UHF Prority channel.

iana · Guru

UHF Prority channel.

Dougwe · Chief one feather

I have my UHF set to scan 5, 9, 11, 18, 20, 22, 29, 35 and 40. A quick click and I can stop on any one if needed.

5&35 emergency

9 is the old emergency (old habits)

11 is call channel

18 is supposed to be a caravan/travellers channel

20 a lot of road work use this

22 is a channel a few bus companies I know use so others might too

29 is the truckies channel on Pacific Hwy

40 is general truckies channel

Vince · Senior Member

iana, you can have whatever frequency you like on a 40 channel UHF (cannot talk on 5 & 35 unless transmitting an emergency) set as your priority channel.

All that is when you press the priority button and if you have preset a station on it, it will go directly to that preset. If scanning and you press your priority button the radio will go direct to your preset station and scanning will cancel until you activate it again.

I have the same as you Doug on my GME 3200 UHF with exception to 9

I also have 2 amateur Yaesu FT8900R radios - 1 scans over 200 frequencies the other on local repeaters and within 140km.

Also fitted in my truck is a Byonics Tiny Track3 GPS Position Encoder. Can see where my truck is anytime using APRS.fi

Cheers
Vince

iana · Guru

Thanks Doug, I haven't used the radio yet, except for listening. But I haven't mastered selecting channels yet, as I don't want my eyes off the road. I guess you haven't selected a priority channel. At the moment I have it set on 40, but I wondered if drivers actually used 11.

Dougwe · Chief one feather

No I don't have a priority set Ian. I don't get much activity at all on 11 either. UHF is not used like the old AM CB radio days were you would call out a CQ to the channel (11 now) for a chat to someone. Most seem to use 40. It annoys when people hold a full on chat on 40 instead of moving to another channel.

I have noticed here in Townsville a large company use 18 as there work channel and get very nasty if travellers start up a chat on it.

The good old days have long gone mate.

Vince · Senior Member

Dougwe wrote:

I have noticed here in Townsville a large company use 18 as there work channel and get very nasty if travellers start up a chat on it.

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Doug, CB - UHF is free to air radio, no license required.
However if a company uses a specific channel they cannot have it as priority, a call to ACMA will have them settled very quickly
Also on roadworks if you pick up them on your UHF you can talk to them, again they have no ownership of the channel.

PeterD · Guru

Dougwe wrote:
9 is the old emergency (old habits)
22 is a channel a few bus companies I know use so others might too

A couple of notes on these. CH.9 is the emergency channel on 27 MHz CB, it never was a designated channel on UHF. Channels 22 & 23 are for data use only and should not be used for voice communications. I believe that most of the later model radios have these channels locked out.

As for which to set as your priority channel, you select the most important channel you wish to monitor. The receiver will switch to that channel every second or two to see if anyone is using it. If the receiver detects a signal on he priority channel it will stop scanning and allow you to monitor the priority channel The channel scanning will resume after a given time after all activity ceases on the priority channel.

Ozzie_Traveller · Senior Member

iana wrote:
When setting up the UHF radio, do you have channel 11 set as priority, i.e. press the mic button and it defaults to the priority channel, or do you have it set on 40 or 18. What stations do you have set for the channel scanning?

G'day mate

I have a simpler arrangement than the others above, but one that suits me as we travel

With the radio preset to "GS" scanning [ie- what you are talking about], I have 18 - 20 - 40 on the go. On those rare occasions when I am on the NSW Pacific Hwy, I will add ch-29 for those truckies

I find that 99% of people have ch-40 open for their day-to-day chatting between vehicles, so that is my priority channel. Some caravanners using ch-18 to chat between themselves & their mates. CH-20 is a hangover from the days when CMCA suggested its members use ch-20. If I am travelling in a group, we will set our own priority channel for that day

While the Oz gov't has set aside several channels supposedly for emergency & specific use, they are rarely used for this

Ch-05 is the designated emergency channel, but across Sydney taxi-trucks use it all day every day for their stuff. Across Oz I have passed so many towns where the signage on the hwy says "phone 000 or use ch-xx", where xx can be any number between 01 & 30

Ch-22 & 23 are designated computer data channels for those businesses that use UHF devices to turn on/off water pumps etc out in the paddocks. I know of a number of ****ies whose farms are controlled by UHF. Because of this, some radio sets do not allow you to use ch-22, 23 ... when you select one of these channels the radio gives you a continuous beep till you choose a different channel.

With the radio on "OS" it cycles thru all channels, and I often use this when driving the outback - and I often pick up chatter between farmers & others. Sometimes I will call them, identify myself in the process and ask them about "what's the crop you're growing" etc and have a few minutes chat while driving past

Recently I was at a seminar where Rod Hannifey, the road-safety truckie was talking to caravanners & grey nomads, he was very strongly recommending for you to have something on both the front & rear of your van / MH saying "UHF 18,40" to alert others that you are radio-aware. If the numbers are 20cm tall [the letters UHF can be smaller] then the other vehicle can see it from 1/4-km away and call you up. In an emergency when 15 seconds difference in a warning can make all the difference, it becomes quite important

Hope this helps a bit

Phil

iana · Guru

Thanks Phil, we were starting to wander off the topic there for a while. So I take it that no one uses channel 11. Set up the "GS" scanning to 18-20-40, I'm over in the west, I think road works use channel 39, so it would probably be the go to include that. What sort of delay do you have the scan set for, between each channel selection?
When I get a bit more familiar with the radio, I will put up 40 in bigger numbers, that's good thinking.

GerryP · Veteran Member

I don't think 11 gets used very much at all. I have mine set to 40 as that's what trucks and most others seem to use (29 on the Bruce). As a caravanner, I want to make sure I'm in contact with trucks. I might scan 18, but I'm not really on air for a chat. I have a UHF40 sticker on the rear of the van to make it easier for truckies to call me if needed.

If I do want a chat with someone, I'll usually suggest swapping to another channel so as not to upset others.

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Ch 40 Nulabore and west . Just don't chat. Interesting thanking traffic controllers by there names . The look on their face .. lol

Ozzie_Traveller · Senior Member

iana wrote:
Thanks Phil, we were starting to wander off the topic there for a while. So I take it that no one uses channel 11. Set up the "GS" scanning to 18-20-40, I'm over in the west, I think road works use channel 39, so it would probably be the go to include that. What sort of delay do you have the scan set for, between each channel selection?
When I get a bit more familiar with the radio, I will put up 40 in bigger numbers, that's good thinking.

G'day mate

The "GS" mode is okay for most of my time - with volume about 1/2-max, I can hear chatter from the radio, and turn it up when something appears to be of interest

When on "OS" it only takes a few seconds to whiz thru all the channels - and it stops when it receives a signal

The road works people have no regular channel that they use - so to me, there's little point trying to preset a channel that may get little use. Whenever I see the yellow sighs 'roadworks ahead' I simply press the "OS" button to swap out of the "GS" mode ~ it then starts scanning all channels and stops when it hears something. If it is the roadworks, I press-to-cancel the scan operation so that I can hear the traffic control people; otherwise I let it restart scanning after the 1-second delay

Once I have the traffic control people on channel, I can hear their go / stop / wait comments ... and as I pass thru the roadworks I always give them a call and 'thank them for keeping the roads in good condition for us travellers'

Hope this helps

Phil

-- Edited by Ozzie_Traveller on Sunday 26th of June 2016 07:34:04 PM