Comment on Getting stuck in the bush: Or how I learned not to be an idiot or trust google maps.
Salvo@aussie.zone 1 month ago
Phone coverage is pitiful in most rural areas, and the death of 3G is only going to make it worse.
UHF CB radios are cheap, lightweight and (as long as you don’t use them while driving legal for anyone to (responsibly) use in Australia.
My number one recommendation for safety feature for any vehicle going into regional areas is a UHF. (Second recommendation is rated recovery points, but these are not really applicable unless you plan on off-roading).
Recovery tracks, ropes, winches can be bought in by whoever is coming to rescue you, but without a UHF, you won’t be able to tell them you need rescuing.
CameronDev@programming.dev 1 month ago
I have a couple of cheapo radios, but the range is so poor that i dont really trust them as a viable comms method, especially in mountanous areas.
What radios do you use? I have 2 baofengs BF-F8+++, and a Radtel RT-470.
Salvo@aussie.zone 1 month ago
The baofeng runs at 8Watt, which is higher than the legal power rating in Australia.
baofengtech.com/product/bf-f8hp/
The RadTel is even more illegal at 10W.
radtels.com/…/radtel-rt-470-6-bands-amateur-ham-t…
The power output of the transmitter is not what gets you range, it is the choice of antenna to match the terrain.
CameronDev@programming.dev 1 month ago
They both allow dropping the tramsmit power below 4w, but who knows what they level actually transmit at. If i were using them for anything more than listening to air-traffic control and the occasional road trip i would be a lot more concerned.
My point about the power was that all else being equal, more power is more range. And given the illegal radios way out power yours, but still dont get decent range is a good indication of how bad their antennas are.
Almost every radio reviewer tests line-of-sight range, which is almost always pretty good, so it ends up being meaningless.
Salvo@aussie.zone 1 month ago
My car is a proper 4WD (albeit small) so I have an Australian-made GME XRS-330C installed with an antenna permanently mounted on the roof.
I have an inexpensive GME TX677 in my glove-box for emergencies and an even more inexpensive TX667 in my centre console as a loaner for anyone I am driving with (for their passenger to use, of course).
I plan on upgrading to an XRS-660 as my portable, but it is at the bottom of my Wishlist.
During the chip shortage, I purchased an XRS-330CP as temporary solution. I loan that to family members on touring holidays so we can use the XRS/GPS feature to keep track of each other.
Speaking of which, the GME XRS app has great maps too!
CameronDev@programming.dev 1 month ago
The dedicated car radio + antenna probably helps a lot. The radios i have are many times more powerful than your radios, but when we have tried to use them hiking, they just dont cut it. They are also half the price of your inexpensive radio, so you get what you pay for :D
Salvo@aussie.zone 1 month ago
Yeah, we have some of the no-name UHF radios in the kids toybox.
We don’t put batteries in them, in case the kids hear something on the airwaves that isn’t suitable for young children.
We have one high-end Chinese UHF in the garage in a box. It was purchased because it could be reprogrammed to pickup all 80 UHF channels instead of just the 40 that were available for public use. It has never been used.