Gday guys and girls, just looking at purchasing a UHF radio for our motorhome and was looking for some advice of a good unit that won't break the bank. i already have a handheld but would like to fit a permanent one in the bus.. Advice and any reviews of ones you have or have had would be much appreciated..
I have owned both the major players in the supply of UHF radios. From my own experience very little differences once hard wired in there a fit and forget item.
The GME 40 channels that is in my car come out of my 2002 model car, Uniden 40 that was in my 1998 car transfered to our next car and now is a spare they seem very reliable, the only thing I have brought for one of them is a new mircophone, this time it was not the mirco as such it was the cord that gave up.
The best bit of advice I like to offer is buy the most practical aerial as this will determine the best performance of the set. Big is not best. We have a spring loaded base model on the left of our bull bar mounted on the heavier base. Not the round tube section like most, can't stand it bobbin in front of me as I drive. With the spring section bringing the aerial up above the round bar and the bonnet line not affecting the aerials performance.
On the other car I had A shorter aerial mounted on the mudguard which worked quite well for what I wanted, to sit on the side monitering traffic congestion, say hello to transport friends for the most looked like a car radio aerial.
I myself would not buy the most expenive just a budget model and 40 channel at that with a simple aerial, keep it on channel 40 for moniting the transport movements and to say hello, ps keep its volume down low enough just to hear it, you don't want to be hearing it all day, you need to hear what the lady saying. Enjoy. Radar
Just to add, both the sets have done around 200,000 ks each some use in extreme 4wd driving adventures, trip to Birdsville, Cape York, rally control work, one spent some time in my truck.
Very reliable.
-- Edited by Radar on Wednesday 21st of October 2015 02:59:24 AM
Thanks for the advice Radar, I was thinking along those lines too, not really something that will get a lot of use so didn't see the point in spending a lot of $$$ on it.. Will have a shop around and see what I can find..
Radar, you won't (or shouldn't) be able to buy a new 40ch UHF. They must be 80ch to be sold now.
There you go 03_Troopy, We need at the most 3 channels but got to buy 80 in which case I am glad I have the spare on the shelve.
I have noticed on the market there been another make of CB, the last truck I drove had a company 2 way by the some manufacturer. The transport company would of had 150 of these sets apart from the mircophones breaking down after a couple of years they were bullet proof, my last truck was around 9 years old when in a huff I stepped out it still the orignal everything. I believe they were developed by a Christchurch NZ company which dated back to first surpling taxis with radios just after WW2.
Hey Jamie. This subject has been well discussed, including various brands, in the past. Click on the Search button at the top of this page and type in "radios". "cb radios" and "uhf radios" and there'll be heaps of pages of conflicting comments about the best and cheapest brand to buy lol
Good luck !!
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The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
Bought a CB radio a few years ago and actually found it quite useless. No idea who is talking, hard to understand, dodgy language etc. On multiple ocasions told there was an accident, wide load, or speed camera x kms from a town but the callers never said which road or if it was going into or coming out of the town. Information very unreliable / useless. Persons who convinced me to buy one have since decided CBs are not that good. My daughter used to swear by them when travelling 10 years ago but reckons their use has fallen off in that time. She reckons mobile phones have replaced them to some extent when travelling with a group.
Radar, you won't (or shouldn't) be able to buy a new 40ch UHF. They must be 80ch to be sold now.
Not only that, 40 channel sets will have to be replaced in a year or two. It's not just the number of channels fitted into the sets, the 40 channel sets have a wider bandwidth that overlaps the adjacent channels on the 80 channel sets.
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PeterD Nissan Navara D23 diesel auto, Spaceland pop-top Retired radio and electronics technician. NSW Central Coast.
Bought a CB radio a few years ago and actually found it quite useless. No idea who is talking, hard to understand, dodgy language etc. On multiple ocasions told there was an accident, wide load, or speed camera x kms from a town but the callers never said which road or if it was going into or coming out of the town. Information very unreliable / useless. Persons who convinced me to buy one have since decided CBs are not that good. My daughter used to swear by them when travelling 10 years ago but reckons their use has fallen off in that time. She reckons mobile phones have replaced them to some extent when travelling with a group.
I have to agree with you but it hard to part with an old friend Mr CB, my lady don't like it either because of the fowl language and as one said they have such a wide band width hearing reports of this and that but it can be miles away.
Every so often I have a large one come up behind me and I think here is a professional driver and I will pick up the mirc and say "hello Drive" and then go on to tell him "he is in luck, "I am his worst nightmare because I am a retired Driver" and conversations I have had are very pleasing with a tone of jealousy from both sides.
So to each his own, although CB can be good like last year we were up far north between Emerald and Atherton in parts the road is narrow the road train need to call at numbered points, when you here these calls you look for a safe spot to pull over but as it happened at one we met a road train in not a good spot gave the driver the heads up, he slowed right down so both of us could pass safely. Top driver, it made me proud to think I worked in that industry for 43 years until retirement.
Radar, you won't (or shouldn't) be able to buy a new 40ch UHF. They must be 80ch to be sold now.
Not only that, 40 channel sets will have to be replaced in a year or two. It's not just the number of channels fitted into the sets, the 40 channel sets have a wider bandwidth that overlaps the adjacent channels on the 80 channel sets.
Or reprogrammed for 80ch if they are capable of it, which quite a few are.
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Ours has all the controls on the microphone & the unit is under the drivers seat. That way the driver can safely talk while driving. GME & Uniden both make a model like ours.
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Our land abounds in Natures gifts. Of beauty rich and rare.
Mine is a 40ch GME also, had it 8 years, not a problem at all with the set. Had to make a spring loaded rotator to mount the antenna on coz even though it was a short one it kept being bent over with the branches. Rotator is mounted on the gutter edge top of our motorhome. I use it mainly for informing the truckies when I can pull over so they can pass & listening to them for flash & cash traps. The language gets a bit blue on occasions, if the magic "F" word was banned, half of them would be struck dumb. It's still a very useful piece of kit though.
There are dozens of different brands available, from cheapie disposables, to expensive professional gear. I have a Motorola gm339 and an Icom 400pro. Both of these can be reprogrammed from 40ch (or whatever commercial channels they have) to 80ch.
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Yes I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.
+1 for TAIT. Used then back in the 70's when we used 26Mhz at 500 milliwatts. Had one mounted to my motorbike at the time and never had a problems with vibrations etc. Jeez it must have looked silly with a quarter wave whip poking up the back.
<quote> i already have a handheld but would like to fit a permanent one in the bus </quote>
These days with modern Lithium ion battery packs and highly efficient circuits and microchips, a handheld is really all you need.
An efficient 5 watt handheld is at the maximum permitted transmitter power and is really all you need to give you up to* 30 kilometers coverage.
Seek out one with a decent cradle system for 12V & 230v charging.
Having a removable rubber ducky antenna using an industry standard plug might be useful should you find yourself stranded in the middle of nowhere and you need to attach a full wave antenna in the distant hope of climbing up a hill to attempt reaching up to 50km or more.
At 477Mhz a full wave antenna is only 0.6 of a meter long and a quarter wave whip (rubber ducky) is only 0.15 of a meter.
