[Che]

FYI - just been to WOW on Gympie Rd and they have a full range of GME, Unidens and Icoms to choose from. Nice if you want to compare a few units side by side.

[Shandy]

good to see lots of good tech here. especaly for fools like me! i got two questions. is it possible to wire in two antennas, one that is a small gain for the hills, and a large gain for the highway and just leave them fitted all the time? also i have a pearce-simpson uf2020 radio and i cant adjust the squelch on it. i was hoping someone would have a manual or know how to do it, it isn't just a knob like useally. thanks

[fritter]

Use one of these to switch antennas.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/DAIWA-2-WAY- ... 3f0b887b37

For the squelch try here http://www.radiomods.co.nz/modspage.html

Or try googling the the model number.

Cheers

[Shandy]

cheers for that buddy. yeah googledit, but i all the articles i found had been removed.

[royce]

just get 2 antennas that run the same base and swap em as you need

[Shandy]

it seems you dont realsise just how danm lazy i really am!!! lol!

[Shandy]

it seems you dont realsise just how danm lazy i really am!!! lol!

[royce]

just get one antenna then, any gain you get from different ones wil be well and truly lost by however you switch them

[cairns27]

If ya get a fibreglass ariel, ya need to slide some round foam insulation over it.Resonance will snap 'em off on corragations

bye

[zookprojectfnq]

cairns27 wrote:

If ya get a fibreglass ariel, ya need to slide some round foam insulation over it.Resonance will snap 'em off on corragations

bye

Do you own a LWB yellow sierra by any chance.
I think you might be that drunk guy I got a parts car off once

[cairns27]

Yea zooprojecting, I'm still wanting the front drive sharft, and the motor

bye

[zookfixer]

My mates & I use a Uniden with AM & FM in dash set (dont know the model number, look on Ebay), but its great. Why, because you can all switch over to am when all the fm is cloged up & theres nobody there + you often get beter range on am. The down-side is you need two aerials.
If it was me looking for something for long distance comunications I'd get a satelite phone. They cost about the same as an Iphone with slightly higher call costs but unless your in a hole in the ground you'll get through.

[skyman]

Don;t forget about a true CB and Skip.

I have talked all the way completely across america from here in Washington to Florida, California, and Idaho. A mate has post cards from all over the world, including Australia from people who has talked to on the CB.

Where you will be at, there will be no interference so you will be able to hear all those long distance people when the conditions are right.

Skip is hit or miss, but whenever I was stuck, I was always able to find someone with a landline. Granted this isn't the outback, but being able to call California when my fuel pump went out was really nice. I could not get anyone local, but the CB got a guy 1931 kilometers away in California who called my parents(who brought me a fuel pump).

I also got lady about 100 miles away when I was stuck in the snow . I talked me Dad to where I was, but they could not find me, so someone on the radio called search and rescue (anonymous listener thought I needed professional help lol) help.

I would probably carry a spot, sat phone or epirb if I thought my life depended on it, but I will always have a CB of some sort in my rig when wheeling or traveling. with the potential to reach anyone near with one, or as far as the U.S. they are worth having just in case.

[skyman]

By the way, they are no and wee not in general use when I called for. Once we got cell phones and the handheld 5-30 mile range walkies they disappeared from most vehicles. I just happened to be lucky on both occasions.

Also with a linear(CB amplifier) you can consistantly reach very far, like across the world far. The upside is they are dirt cheap now days.

[MacDaddy]

skyman wrote:

Don;t forget about a true CB and Skip.

I have talked all the way completely across america from here in Washington to Florida, California, and Idaho. A mate has post cards from all over the world, including Australia from people who has talked to on the CB.

Where you will be at, there will be no interference so you will be able to hear all those long distance people when the conditions are right.

Skip is hit or miss, but whenever I was stuck, I was always able to find someone with a landline. Granted this isn't the outback, but being able to call California when my fuel pump went out was really nice. I could not get anyone local, but the CB got a guy 1931 kilometers away in California who called my parents(who brought me a fuel pump).

I also got lady about 100 miles away when I was stuck in the snow . I talked me Dad to where I was, but they could not find me, so someone on the radio called search and rescue (anonymous listener thought I needed professional help lol) help.

I would probably carry a spot, sat phone or epirb if I thought my life depended on it, but I will always have a CB of some sort in my rig when wheeling or traveling. with the potential to reach anyone near with one, or as far as the U.S. they are worth having just in case.

I used to love the skip... and yes, even AM has a much longer range than UHF, i have spoken to people over 50miles away on AM, even in hills and built up area's...
I have always had, and always will have, a 27mhz CB in my car... its just that mine has problems, and i cant find anywhere locally to get it fixed... may have to buy a new one of ebay...
And yes, i have had to call for help when my car broke down, on the 27mhz CB... got help almost immediately...

[alien]

hey mark, surely theres diagnostic and repair information online to fix the radio yourself?? dick smith / tandy should have the parts to do it so long as you can take them the faulty bit to compare with.

[royce]

skyman wrote:

Don;t forget about a true CB and Skip.

I have talked all the way completely across america from here in Washington to Florida, California, and Idaho. A mate has post cards from all over the world, including Australia from people who has talked to on the CB.

Where you will be at, there will be no interference so you will be able to hear all those long distance people when the conditions are right.

Skip is hit or miss, but whenever I was stuck, I was always able to find someone with a landline. Granted this isn't the outback, but being able to call California when my fuel pump went out was really nice. I could not get anyone local, but the CB got a guy 1931 kilometers away in California who called my parents(who brought me a fuel pump).

I also got lady about 100 miles away when I was stuck in the snow . I talked me Dad to where I was, but they could not find me, so someone on the radio called search and rescue (anonymous listener thought I needed professional help lol) help.

I would probably carry a spot, sat phone or epirb if I thought my life depended on it, but I will always have a CB of some sort in my rig when wheeling or traveling. with the potential to reach anyone near with one, or as far as the U.S. they are worth having just in case.

You should come to Australia and see how good UHF is compared to 27mhz

So much easier to make work in a car too cause you dont have ground plane and antenna length issues to worry about

[skyman]

I'd really love to try out UHF for short range and see how clear it is. That is the one thing about 27Mhz it can be really hard to understand over bad interference.

We had a guy with a bad electrical fan. every time his rig got to temp and the fan turned on, everyones radios would start spewing static.

Do UHF do hills very well if you are within close range, or is it pretty much line of site only?

I am also curious how these new U.S. spec "30 mile range" hand helds do. especially with a good antenna and decent power output.

[alien]

we do hills here in WA all the time - my 3w GME handheld UHF still talks to people 3km away through the hills, trees, rocks, water, mud etc...

worst case scenario is i can hear them but they can't hear me - although they can hear my radio click, we've done morse code style "2 clicks no, 1 click for yes" communication before.

[skyman]

The terrain we wheel in. Weeling area clicky

Althoguh we are never more than ay a mile maybe 2 away. 3.2 KM I guess?

[alien]

looking at that with the topo turned on you've got FAR taller "hills" than we have here for my 3km range... i'm driving this: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=mundaring ... 2&t=p&z=13

i think the variance i'm dealing with is about 100m versus your 1000!

[skyman]

Yeah, we have some pretty steep stuff here, easy to get lost with all the side trail shooting off everywhere too.

It is pretty much the norm to gain 4k feet from the trail head to the peak of a trail. Most of the time we will go up and down peaks and valleys with 1000 feet difference from the bottom of a valley to the top of a ridge.

Anyone have any idea what a good frequency range would be to run aside from 27 Mhz CB?

[MacDaddy]

skyman wrote:

I'd really love to try out UHF for short range and see how clear it is. That is the one thing about 27Mhz it can be really hard to understand over bad interference.

We had a guy with a bad electrical fan. every time his rig got to temp and the fan turned on, everyones radios would start spewing static.

Do UHF do hills very well if you are within close range, or is it pretty much line of site only?

I am also curious how these new U.S. spec "30 mile range" hand helds do. especially with a good antenna and decent power output.

I do have to admit, UHF are Very clear... good for around cities with alot of electrical/radio interference...
As for UHF and Hills, depends on which antenna is chosen, a 3db antenna is good for hills, as it radiates a signal in a bubble pattern, but gives it a short range, a 6db+, radiates in a flatter to the horizon pattern, so doesnt do hills well, bit gives you longer range on the flat ground ... but even with a 9db, i would still class them as maybe medium distance at best... 30kms, i would think, would be the most a UHF would go, at the rated 5W max power we are limited too, without a repeater...
But for short range, UHF are tops... i have mine on every time i am in my Zook, i like to listen to the road condition reports on Ch40, and avoid holdups/accidents... and they even let you know where the police radar/multinova traps are too...

[royce]

skyman wrote:

I'd really love to try out UHF for short range and see how clear it is. That is the one thing about 27Mhz it can be really hard to understand over bad interference.

We had a guy with a bad electrical fan. every time his rig got to temp and the fan turned on, everyones radios would start spewing static.

Do UHF do hills very well if you are within close range, or is it pretty much line of site only?

I am also curious how these new U.S. spec "30 mile range" hand helds do. especially with a good antenna and decent power output.

If you were either side of a 1000ft hill that rose fairly steeply you might struggle with UHF but then I think you would with 27mhz as well

I dont think there would be a situation where 27mhz would win with a typical vehicle mounted antenna, IE some kind of helical whip that compromised the radiation pattern and dubious ground plain from the mounting position

[skyman]

So you are thinking that UHF is probably best for vehicle to vehicle transmission in a short range?

What I would really like, is something with a good/great line of sight. See I live at the base of the hills in the valley 30-45 miles away. From the top of those ridges you can see the area of town I live in(at least the lights). So anytime I was on top of one of the ridges I could shoot home to a base station and check in.

I am just not sure if 27Mhz will make the trip. I know it will under certain conditions, but I am not willing to invest in a base station and aerial install without being sure. How far does UHF go unobstructed lien of sight?

Cell phones used to work goo, but the new ones lack the power to get into town.

Here's a map that gives you a better idea, take a look at the area named Ahtanum. we drive due wet from Ahtanum, then cross over the hills to rimrock and take the hiway back. Lots of different paths to take, but all of them have a good line of sight tot house from any ridge.
Wheeling area overview clicky

[fritter]

UHF is considered line of sight. If you can see the town. you can talk to it.
27MHz has only short range ground wave coverage and is very susceptible to interference.
Neither are particularly good in mountainous country.

If you have a HF network there in the states you would be much better
off operating at 3 to 5 MHz. The ground wave coverage is much further than
either 27MHz or UHF, especially at night. Skywave coverage is also pretty much guaranteed at any time as well. Even taking into account the lower efficienties of mobile antennas at those frequencies you will have much more reliable communications.
In Australia we have the VKS737 service which is very reliable.

http://www.vks737.on.net/

[royce]

I can easilly get 40km vehicle to vehicle with UHF, but 1 party is high and I can see them and there is no obstructions in between

In the same situation I would say 27mhz (espcially SSB would also work, if you have a decent mast and antenna on the base station I would say youd be fine, I have gone further than that across terrain with similar

[skyman]

Is SSB a different way of transmitting, or just more power output with the same type of transmitter?

If SSB is a different type of transmission that is more efficient, that may be the go. If it just a different channel with higher power, then it is the same as a regular CB with an amplifier (linear)

[fritter]

SSB is derived from AM and is 3x more efficient.

An ssb transmission also uses half the bandwidth of AM and therefore your receiver will use a narrower filter thus reducing the total noise that comes through your speaker along with the desired signal.

A standard (legal) CB wil have a nominal power output of 4 watts in the am mode, while switching to ssb will allow the same CB to produce 12 watts output.

In your shoes, I'd get myself an am/ssb radio for the car and home and a good half wave antenna at home.

You won't have any trouble talking back to your home base at distances up to 50km (about 35 miles) if you choose a quiet channel and ssb.

And, with the sunspot maximum approaching, you should even be able to talk to people around to world at times. Bonus

[skyman]

Good deal. let me go look. I have two teddy Roosevelt president (40channel no SSB)

and one old SSB I have never hooked up.

It's a radio Shack/Tandy USB/LSB/40 channel. I wonder if that would work for my mobile? Have any idea if that would work?Then pick up a good base station. Is USB and LSB the same as SSB? Or is it just a sideband?

The Teddy Roosevelt's were a good CB for in town, and shooting skip back in the day. I am not sure how they would go from the moutain top though.