UHF CB's and Scanners
Alot of people are now using UHF CB's to help organise themselves in
large cruises. One particular example is two car's both with UHF CB's, one
at the front and one at the end of the pack, and making sure that everyone
sticks together. The more common situation lately is a whole bunch of people
using UHF CB's to just chat and to let everyone know what's going on..
basically saving on Mobile Phone call costs!
Also there's two (that I know of) UHF CB + SCANNER combination radio's
available. I've owned and used both of them, more info about them further
down.
Firstly, if you're after a UHF CB, and you've got around $100 to spend,
here's your range! These are all available from Dick Smith Electronics (DSE)
and various other stores.
The
Uniden UH-037 is quite a good choice, it has all 40 channels (do not
buy a cheap 20 channel radio! Get all 40 channels!).. at $80! It has
500mw output (this is important, the higher the better) which will
provide a car-to-car range of around 500 metres to a kilometre. If
you're outside the car than you may get the claimed 3 km range..
From here, there's the
Uniden UH-040XR and the
Uniden UH-024R, they both do the same job as the last plus a few
extra features that you aren't likely to be interested in! |
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I do not recommend the
Kenwood radio's.. they start at $200 but much less output than those half
the price (300mw output).
| If
you can afford to spend a bit more and you insist on owning a handheld,
than the 5w (5,000mw) UHF CB's are the way to go. They have much better
transmission power with far better range and clarity. The unfortunate
thing is that they start at around $350.. such as the
Uniden UH-050XR ... the price goes up from there, to even $550 for
the
GME TX6000, which has an 'extra programmable channels' function
(scanning), but its 'Dealer Programmable' .. and I'm yet to find a
dealer that can do it.. the in car unit of this model is cheaper and
does the job better. |
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If you're not too fussed on
having a handheld, and you would like much better transmission range and
reception, than you need to get yourself an in car unit! Plus some of the in
car units also have very good scanning abilities for listening to other
transmissions other than CB's.
| In car
units also have a 5w power output but have superior reception and
transmission compares to a handheld unit while in a car, because the
antenna is mounted externally on the outside of the car. A good in car
unit starts at $298 for the
Uniden UH-100 , which is a 1 DIN size unit (the size of a car
stereo) and is therefore very easy to mount in the space above/under
your stereo! There are other units about 1/4 DIN size that are nice and
small but usually hard to work out where to mount.. Such as the
Uniden UH-089 .. the pricing goes up from there, once again the more
expensive UHF CB only radio's have features you aren't likely to ever
need or use. |
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If you can afford to spend around $460 or more, and would like the power of
an in car UHF CB as well as the functions of a scanner, than there's only
two available at the moment. The scanning functions help make your UHF CB
purchase useful for when you're not going to be using it as a CB. And let's
face it, you aren't going to be using the CB all the time, but listening in
on the scanner can subside the boredom at all other times! With the scanner
you can listen to channels other than the 40 UHF CB channels, including
police, ambulance, fire brigade, security channels etc.
First up
is the
GME TX4400
.. it is a 5w UHF CB and has 20 user programmable channels for scanning,
in the 467-469Mhz range. Basically this is useful for listening to the
police only. It is a 1 DIN unit, which means it is very easy to install,
has a forward facing speaker as well. Handy unit that simply installs,
connect power and antenna and off you go.
Cons: has a limited scanning range which only covers the police, also
the microphone isn't easily detachable.
Pros: all in unit, very
easy to install, scanning functions will scan both UHF CB and Police
frequencies in a single scan.
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| Secondly,
there's the
Uniden UH-013. It has just been released (August 2002) and when I
bought it there was only one available in Brisbane. I believe DSE will
have them in all stores in the coming week or two though. It has 40 user
programmable channels for scanning in the 400-512Mhz range. Which covers
more than just the police, but I've found there's basically nothing else
that's interesting to listen to anyway! The police attend most things
that the fire brigade and ambulance attend to anyway..
Cons: scanning functions
appear to be completely seperate to UHF CB operations, and scanning on
both UHF CB channels and programmed channels appears to not be possible.
Also, its 1/4 DIN size is a nifty idea, but difficult to mount. You
cannot mount it in a DIN slot under your stereo or similar without alot
of hassle, and you would need to mount an external speaker because the
speaker faces down on the bottom of the main unit.
Pros: Larger scanning
range of 400-512Mhz, and can scan large ranges rather than simply
scanning programmed channels. Squelch control is very good and it has an
easily detachable microphone.
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And well, if you're not
interested in having a CB but would like a Scanner, there's a few options
available..
The most
basic handheld scanner is the Uniden 60XLT.. Useful for listening to a
whole bunch of stuff, covers a greater range than any CB+Scanner unit
also.. also handy for listening to aviation and stuff.. I can't say a
hell of alot about this unit as I haven't owned one, but know a few
people that do have 'em and they're a typical portable unit that's
limited by its antenna, particularly inside a motor vehicle..
Starting price $160 or so.. available at DSE of course..
more info here..
On the flipside, most 'desktop scanners' have 12v source functions, so
it can be powered inside a car.. starting at around $225 for the
Uniden 248CLT and for a serious top of the line model you can be
spending $650 for the
Uniden 780XLT!
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Check out the
Scanner Frequencies
section for more information, such as the law on scanners, channel freqencies
and more.
Note: Your UHF CB is only as
good as the antenna you connect it to. Make a careful decision based on your
budget and what is feasible. My recommendation is this
4.5 db antenna that's only $32.95. The higher the db rating the better
generally, it can get complicated. If you wish to read more about antenna's
look
here.. By the way, if you mount your antenna inside the car than it's
usefulness is severely impacted. You can purchase boot mounts for your
antenna that do not require drilling or anything to your car, I use one of
these myself, consider your options. Stay away from Window Mount antenna's
unless you cannot or will not do any better. Even though they're typically
rated at 3db, the signal must also pass through your windscreen without
wires, which means a large part of the signal will be lost.
UHF CB's were never a very
popular item, but since UHF CB's have been classed as not requiring a
license some couple years ago, they're picking up in popularity due to their
range and usefulness compared to a $50 pair of walkie-talkies! And of
course, there's been a large increase in UHF CB purchases lately and stores
are stocking up on what people want.
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