[Che]

I want to get a CB radio for when I cross the nullabor later in the year, mainly as a safety precaution. Not sure what to look for, whether I should go a hand held jobbie or a dash mounted unit. We have some awesome hand helds at work, but they cost $700 a pop and that's outta my league. The less I spend the better, but i'll steer clear of the bottom of the range stuff too. Maybe $200 - $250 max.

Probably leaning toward a hand held CB with mic extension - something I can easily remove to lessen theft appeal, and something I can charge from a 12v socket. But, if dash mounted units are 10x better i'll definitely give them a look in.

What's the go, what do you guys use, brands to look for (Uniden?) pros/cons, advice... i'm open ears. I've checked out Ebay, but I don't really know what i'm looking for. This one has caught my eye though

[Fatzook]

I hope you mean UHF and not CB. cos you will be the only one on the thing.

[atari4x4]

see if you can find one that will take an external antenna along with an external mic.... but after buying all that extra junk you'd be better off with a in car unit & a cheap hand held.

have a look thru here & see if you can find a combo deal that will suit

http://www.prestigecom.net.au/

yes they are UHF's.... CB's died in the late 1980's along with stone wash denim & ford cortina's with jelly bean mags running eagers with the white writing on the outside.

[MacDaddy]

I would go a proper in dash unit, hand helds, even full powered ones, will not have the range of in dash units, and the Nullabor wont have repeaters, so you need all the range you can get... the Antenna is just as important as the unit, get the highest dbi/gain antenna you can afford, with a minimum of 6.5dbi/gain... but remember, UHF will never have the range of the old 27mhz CB, most unit manufactures will say they have a max range of 18kms, this can be extended with a high dbi/gain antenna, but not much, so if you decide to take detours of the main H'way, just be aware of the limited range, and dont rely on the UHF to get you out of trouble...
As for a brand of UHF, well most will say get Uniden or GME, as they are the most reliable, and have been around longer... but i just bought an Oricom unit for $198, it comes with a 3 year warranty, and is built for 4WD's, so its rugged... but i would say, get a model that you can actually operate easily, and not need a degree in rocket science to be able to use it, he he... hope that helps you some...

[MacDaddy]

atari4x4 wrote:

CB's died in the late 1980's along with stone wash denim & ford cortina's with jelly bean mags running eagers with the white writing on the outside.

Actually, you are wrong... 27mhz CB's have not died, they are still being manufactured in the USA, and are still in use all over the world, only Australia decided to take up UHF in a big way, dont know why, except its clearer and less vulnerable to interference... but as far as range goes, UHF is limited... but even Australia still has many who use 27mhz CB, and if out in the middle of know where, i know i would want a CB over a UHF any day... AM CB's are still being sold in most places UHF are in Oz, and many who do long distance driving for a living, still have and use them...
SSB CB's you can still buy new, and 2nd hand on ebay... i still have, and used my SSB/AM CB, when i had my Vit, havnt put it in the GV yet, need to get it serviced and frequencies realigned, but finding a place to do that is difficult in WA, most are in the Eastern states... but when its done, i will have my old CB in my GV...

[shep]

hay MacBear if ya need communications for safety reasons you need a sat phone.
in most parts of OZ there will be nobody within range of a UHF/VHF or a CB radio.
i have a top quality 25watt VHF in my boat and a mobile phone is still more reliable.

[MacDaddy]

shep wrote:

hay MacBear if ya need communications for safety reasons you need a sat phone.
in most parts of OZ there will be nobody within range of a UHF/VHF or a CB radio.
i have a top quality 25watt VHF in my boat and a mobile phone is still more reliable.

Yeah Sat phones are good... i did look at VHF units, they arnt the cheapest... but for outback communications, they are the best, and most monitored for emergencies... i think the Flying Doc has a VHF channel... and i think there is some way to use VHF like a phone too, but thats more money...

[royce]

CB's (of either type) are for talking to on coming traffic and hearing where the cops are hiding, THEY ARE NOT a safety precaution by any means!!! If you are worried about it rent a satphone for the trip

handhelds are useless unless you want to talk to somebody you can see, get an incar unit from GME or ICOM

[lordfury007]

I've done a few australia wide road trips before, and never had a UHF radio for any of them. Spend the money on a premium RAC Membership (about $150/year) which covers a small amount of spare parts, hotel accommodation, towing, rental car and more, along with discounts. Stick to the major roads (i went through the nullabor about 6 years ago, theres plenty of cars on that road) and you'll be fine. Also don't drive within a half hour of sunset/sunrise or in the dark, or you risk animals being on the road (or sit behind a road-train if you do want to drive at night)

A good map is also a good thing to buy, for about $15 you can get one that tells you where fuel and accommodation are, so you can plan your trip on-the-fly.

My experience:

1977 Chrysler Lancer - Canberra to Melbourne To Adelaide to Esperance to Perth in 10 days (mates make the trip more fun)

1998 Holden Rodeo - Melbourne to Adelaide to Darwin in 7 days (spent some time touring coober pedy and visiting the rock)

2000 Suzuki GV - Sydney to Darwin in 3 Days (1400km days are NOT fun)

1988 Suzuki Sierra - Brisbane to Darwin in 8 days (Girlfriends make you spend more money and take more time)

[Che]

Fatzook wrote:

I hope you mean UHF and not CB. cos you will be the only one on the thing.

Yeah sorry, that's what I mean. For some reason the guys and work, truckies etc insist on calling them CBs still, and it's stuck with me.

I'm a bit of a city slicker, once i'm outside of mobile phone range or wireless boradband range all my gizmos won't be able to help me should something happen. I like hte idea of roadside assist, not the idea of trying to call them halfway between Eucla and Ceduna.

Planning in advance at this stage, won't waste my money until absolutely necessary.

[buzbox]

A UHF is always good thing to have and pretty cheap these days, I found that http://www.prestigecom.net.au/ have good deals compared to shops or other places on the internets. I ordered my Uniden 015sx through them, got a bonus antenna and it worked out cheaper than buying it from a shop. It cost me about $260 and chose it becasue of the cop scanner function, remote face and it's what my brother has. I like the GME 3100 because it's so tiny it'll fit anywhere but doesn't have the scanner and it costs the same as the 015sx. Hand helds are crap in my opinion, mainly because you always have to have it charged or constantly fork out for batteries, and they fly off the dash when you hit the rough stuff. I keep a cheap tiny handheld 'walkie talkie' in the glove box mainly for other people to use on trips, If I need guiding, Or I give it to the missus when we go camping, she stay's at camp while I go for a solo bike ride, drive, In the boat or pop down the kiosk. It's just handy to have.

If your going into remote areas you should take a PLB - Personal Locating Beacon, or hire a sat phone. You can also buy a SPOT, It's a little gadget that sends an SMS to a preset phone number to let them know where you are, If you need assistance or If you need urgent help. They're a great little thing but the only down side is the company is based in America, The message is sent to the company and then it's relayed to the authorities over here so there's a slight chance of communication breakdown or may take longer for them to react.

EPIRBS can be used but they're more intended for boating, mainly because they activate when they hit water, they float, and uses the water's surface area as an antenna for a more precise location. On dry land they may be a few degrees off where you actually are. And they're a bit more bulky than a PLB.

[royce]

you can get personal epirbs for hiking and land based activities, lot of money for a single trip though, maybe renting a spot and a sat phone is an idea

[atari4x4]

MacBear wrote:

atari4x4 wrote:

CB's died in the late 1980's along with stone wash denim & ford cortina's with jelly bean mags running eagers with the white writing on the outside.

Actually, you are wrong... 27mhz CB's have not died, they are still being manufactured in the USA, and are still in use all over the world, only Australia decided to take up UHF in a big way, dont know why, except its clearer and less vulnerable to interference... but as far as range goes, UHF is limited... but even Australia still has many who use 27mhz CB, and if out in the middle of know where, i know i would want a CB over a UHF any day... AM CB's are still being sold in most places UHF are in Oz, and many who do long distance driving for a living, still have and use them...
SSB CB's you can still buy new, and 2nd hand on ebay... i still have, and used my SSB/AM CB, when i had my Vit, havnt put it in the GV yet, need to get it serviced and frequencies realigned, but finding a place to do that is difficult in WA, most are in the Eastern states... but when its done, i will have my old CB in my GV...

yes that is true, but how many people still use 27mhz CB radio's... they are few & far between & may as well be dead as you'll be talking to yourself

[royce]

Plenty of worldwide 27mhz use still going on, just not the roads of australia

[atari4x4]

royce wrote:

Plenty of worldwide 27mhz use still going on, just not the roads of australia

that's what i'm getting at, in a round about way...

[Chopz]

yes they are UHF's.... CB's died in the late 1980's along with stone wash denim & ford cortina's with jelly bean mags running eagers with the white writing on the outside.

[royce]

Actually out in the middle of the nullabor with a decent sideband set and 5/8 whip on the roof would net some interesting conversation I reckon

[Che]

This is what we use as work. We're in Pinkenba and these hand helds will pick up signal when trucks cross the gateway bridge if we switch from our dedicated channels.... thats gotta be 7 or 8 kms as the crow flies.

[royce]

my in car GME gets teh same trucks at Clontarf

[Che]

royce wrote:

my in car GME gets teh same trucks at Clontarf

Shit!! That's impressive. Is that a top shelf UHF radio or pretty standard?

[royce]

just a normal GME with their run of the mill AE409L 6db antenna, its not really impressive its what a properly setup incar unit should do

[Che]

Antennas, that another thing I know nothing about.... time to do a bit of online research about all this I think

[royce]

easy version

taller = more range

higher db = flatter radiation pattern so better for flat ground, worse for hills

long whippy ones = screws your swr when they bend in the breeze at speed so a shorter one will work better

[MacDaddy]

royce wrote:

Actually out in the middle of the nullabor with a decent sideband set and 5/8 whip on the roof would net some interesting conversation I reckon

X 2
Definitely agree there... i have seen people out in the outback at night, with a ringo or a ground plane, stuck on an extendable pole bolted onto their vehicle, for more height, and they worked extremely well on SSB !

[buzbox]

6db long range straight directional, ie. good for high way and picking up further away

3db more of a broad range, less distance but covers more area, ie. good for mountainous areas

[303zuke]

royce wrote:

my in car GME gets teh same trucks at Clontarf

I've sat at Bellbird Hill near Kurrajong and had conversations with Waterfall and Berowra on a GME, but I don't think that's just line of sight, there might be some repeaters coming into play there.

[royce]

no idea how far that is but repeaters are only on chanells 1-8 and you have to be in Duplex mode and you would hear the tail after you talk

I am only talking 30km across water so its not a great feat

[got_bar_work]

for the nullabor i would go a 9db then go a 4.5 when back around the hills

[303zuke]

royce wrote:

no idea how far that is but repeaters are only on chanells 1-8 and you have to be in Duplex mode and you would hear the tail after you talk

I am only talking 30km across water so its not a great feat

By the route crows take (and radio waves), it would be in the 40-50km band. The hill is on the very far western edge of the Sydney basin with views over the lot. Timaay might be able to post pics.

[lordviper556]

i got my gme tx3220 and aerial off prestige they are great to deal with and are alot cheaper than most places i found.

i would do what GBW said and run the 2 aerials. i got a 6.5db casue im to lazy to change it lol. dose me tho.

good luck with the trip!!