Hand Held VHF radios

Hi Keith
Firstly you say VHF I presume you mean UHF.

The problem with handhelds is power up to them. You'll soon get fed up with flat batteries and recharging, unless of course you can get a 12 volt adaptor that plug into the side.


cheers

Keith
These are real little rippers

Right price too !

Make sure that you get the Aussie Range 400-480Mhz and 80 Channel

Click here

Cheers
Bucky

Keith,

A 2 watt handheld would be sufficient for your needs.
Just be aware that UHF radios are in the process of changing from 40 channel to 80 channel frequency ranges. If you buy a 40 channel unit, it will eventually only transmit and receive on half the available channels in the same frequency range.

I have a Uniden 2 watt handheld which runs on AA batteries that last a considerable length of time. It doesn't replace my vehicle mounted 5 watt GME unit, but is handy for external vehicle use.
I have also lent it to someone for "convoy use", to be able to communicate with other vehicles travelling together and it is adequate for this purpose.

Prestige Communications are hard to beat on price for reasonable quality units and the GME 2 watt unit featured in the link is only $88.00 for an 80 channel unit powered by 'AA' batteries.

We have a pair similar to these two second hand ones that are for sale on ebay:GME 2nd hand for sale

We also carry a small inverter to charge them up if needed. But in the last three years we have only had to recharge them at home.

The charge lasts for days if you do not use them.

Hi Keith

It is a good option. I cannot see any wattage written on mine, but i think they were a middle of the range at about 3 w. They were however only cheap Uniden ones from eBay purchased quite some years ago for farm related work.

The only disadvantage i find is that clarity of sound may not always be good, but they come through clearly on the inbuilt. Hence i am usually in the lead with a good inbuilt set, and someone younger can cope with the hand held.

They are satisfactory and give us good coverage between vehicles up to a few kilometres apart, and the transmission is excellent. Once when escorting a convoy of four vehicles towing wide load farm machinery, with around a kilometre or so between each of the five vehicles, daughter-in-law in the last vehicle was reaching me clearly on my inbuilt set to warn of any vehicle approaching from behind. I was not even aware that she was using one of my hand helds which i had allocated to my daughter in a vehicle within the group. D.i.l’s inbuilt UHF failed to work and my daughter had given her the hand held at our first checking stop as her rear guard role was vital.

Much the same model can be purchased with a rechargeable battery and cradle, but for travelling i think to be able to change the batteries when needed is an advantage. Just take a supply of batteries as if being used quite a bit the batteries can drain quickly and you may not have a working unit at the time you need it. When not being used much, the batteries hold for ages.Mine take three AAA batteries and I carry plenty of rechargeable AAAs (and AAs) with a charger than can do either size.

Check if you can get a unit that you can put an external antenna on and you will have virtually as good as built in for on road purposes.

They are also a safety device is one of you goes bush walking on their own.

Motherhen

Hi Keith.

Bucky is on the money. i have two of those radios 80 channel with a 12 volt charger.Charger is stuck on with velcro and been in use for two years now.Use them when on the road for calling trucks etc and also for when we are bush walking looking for orchids.Had a situation last month north of Newman when it was pouring rain and the roadtrain went over to the right side of the road and let me pass on the left. The wind was blowing all the water to the right and visibility was nil on that side.The benifit of radios and those are good ones .Have all the features of dearer 5 watt radios with scan, lock, etc.
Cheers graeme.

Keith,

I'd be buying a GME 5 watt unit, and you have the luxury of fitting an external aerial. This will extend your range considerably, and possibly improve the clarity of signal. As Motherhen said, the clarity on some is not the best.

I've got poor hearing, and have difficulting understanding much of the talk, with the small speaker in these. The other gripe I have is, just as you put the unit down, someone will talk, and you immediately have to pick it again to hear, or mutter "Eh, what's that? Didn't hear you...."

Bob.