New UHF - any suggestions...

[beretta]

Hi all,

my old uniden UHF has finally had the gong, so it's time for a newy, I wouldn't mind a GME after having them in the trucks I've found them pretty good and I like the front mounted speaker on some of their models.

Any other brands that people think are good and worth checking out?

Thanks for the help.

Cheers, Paul

[Emo]

If you've got lots of money, Icom is the way to go. If not, either a GME or Uniden will still serve you well. They are both good radios. Depends on price and personal choice I think.

[Struth]

My GME 4400 seems to work ok.

[Struth]

OH and GME are Aussie designed and manufactured.

The 4400 needs a DIN space in the dash, or it can be under dash mounted, depends on your truck.

Cheers

[84ZOOKSTA]

If you do a search you will come up with heaps as this topic has been discussed heaps of times.

If you search for key works like icom, electrophone and uniden you will probably find the last debate we had on UHF radios.


Cheers
Simon

[OISTA]

TAIT. We use them in the firetrucks and they work well. Good range, reliab7le, clear, just glad I didn't have to pay for them.

[AussieGQ]

Yep Tait is the only way to go.

Just so happens I sell reconditioned ones too

100 channels, Selcall 25 watts etc

PM me if your interested. Or do a search for Tait T2020.

[beretta]

Yep Tait is the only way to go.

Just so happens I sell reconditioned ones too

100 channels, Selcall 25 watts etc

PM me if your interested. Or do a search for Tait T2020.

Definately interested, but I'm a bit unsure about the whole reconditioned thing, so what do you call reco'd? Might as well tell everyone in case someones got the same query?

[AussieGQ]

Good question.
All the radios are stripped down into 3 main bits. The heads, main boards and control/logic boards.
The RF PA area on the main board gets resoldered/reflowed to minimize chances of dry joints and intermittent TX problems.
The selcall socket on the logic board also gets reflowed to insure faultless selcall operation. The firmware in the control board is also upgraded to the latest version, or to my preferred choice.
The control head is disassembled and the rubber keypad is cleaned or replaced to insure proper key operation and for the visual aspect.
The radios are cleaned up and sold with brand new power leads and speakers.

All the above is completed by a Tait approved service person/Qualified technician.

The radios can be programmed to suit the user, but typically sold with 40CB channels and police receive.
Police in major cities are now digital so the police receive channels maybe useless in some areas.

[beretta]

Cool, thanks for that so in terms of tx power how do they rate compared to an off the shelf unit?

[AussieGQ]

Cool, thanks for that so in terms of tx power how do they rate compared to an off the shelf unit?

Five times better.
Your only going to notice this over longer distances. Car to car you shouldn't notice any difference apart from a little better audio.

[hudson44]

This mob is pretty cheap too. And quick delivery form perth...

http://www.prestigecom.net.au/

[GRINCH]

do the icom units scan the recive only channels as i just got one and not able to get it to scan channels 41-128. ill 2nd that about prestige they were about $80-$120 cheaper then anyone on the coast

[HotFourOk]

I bought a GME 4200 recently and it is an awesome little unit. It was fairly well priced and the small size is perfect for a little mounting spot.. I wanted this due to my truck design. The speaker is mounted at the bottom, but it still is very loud and clear.

I got it from http://www.lakecomm.com.au here in Newy. It was on thier site for the same price as Prestige sells them for.

[Jeeps]

do the icom units scan the recive only channels as i just got one and not able to get it to scan channels 41-128. ill 2nd that about prestige they were about $80-$120 cheaper then anyone on the coast

Can you scan 01-40?
If yes, then you probably just need to tell the icom to scan 41-128. Icom's are able to scan 01-128 but you need to activate scan on each channel


Can you scan 01-40?
If no, then you need to earth the mic bracket to complete the scan circut or do the mic mod so it scans without having to be on the hook.

Yep Tait is the only way to go.

Just so happens I sell reconditioned ones too

100 channels, Selcall 25 watts etc

PM me if your interested. Or do a search for Tait T2020.

New Tait's are expensive and although reco'd ones are starting to hit the market in numbers the average user won't be able to program it. GME is nice and easy to use. Icom is a good balance because it does high power and has a lot of functions programmable without the need for a cable and PC. However, if someone wants THE BEST and doesn't mind the routine of getting it programmed by someone else with the gear i highly recommend them.

[Bingham]

gme tx 3200 woops wrote wrong one sorry

all mates have them and are a1

[GRINCH]

i can scan 1-40 no probs ive had a bit of a play to get it to scan 41-128 with no sucsess just wanted to make sure its possible before i wasted any more time on it

[bogged]

GME TX3800..
software and cables off ebay
25watt
100 channels with polling
selcall
remote head for easy mounting
etc etc.

[evanstaniland]

GME TX3400 small front face and can mount speaker under steering area and is still lod enough!! good unit

Evan.

[Jeeps]

i can scan 1-40 no probs ive had a bit of a play to get it to scan 41-128 with no sucsess just wanted to make sure its possible before i wasted any more time on it

Yes, you can scan all the channels there are instructions in the manual on how to activate scan for each channel.
1) select the channel (41)
2) then press and hold SCN for 1sec
3) use the up or down down keys to select which scan mode (group, priority, open)
4) Briefly press scan and it'll say SCAN ON
5) Briefly press scan again and it'll say SCAN OFF... etc
6) once you've selected what you want press SCN again for 1 sec to exit back to normal mode.

If you just go to step 3 and select OPEN SCAN then step 6 (exit) you might find that it'll scan all 128 channels. GROUP SCAN is usually only for scanning UHF CB and OPEN SCAN for everything but it depends on what you program in.

[j-top paj]

can anyone say KENWOOD?
if you cant afford a tait then get a kenwood... yes i have both....
and dont say motorola please

[AussieGQ]

and dont say motorola please

Very true

[84ZOOKSTA]

Motorola Motorola Motorola Motorola Motorola.

I use to run a Tait 2020 and they are a good radio.
Also used Philips PRM8030 and have found them to be rather robust.

KENWOOD also do a good radio now and they are fairly well priced, You could go a TK8160 which is 128 channel and supports selcall and everything you need in a radio and they are rather small (about the size of the Icom 400pro).

I now Run Motorola gear 1x GM950 Plus as my uhf and a MCX780 as my MPT Trunking.

I have many a radios at home so if you do decide on what you want, let me know and i will see if i have the one your after.

Cheers
Simon..

[j-top paj]

tk860g? is that what u meant??
i used to have one but now i use a tk859e with 250 chanels

[84ZOOKSTA]

tk860g? is that what u meant??

No The new series are the 21xx 31xx 71xx and 81xx.

so the TK8160 is the replacement for the old TK860.

Simon..

[Ice]

been more than happy with my phillips/simoco PRM8030


can pick them up already programed on ebay pretty cheaply now just watch what band you get as some work better than others for cb