UHF RADIO - DO YOU ACTUALLY USE IT ON THE ROAD ?

[z_halen]

Hey Guys

just running through my budget and things and i'm looking at putting a uhf in the truck, i reckon it's going to set me back around the $600 mark by the time i'm finished, so i guess i'm wondering if you actually use yours while you're on the road..

I'm not doing hardcore 4wding with mates, instead i'm mainly doing highway k's in SA & WA, will be going through some Nat parks and plenty of free camps i hope..

So do many nomads give the heads up about what lies ahead on the radio or should i spend my hard earned elsewhere?

Look forward to the comments

Nick

 

[Aussie Iron]

I know I use mine all the time while on the road. A lot of trucks seem to want to go faster than I'm traveling so communicating with them to get them past, makes them happy and they don't complain as much. I also find it good to know what lies ahead along the road. Of road and traveling with others it is also handy. But I wouldn't say it is necessary, just nice.

Dan.

 

[whatcharterboat]

Hi Dan,

See if you can get a better deal than 600 bucks......I only have a little TX3340......that's the baby one with all the controls on the hand piece...... the base station with built-in speaker is buried under the dash and the hand piece lives in the centre console rather than having a curly cord hanging down in my face or wrapping itself around the gearstick.

IMO...really handy if you do travel in convoy ( and I know you said that you don't ) and for listening to traffic and accident reports, transport checks, and just stuff you want to avoid, like floodwaters and bush fires (not that they happen that often) ......I reckon they are good value ayway particularly travelling on busy highways and in town were you don't necessarily need long range comms.

 

[PKDreamers]

Hi Nick,
We use our to listen (or have your ears on as the say , so the lingo goes) to hear road reports . I use to drive Brisbane to Coffs Harbour alot for years and it helped alot of the time to let trucks overtake ,only the ones limited to 100ks lol lol ,get road reports ,where police are , silly drivers to look our for etc etc.
As John said you will get yourself a much better price than $600.00 , most are around $300.00 mark.
We use a uniden in the truck plus a uniden hand held.Been using uniden for about 20 years and never had a problem.

 

[Thespoon]

Yes....I too have a TX3340, very handy, everything is in the hand piece........use it mostly to communicate with trucks.

Merry Christmas to you all and happy travels in 2013

Adrian

 

[blackduck]

Nick
its an essential item if you plan on travelling the major highways around OZ
I say this as both a full time traveller and profesional driver
WRT cost you dont have to spend the earth to get good results
as UHF is basicaly line of sight (unless your using a repeater) your really only going to be talking to someone relativeley close by
(like the time outside of exmouth when Adrian (the spoon) was coming towards me in his isuzu)
with that in mind you dont need all the bells and whistles
and as aussie iron has mentioned its the best way to keep in good with the truckies and catch up on some goss along the way
while Im plodding along at 90 k's I can use my UHF to find out if the truck coming up behind me is a single or a road train and pick the best spot to "call him round"
they appreciate the it

 

[engineer]

Best one i've had was an icom, but the drivers never understood it too well... They never read the manual.
Uniden is okay, GME is okay too.
They take the guess work out of driving. basically everything "as above" +1

 

[z_halen]

Thanks Guys

I have been looking at the GME 3340 model also and was pretty keen on it..

I really appreciate your opinions and might just order me one now..

thanks