Hi everyone, we have just joined GN and are off on our big trip in a few weeks. Had the van for a year now but this will be our longest time "on the move". Have a couple of questions please. We are basically going down the East Coast, across to Adelaide up through the middle then back across to East Coast.
Our questions are... we will be travelling the Stuart and Barclay Hwys (not going off road) and wondering whether we need to hire a satellite phone. We are also thinking of purchasing a water filter n wondering whether to get 1 or 2.
Dougwe said
02:43 PM Jan 22, 2015
Welcome to the gang dobrah, enjoy here and out in the playground.
I reckon UHF radio will do and Mobile Phone connected to the Telstra network. I understand the phone won't work every where but UHF might cover the bad patches. Hopefully you won't need either for emergency. 5 & 35 are the emergency channels on UHF.
I have one "in-line" water filter I use (B.E.S.T.) around $120. Two water filters would be OK as well.
Blues Man said
06:32 PM Jan 22, 2015
Hi Dobrah ,welcome to the forum ,not sure about the phone or UHF but i think they will be a good idea anyway.We have a double filter and would not be without it,there is some pretty bad tasting water out there.We also use the filter when we fill up our tanks.
Cheers ,
Blues man,
ballast2 said
01:02 AM Jan 23, 2015
G'day and welcome. re the sat phone, if you are going to stay on both the Stuart and Barkley h'ways they are well travelled and there is always some coming or going. having said that we own a sat phone and normally lose our credit through lack of use but would not travel with out it. would also strongly suggest if you do not have a UHF radio get one. can most times talk to other travellers in case of problems. also you can talk to the blo ody big road trains up here. enjoy your travels.
Cheers
robo24 said
09:39 AM Jan 23, 2015
Hi.We have a carbon filter FIXED inline just behind normal fill point out of sight plus one on an extesion when filling a particular tank.I have separated all tanks as well as having them in series, each with inline tap close to van side.CB radio is a must in my opinion.Have a great time.
dobrah said
08:00 PM Jan 23, 2015
Thanks everyone so far. Don't know a great deal re. UHF radios. R they portable these days and can anyone recommend a particular type?
jade46 said
08:05 PM Jan 24, 2015
Hi dobrah We use a 5 watt Digitech hand held uhf and find it very good. You can take it with you on a walk incase you get in trouble ,comes with a car charger and 240 volt charger. You can add a antennae when in the car but we have never found it neccessary. If you need extra range look for high ground or on top of car or motorhome in our case. They claim 20 klms over flat ground but I think thats probably dreaming.We have had about 8-10 k in suburbia. On ebay $120
Hi everyone, we have just joined GN and are off on our big trip in a few weeks. Had the van for a year now but this will be our longest time "on the move". Have a couple of questions please. We are basically going down the East Coast, across to Adelaide up through the middle then back across to East Coast.
Our questions are... we will be travelling the Stuart and Barclay Hwys (not going off road) and wondering whether we need to hire a satellite phone. We are also thinking of purchasing a water filter n wondering whether to get 1 or 2.
I reckon UHF radio will do and Mobile Phone connected to the Telstra network. I understand the phone won't work every where but UHF might cover the bad patches. Hopefully you won't need either for emergency. 5 & 35 are the emergency channels on UHF.
I have one "in-line" water filter I use (B.E.S.T.) around $120. Two water filters would be OK as well.
Hi Dobrah ,welcome to the forum ,not sure about the phone or UHF but i think they will be a good idea anyway.We have a double filter and would not be without it,there is some pretty bad tasting water out there.We also use the filter when we fill up our tanks.
Cheers ,
Blues man,
Cheers
Hi.We have a carbon filter FIXED inline just behind normal fill point out of sight plus one on an extesion when filling a particular tank.I have separated all tanks as well as having them in series, each with inline tap close to van side.CB radio is a must in my opinion.Have a great time.
Hi dobrah
We use a 5 watt Digitech hand held uhf and find it very good. You can take it with you on a walk incase you get in trouble ,comes with a car charger and 240 volt charger. You can add a antennae when in the car but we have never found it neccessary. If you need extra range look for high ground or on top of car or motorhome in our case. They claim 20 klms over flat ground but I think thats probably dreaming.We have had about 8-10 k in suburbia. On ebay $120
www.ebay.com.au/itm/HANDHELD-UHF-Transceiver-5Watt-80-Channel-Digitalk-Li-Ion-Rechargeable-Battery-/130756339021
-- Edited by jade46 on Saturday 24th of January 2015 08:07:09 PM