UHF & HF Radio

HF Better for long distance, will always get someone

UHF better for car to car but wont always get someone else.

It really depends how remote/isolated you are going to be and what you can afford. You should definately have a UHF. If you can't6 afford the outlay (about $3,000) for a HF as well then there are aqlternatives such as just having an epirb or hiring a satphone when you go away. you really need to work out when and how often you are going to be remote and talk to someone who can advise properly and not just push one thing or another. Do a search on this sight there has been a fair bit of discussion re Satphone vs HF.

You could also get a lot of info from the VKS737 network by clicking the link here
We have so little time to enjoy our land

You can often pick up a second hand HF inthe West Australian newspaper , I got mine for $600 its an old set and rather large but it works well ,I only use it a few times a year so was happy with the priceTelfer mines rd camp
Peter York 4x4

if your not going through remote parts then would you really need a hf set would be my thoughts. go for a uhf for sure but unless your getting right off the beaten track then you don't have to have a hf set. what are the epirbs worth versus a hf set anyway?

cheers
dingodigger

It is bitumen all the way from Melbourne to Karratha. Your mobile phone will be operational outside most towns. There will be plenty of traffic along the way. So why do you need a UHF or HF?

Before all this paraphenalia(CB,UHF,HF,Satphone,Mob phone) was available, we cruised this country along the highways without communications and survived!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers and Merry Xmas,

Willem

Always going somewhere

If you trigger an EPIRB you will instigate what may be an expensive SAR (Search And Rescue) mission. You may be held responsible for the cost of the mission. EPIRB are an invaluable piece of equipment, but should be used only when life is in danger. There is no communication involved - it is simply a beacon for the SAR team to home in on.

On the other hand, both HF (long distance) and UHF (short distance) communications could have you in contact with someone who may be in close proximity to your location. Monitoring the VKS737 HF network and also scanning the UHF channels will give you an idea who is in your area.

None of the operators on any of these channels will be aware of your predicament if you trigger your EPIRB!

We use a Barrett HF550R with autotune antena and also an Electrophone TX4200 UHF in our 4x4. If on an extended trip away from our home in nth qld - we usually set up a 'sked' with another friend, and can usually talk from anywhere in Australia back to our home area on a daily basis. This costs nothing - using the RFDS frequencies.

I suggest you just get a UHF, at least then you'll probably be able to have the odd chat to fellow travellers on the way over. Like Willem said, you wont need HF or even an EPIRB if you're sticking to the beaten track.....there's plenty of traffic.
Have fun,
Will.

Hi Yvonne
everyone has there own opinions, i asked the same question on this site not so long ago and had some interesting advice.
The question on where to purchase would definately be from prestiege communications, found through links on this site under communications. They are great and efficient, ordered on line from NSW and got it the next day.
The next question what to purchase the GME 3400 works great blew me away with the coverage you can get, especially with a repeater.
I seriously looked at the Barrett HF, but the cost is heafty, and a response i had that helped me make up my mind was that if you have an acceident and the auto tune antenna gets broken then it is useless, where as if you had a sat phone inside the vehicle its chances of surviving a lot better. Sat phone communications is the way the technoligy is headed, But then if your into radio the HF is the go.
good luck with your choices...
have a good new year
Neil

To anyone contemplating the purchase of an HF but are put off by the 'if you have an accident the autotune antenna is usually stuffed' all you need is abit of forward planning.
While mounting the antenna on the top of the bullbar is the ideal location performance wise it is being increasingly frowned upon by rego authorities and police. Mounting it to the rear of the vehicle below the roof line will give it more protection without terribbly degrading performance as long as the whip is well away from the vehicle body.
So that you can use the radio without the antenna make up a length of wire with foot measurements on it and the appropriate connector for the rear of your set. There is a simple formula to work out the length required for a given frequency and this will enable you to use the radio without the autotune antenna. Simply string out the appropriate length to a tree or other non conductive post, even a tent pole set up with guy ropes and a piece of rope attched to the wire from the top will suffice, in a lot of situations a horizontal antenna will outperform a vertical whip anyway.
If you lose the whip off the autotune you can also use a length of wire the same length tied back to roofrack, snorkel etc (with a short length of rope to stop it shorting out to whatever you attach it to). I've also done this in thick scrub from the Barrett antenna behind the bullbar to the snorkel, stops the whip getting caught in the scrub and works a treat.

Peter

Good advise from Peter - anyone with a pair of wire cutters, a roll of wire and a precalculated list of length for different frequencies can make a HF antenna that will summon help.

But I read an article a while back where a police car (80 series cruiser) rolled after hitting a feral pig, and while they broke their antenna, the codan auto tuner was fine and they just stuck their shorter spare antenna on the tuner and called for help.

The formula to work out the length of wire for an emergency antenna is:

Length in feet = 234 divided by the frequency in Mhz

Eg: for Broken Hill RFDS 4055 freq

Broken Hill = 58ft = 234 divided by 4.055 Mhz (well it is actually 57.7ft but 58 is close enough.)

don't forget to put the decimal point in the frequency!

Peter

Hey guys,

off the track somewhat here, but at work, we equip our professors and researchers that are out in the desserts with;

1 x Telit Satphone. Complete with spare batteries, car kit and external antenna. This whole thing is mounted into a Pelican case (a 2600 me thinks) with heaps of the pick and pluck foam in there. The whole thing we tested here for water/air leaks when sealed. All passed OK. You just need to use the right connectors...

That will cost you around $2650 new to set up. Most of the moolah going in the car kit price.

If you flood/roll/smash the car, the kit survives. We clocked a closed unit at 101G for 25msecs and found that all works OK.