New to travelling - Advice on UHF?

Dave,

You have certainly have done your research and the two highways that you plan to travel are probably the worst for bad language.
However if you are planning to travel further west, having an UHF is a very good idea. I will wait until Bathurst, or Orange before I will turn my on.

If you are travelling solo, leave the radio on scan, that way you will pick up any other vehicles in range. Most 4WD vehicles use Ch10 most caravans are on Ch18. The people towing caravans are probably a better source of traffic and road information and are probably more forgiving towards a novice on the radio.

When you purchase the UHF make sure they show you how it works, you should get a manual with it but it is easier to be shown than try and read how all the functions work.

I have been a big fan of the GME range of UHF radios,but make sure that you get the 80 channel version. Regardless of what radio you get make sure that you have a good antenna to go with it. The light wire type antenna on front of a Prado will snap with vibration. A fiberglass unit, sometime known as a broom stick antenna will last.

Any good 4wd shop should be able to set you up with the right gear.


Wayne

Hi mate, I think your on the money with your thoughts on waiting til you go further out west. If you get in strife in the outback a UHF is invaluable. The language on them is appalling in the more populated areas and about the only useful thing you will learn is of road closures and radars ( in amongst the most mindless drivel). I live out west and we use them all the time in the bush. Cheers Zenonie

Like Wayne and Zenonie we do not have ours on in heavily travelled areas. We always have it on in the Snowys and Vic alps and when "off highway" in the Great Dividin Range. Basically any where away from heavy truck and hoon use. We also do not need the bad language.

But when remote it is always on and scanning.

We have a stainless steel whip antenna mounted on the front right hand side mudguard next to the bonnet. It hits shrubs there but without damage. It does not get the vibrations it would get on the bullbar. I have broken enough fibreglass whips in buth places and don't want one again.

Don't think a UHF radio is ideal for remote travelling.

UHF radio has a maximum range of about 15-30 kilometers at best (you can get further under ideal conditions, we have spoken between two 1 watt UHF handhelds 100 kilometres apart).

UHF radio's are as useful in remote travelling as a mobile phone on the Vodafone network would be.

Any type of travelling; a UHF radio is a good idea for general non emergency communications.

First thing we put into our 4x4 is a UHF radio.

UHF radio's in my opinion should be turned on all the time when travelling, we scan channel 5, 10, 11, 18, 39 and 40..... when travelling in convoy we use channel 10.

Some UHF users will sit on a different channel and have the attitude of if someone wants to talk to me the can come to MY channel I have sign written on the back of my vehicle...... this is a stupid thing to do, we past a caravan going the other direction being towed by a 4x4 with a big UHF antenna on it....... one of their back tyres on the van was nearly flat and had smoke starting to come of of it...... we tried all the common channels you would expect them to be on and no response.....

Maybe they had that other stupid thing call CTCSS turned on (should be outlawed on UHF CB radios).

David,

The above replies cover it pretty well. For your proposed trip I certainly would NOT fit UHF! It has very little use in areas with lots of traffic, and much of the language is very unattractive, especially for kids.

As said, UHF is useful further west for local communications. Generally reliable up to 5 or maybe 10 km, pretty poor beyond that, and pure luck to get beyond 15 -20 km. For really remote travel, you might consider HF radio, which can give you long range coverage, but that's far more expensive and way in the future.

I certainly wouldn't fit UHF yet, and I'd be guided especially by Wayne's comments when you do.

Cheers

John

Hi Dave
We do have in-build UHF radio in our Troopy. I bought it years ago from EBay it was brand new, with warranty. I bought a proper white (you can have black as well) antenna. It was Australian seller and I was very happy with their service.
But I have second option, and that may very much suit you for now. Few months ago I bought from Office Work hand held Uniden UHF 77 narrow band mini radio (UH037SX-2NB) I taught it is going to be useful only for recovery.
To my surprise it is very good picking up every repeater in area. On top of everything you don't need installations and it runs on 3AAA alkaline battery per unit. The typical range is 3+km. This radio cost right now only AU$47,~
What I wouldn't go without out, (even on bitumen) is set of Speedy Seal Puncture Repair Kit. When you go to buy it, make sure it is made in USA and the plugs are not Chinese (they not very reliable).
In future you may look for tyre monitors as they may save you money. We have "Tyre Dog" tyre monitors. For this definitely look under ProductReview.com.au. I did review there.... That may save you lots of headache and bit of money as well.
There is so much you can do with car, it's not fanny.
But one thing you should do first, if you ever want to venture of the bitumen, take the spare wheel and put it on proper carrier. If you don't do it, your back door hinges will eventually get stuff-up and door will never seal properly again!
I'm talking from experience.....My brother have stretched hinges on his Prado...
It is good we have somewhere to ask all those questions and wonderful to pick on experiences of other mates....
HooRoo Danna

Hi Guys,

Further to the UHF Radio....

Not sure if any of you chaps have heard of Ham Radio or Amateur Radio, but I managed to get my license back in 2007 and now use it every day.

My call sign allocated by the ACMA is VK3NCR... I have had my radio equipment in my 4wd since 2007.

To make this short and simple... You can get your "Foundation" license in one weekend... $60.00 Lic fee per year and with that you can talk to the world, not just 20k down the road.

I have can talk on many frequencies and there are always other Hams talking or listening to help or chat.

My wife and I are heading off to Mungo in a few weeks and will be chatting with my friends back home on the Mornington Peninsula each day.. Simple.

No need for CB Radio's or Sat Phones... my HF rig on 7 Mhz or 3.5Mhz will allow me to chat to other Hams all around Australia.

Just thought I would pass it on...

Ham Radio and 4WDing... a great combination.

Cheers.

Craig.
VK3NCR

Hi Dave,
We have been travelling almost fulltime now for ten years, towing both campertrailers and caravans. I only mention time length because of my experiences on the road.

I have used uhf most of this time mainly to get trucks around me and save them time as we were not in a hurry and they are, for obvious reasons. Mind you in all that time. I find that they dont call you, you have to call them.

In city areas turn them off, they are chock a block with idiots making the most inane and useless comments. The F word is used as a filler between each word. So prior to switching the uhf on I would have a word to your kids if I were you. Although most kids seem to have a handle on all this.My grand daughter does and she knows whats right and wrong language wise.

In remote areas they are useful for talking to oncoming traffic, road trains etc. Never had to use one in an emergency. There are other options for this.
Maybe you could start with a hand held device just to get the hang of it. They are cheap and good for a couple of K's radius and from my experience you generally dont need much more than that.

As for remote area communications thats another conversation.But if you intend to get into regular travel both main highways and smaller by roads it will be good value.
Best of luck.

Jim

Hi all

Many thanks for all the advice.

Talk about a wealth of knowledge here ! Some options and advice i would never have considered by myself.

We are allocating some pretty scarce resources right now (!) and this is by no means a big trip (just a few weeks) so it sounds like the little hand held unit might be just the go for us just to get us started, introduce us to the technology, have a bit of fun and i think it will probably come in handy down the track even after we have upgraded to a fitted unit.

Next trip should be a bit more challenging so i will definitely go for a fitted unit then.

i am now even more excited to get out on the road !

thanks all

dave