UHF radios

[Bodgie Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Bodgie]

I am a newbie .Planning my first trip to The Outback - from Melbourne.I have a 2006 Prado and an off-road camper trailer.It seems advisable to have a UHF radio/s .What type would you advise , and does it matter if its 40 or 80 channels?Where would I buy one?
Cheers.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

If buying new I would definitely buy the 80 channel. I have always used GME and never had a single issue with any of them. I currently just have a 40 channel but will update when I have excess cash lol. I would buy it from some one that if you have any issues you can take it back not have to post it and all that crap. I have always bought from Action Communication on the great western highway here at Kingswood (10 mins from home) Extremely helpful and I have never bothered to check prices so wouldn't know if there prices are competitive or not......I'm sure other people have Uniden, Icom, and other brands and probably never had any issues either.....Cheers Steve

[cfryback Find all posts View Profile Close cfryback]

Well if you want to live large, get a GME TX3800 - commercial radio - 25Watts!

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/like/1312...=true&lpid=107

Similar to what I paid for mine, though I got the remote head for it, for $65

[DISHoh Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close DISHoh]

I'm in a similar situation to you and just bought this unit.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/GME-80-CH...b686bb9&_uhb=1

Electricals make little sense to me yet I had it installed in a couple of hours.
Does everything I need it to do.

Would have bought a TX3100 but I like everything looking neat and inconspicuous in my cars so the red was too blingy for me.

[Shangus Find all posts View Profile Close Shangus]

Second that, go for 80 ch. I've always used gme as well and can't fault em.. Make sure it's the new scansuite model if you go that way. Will have an S after the name if it is. Great feature and hard to beat at the moment. Takes less than 2 sec to scan all 80 channels so makes it easy to monitor what's going on around you. I just set a priority channel and let it scan away. I've also got the model with the hands free kit which is another good option but it all comes down to what your willing to spend. Buy a good quality antenna to go with it. Rfi, zcg scalar, gme come to mind, preferably with a removable antenna. Rfi's explorist package is a good deal, you get a short and a long aerial that you can interchange or if money's no object there cdQ series. A cheap handheld is also a good idea and very handy to have. I use mine to order a beer from camp while I'm on the beach fishin ;-)

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

""A cheap handheld is also a good idea and very handy to have. I use mine to order a beer from camp while I'm on the beach fishin ;-)"" cheeky buggar. I know what my wife would say if I did that and it wouldn't be "I'll be there in a minute either" lol....Cheers Steve

[Shangus Find all posts View Profile Close Shangus]

Hahaha I know what you mean. Always gotta b careful the beer doesn't arrive at speed aimed at your head!!! Lol

[Bodgie Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Bodgie]

Thanks very much for your replies.Will start looking.Jim

[Bushbasher Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Bushbasher]

I have Uniden 80 channel in car and 2 Uniden hand-held 80 channel units. I call the missus and tell her to put the kettle on whilst we're out bush and I'm off detecting or exploring. Hand-helds are also a bonus for directing recovery operations. Prestige Communications are pretty good to deal with.

[Corigator Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Corigator]

I just bought this one from Prestige to replace my old 40 channel Uniden. I have been very happy with Uniden, they work well and look tidy.

http://www.prestigecom.net.au/Uniden...-Year-Warranty

[thebigo Member Find all posts View Profile Close thebigo]

I am currently going through the same thing and spoke ot some guys and I am going an iComm 440n. They mainly do commercial so they need to be spot on I would think. Anyone else on here probably will chime in if they have any experience with the iComm but I will be getting one.

http://www.icom-australia.com/produc...cb_ic-440.html

I agree with the others that a couple of Handhelds is a top idea as well. Yep ordering beer is one bonus but even basic stuff like checking a track or pass and being able to talk back to the car without yelling. I used mine last time when I was cooking up at the camp kitchen to talk back to the missus at the campsite to bring stuff I had forgotten to save wasting time.

[Guest Close Guest]

For a handheld, I use a GME TX670 2W 80ch. It is surprisingly small but works well. I have other Oricom 1W handhelds and they have issues. Mainly power related issues.

If looking for a handheld, it is better to get a unit that takes AAs for greater capacity compared to AAAs.

[Pugaree Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pugaree]

I am currently going through the same thing and spoke ot some guys and I am going an iComm 440n. They mainly do commercial so they need to be spot on I would think. Anyone else on here probably will chime in if they have any experience with the iComm but I will be getting one.

http://www.icom-australia.com/produc...cb_ic-440.html

I agree with the others that a couple of Handhelds is a top idea as well. Yep ordering beer is one bonus but even basic stuff like checking a track or pass and being able to talk back to the car without yelling. I used mine last time when I was cooking up at the camp kitchen to talk back to the missus at the campsite to bring stuff I had forgotten to save wasting time.

I've had an icom440 for the past 5 years that I have transferred from the Patrol to the Prado. I purchased it mainly for the speaker in the handset due to the lack of space to install a din unit in the Patrol. I ended up having to install an external speaker as I found the internal was just a bit too hard to hear at times.

One thing I find a bit of a pain is that the volume up/down is also the channel up/down and you need to press the channel button before you can change channel, seems to default to volume setting which is a bit of a pain when driving and trying to change channels as you have to look down to check what's going on. Small point but I do find it annoying.

Overall though a great radio but if I was purchasing now given I have a GX and a vacant double din slot, I would get the IC400. The IC400 is also programmable to up the power and channels.

[thebigo Member Find all posts View Profile Close thebigo]

I've had an icom440 for the past 5 years that I have transferred from the Patrol to the Prado. I purchased it mainly for the speaker in the handset due to the lack of space to install a din unit in the Patrol. I ended up having to install an external speaker as I found the internal was just a bit too hard to hear at times.

One thing I find a bit of a pain is that the volume up/down is also the channel up/down and you need to press the channel button before you can change channel, seems to default to volume setting which is a bit of a pain when driving and trying to change channels as you have to look down to check what's going on. Small point but I do find it annoying.

Overall though a great radio but if I was purchasing now given I have a GX and a vacant double din slot, I would get the IC400. The IC400 is also programmable to up the power and channels.

OK thanks mate I will have a look at that also.