Hi Michael,

I spent many an hour or five...LOL (Well before Computer on my old 27 meg SSB.) I used to speak to friends all around Australia and New Zealand when skip was good.

I am not a gambler and even back I was not game to operate without a Licence. There there horror stories of big fines if caught without one and I was of the opinion that I would be the unlikely person to get caught.....those were the days.


When I was speaking to the GME rep last week, I asked how the Radio sales were and if the new 80 channel had made any difference to sales, and the short answer was NO. I can tell you now that every station person that I have spoke to have no intention to change over, only if the radio dies.



Sierra Charlie Whisky 008 signing off.



Cheers



Stephen

Hi Ted

You will not be alone about changing over Radios.

As for monitoring the transmission to see who is using what, it is very clear and easy to see who is using what.

If I transmit on the new 80 channel unit, an old 40 channel unit will receive my transmission softy, therefore the user of the 40 Channel will have to adjust the volume up. When you transmit back to the 80 channel radio, he will receive you reply louder. The new 80 channel units (well most of them) have auto compensation inside and will adjust the received transmission automaticly.

It would be a very simple process to have the auto compensation disabled and the signs will speak for themselves.


As if we do not have enough restrictions, it could cost mega dollars to police and then they would have to prove who was transmitting.


Time will be the final judge and we will all have to see just how it is governed.



Cheers



Stephen

Stephen, I don't think that is exactly right.

All UHF radios transmit at their maximum power regardless of the volume control setting. It affects only the audio output level to the speaker. So raising the volume control does not reply to the 80ch receiver louder.

In any case, the loudness level of reception depends not only on the transmitted power but also on the attenuation due to propagation and terrain and distance etc. So it it not possible to judge transmitter power level from the reception loudness.

Or did I not understand you correctly?

Without getting technical, I agree with Stephen.

In my experience eceiving some 80 units on my 40 channel unit, the 80 channel units sound considerably quieter than 40 channel units.
I have to turn my volume up to hear them.

Lex, That was not my issue. That may well be right.

Stephen said "When you transmit back to the 80 channel radio [with sender raised volume control], he will receive you reply louder. I maintain that is not so.

You are talking about the 80ch transmission being quieter on 40ch receivers.

Hi Allan

I understand where you are coming from and I can not give a technical reply, only like I have stated above, I was given this information by several people that work with GME, and one was a tech from Sydney.


Any transmission sent from any 80 channel UHF radio, regardless of brand and received by an old 40 channel unit, the 40 channel unit will have to adjust its volume - why I do not know, regardless of antenna or distance of where the transmission is sent.

The new 80 channel units will receive all transmission as normally, either from other 80 channel units, or old 40 channel units.




Cheers



Stephen

Hi Stephen, I think you may have misinterpreted the advice you were given, or at least mis-expressed it here.

Agreed that on old 40ch radio will receive a weaker signal from the new 80ch and may need to raise its volume control setting.

Where I take issue is where you say that, because the 40ch has raised his volume setting to receive, then the 80ch will receive a louder signal. That is not so. The output of any and all UHF radios is set at manufacture to the manufacturer's specification and the output power and modulation are not affected by the volume control.

If you look at the section of schematic of my GME TX4400 below you will see that the volume control is connected only to the TDA-1015 Audio Power Amplifier which outputs to the speaker. The volume control influences only the output to the speaker. Sorry if this is getting heavy.

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Hi Stephen! I actually lost a radio to a radio insoector in around 1976. My girlfriend was using my 40 channel Panther at the time as a base station. She was always on the upper channels so was busted and i lost my radio, No fine, just loss of radio. I had just bolted a $70 gain type gizmo (forget what it was called), it was a few days old and was a weeks pay as an apprentice just on its own.. AHH those were the day, a teen in the 70's.... Michael

Hi Allan

If that was the way that it came over, sorry, as you will see from my rely above I stated " The new 80 channel units will receive all transmission as normally, either from other 80 channel units, or old 40 channel units. " with the aid of the Dynamic Volume Control which Automatically compensates for variations in received audio level, this feature provides a constant audio output level greatly enhancing the quality of the reception and simplicity of use.

Cheers


Stephen

Hi Michael

You would be the first person that I have actually heard of that was tracked down. That would have been the disadvantage of a base station.



Cheers




Stephen

Stephen,
push of a button I go from 5 watts to 35 watts. That sorts out any problems.

To those that tell me this is illegal. Yes it is but when used for the right reasons it is very helpful.

Radio tech. please don't respond as most of you do this anyway.