ShinyDiscoBalls wrote:Listening to the cops would be good....
Out of the 2 you posted which would you recommend taking what I said above into account?
" What type of radio should I take on my outback trip ? "
To be properly advised detailed Information about the intended trip is needed, however some basic facts remain constant.
27 Mhz "AM" AM CB is designed to give short-range communications, car to car, with distances of 5 to 10 Kilometres and only then if the quality of aerial and mountings are good.
The value of a simple CB Radio in convoy situations is without question, but once you get off the main road you can forget it as a safety tool.
27 Mhz "Single Sideband (SSB)" SSB CB radio's offer's better range than their "AM" cousins of up to 30 Kilometres, but ONLY to another SSB radio.
However this is clearly not enough when you are in remote area's.
HELP is usally hundreds of kilometres away.
SSB CB radios do allow convoys to spread out on dusty tracks and still maintain contacts because of their superior range.
You may have heard stations calling from far North Queensland or even the occasional station calling from overseas on 27 Mhz SSB. "SKIP" or "Propagation" as this is an atmospheric phenomenon and erratic this should NOT be relied upon for emergency contact from remote area's.
Many of these stations heard will be running much more powerful equipment and bigger antennas than you, So just because you can hear them it does not mean that they will hear you in an Emergency situation.
477 Mhz "UHF" UHF CB radio is rapidly taking over from the older types of CB Radio's 27Mhz type.
With its superior clarity and range, UHF has become a choice of Rural Australia.
Most outback stations, 4x4 Clubs, Caravan Clubs, & 75% of Interstate Truck Drivers use UHF.
Unfortunately with a line of sight range of 5 to 20 Kilometres "UHF" is still unsuited for Emergencys in remote locations.
Farming areas however usually have Repeaters stations within range which Help by boosting UHF Signals to 100 Kilometres or more, but once again these repeaters are not available in remote locations.
Cellular Telephone Mobile Phone "GSM or CDMA" coverage is generally only available along the East Coast and perhaps around outback cities.
There is no coverage at all away from major population areas.
ONLY 9% of Australia's Land Mass is covered by the Standard Mobile Cellular Telephone Network.
Satellite phones are available for mobile and NEW hand helds and start at about $1895.00 and go up to about $6000.00 Dollars.
Coverage of all of Australia, including remote outback locations is execellent, and off shore coverage is possible out to 200 kilometre's out to sea.
The big advantage of a Sat Phone is it's ease of use being similar to that of a cellular phone, but you must be outside not inside a Building as the Antenna must see the SKY.
HF "High Frequency" ( RFDS ) Codan or Barrett radio's are the only type that offer full legal output power of 100 Watts not like CB radios 4 Watts for AM, 12Watts for SSB, 5 Watts for UHF.
Life threatening situations are another story and a Snake bite or Heart Attack require assistance within a couple of hours at most and usually advice from the RFDS (Royal Flying Doctors Service) medical staff over the radio is vital until they can get to you for treatment or evacuation to a hospital.
