Uniden GPS 105 UHF radio

[RN]

I have seen the Uniden GPS 105 UHF radio on the market. The price varies between $400 and $470 depending whether it is on ebay or retail. Does anyone own one and what is your opinion of the performance as a radio and it's GPS capability?

RoadNazi

[Jeeps]

IMHO, i think it's a great price. It even comes with an external aerial for the GPS!!! However, it'll be intersting to see how it performs in the field as a lot of guys complaing that the uniden combo units (UH-090, UH-013) don't offer good clarity/range/quality.

The best features of it are programmable waypoints, speed alert, estimated time of arrival etc.

However...

Uniden reccommend to only use the GPS transmitting functions on ch 22/23 and only occasionally.

Apparently it's 'not nice' to transmit voice on 22/23 as they are dedicated for farming equipment/digital transfer and these channels should be kept clear at all times. (Farmers transmit signals to turn pumps on and off and stuff like that)

[Major60]

It is illegal to transmit voice on UHF 22 & 23. These chanels are dediated to data transmission only.

[Jeeps]

No, it's not illegal. It's just 'allocated' for data. It would have to be advertised on the user manual of the radio at the very least and it would be displayed on freq lists. Also, manufacturers would be liable if someone bought a $60 uniden and started talking on 22 because uniden hadn't disable voice feature on that channel.

That's why uniden don't sell in-car scanners anymore because laws changed a few years ago so it's not legal to have a scanner in-car... for following/avoiding police etc. It's all bullshit.

However, my uh-013 has scanner functions, but it's either got to be a scanner or a cb so if i intentionally change modes to scanner mode in the car i can get into trouble... but technically it's just a cb...

[RN]

To Jeeps,

a previous thread suggested that the Uniden combo sets don't work as well . As you have a 013 radio and scanner does it work ok as a radio? Can you receive/transmit OK and do your mates complain about the range of your set compared to their single function type.

RoadNazi

[Jeeps]

To Jeeps,

a previous thread suggested that the Uniden combo sets don't work as well . As you have a 013 radio and scanner does it work ok as a radio?

Yes, it works very well. It's extremely small and i have an external speaker and it's VERY loud. It has lots and lots of options (CTCSS, VOX, SELCALL, SCANNER) which is why i bought it apart from it's incredibly small size. Its got a good display and has simple features which most others don't. For example, it's got a function so if someone's talking (the set is receiving) you can't transmit. This has saved me talking over the top of my mates accidentally plenty of times.

Can you receive/transmit OK

Yes, it's very clear. It has a nice smaller microphone that is excellent to hold. I have mine in my centre console so it's a bit hard to hear that's why i have external speaker.

and do your mates complain about the range of your set compared to their single function type.

RoadNazi

I don't think it has as much maximum range as others.
I've had a bit of trouble with mates complaining about me breaking up and vice versa. A recent trip to rainbow had 1 of the convoy about 5klm ahead and the 3 other 4wd with me could hear and transmit to him easily but i couldn't hear him and he couldn't hear me. But that may have been antenna placement.

I previously had a UH-100 which is now in a mate's 4wd and he's constantly complaining about interference and wanting to change channels all the time while i can't hear a thing because the UH-013 is not very sensitive. It's not bad, but it doesn't hear as well as other sets i've owned.

Would i buy it again? Yes, however i paid $460 for mine when it first came out and it's now only $380 or thereabouts. But for that kind of money i'd be keen to spend it on something like an
ICOM which is only $399 and has the same features as the UH-013 - apart from wide band searching and VOX but instead of 80 channels, it's got 128 which are like the uniden - fully user programmable.