Outer Limits 4x4 Board

So wondering if there are any communications guru's out there. I currently have a uhf for wheeling with mates. looking at doing a big trip in the next year or so the discussion of what radio ios best hjas cropped up.

Whats are the diffences between types when it comes to distances, terrains, etc.

also was discussing aerials with my local forby shop recently and they told me that the lower you db rating the more circular your range, opposed to higher getting further forward AND backwards.
wondering if there is anything like dual band aerials or any sort of switching mecanis,m ypu can use for say a 4db amd 8db so you can easily switch between when you change terrains, ie off road where your closer together as opposed to on the highweay where you may have 5 of 6 km's between you.

cheers!!

UHF is a great allrounder that just about everyone has, but its line of sight only and gets generally 30k max without propagation. 27Mhz CB will go about 7k line of sight, but depending on how well its set up, can transmit/receive hundreds of k at the right times with propagation. Likewise the big, expensive, license required HF radios which arent really for car to car comms short range as they are very powerful and lower frequency then the 27Mhz.

So, for UHF, there are quite a few companies that make aerials that have a standard base that accepts different length aerials. GME comes to mind. You can get switches, but they are uncommon in regular 4bys. Usually just getting a 6 or 6.5db covers most scenarios for most people.

SKITLEZ wrote:also was discussing aerials with my local forby shop recently and they told me that the lower you db rating the more circular your range, opposed to higher getting further forward AND backwards.
wondering if there is anything like dual band aerials or any sort of switching mecanis,m ypu can use for say a 4db amd 8db so you can easily switch between when you change terrains, ie off road where your closer together as opposed to on the highweay where you may have 5 of 6 km's between you.

cheers!!

I'd say 4.5 or 6 would be good for most things, i run a 3db and icom ic400, its fine for me.
All uhfs are pretty close to one another when compared to a HF radio, that is - they really are only good for car to car coms, some outback areas do run repeaters tho for a little extra range.

If you're doing a big trip far away from any help then at least one person in the group should ideally have a HF or sat phone, they can be hired. An epirb is a good idea also.

I travel alone a bit and as such have done trips with no UHF but a good HF and vks membership, some days near bendigo i have got travellers near bedourie station (east of birdsville), charters towers and over near coffin bay.

My GME came with 2 aerials. 1 was a 6db (i think) and the other was a 12db aerial.

All it takes to change them is less than 2 mins and an allen key
Uses the same base but changes the antenna out for the different ratings. works well for both short and longer distance comms.