I agree that some of the distance claims are fairly dodgy and many UHF
CB hand-held transceivers (HT) have quite low power output, often these
will only have AA batteries and a very small antenna as well - good for
the eye but not for effectiveness. The highest power HTs are the 5 watt
ones. These will normally have inbuilt batteries, some have drop in
chargers (very convenient), and also usually have better antennas. A 5
watt one should easily achieve a distance of 5 klm in average terrain.
An alternative is to get yourself an amateur radio operators license
which you can get by attending a weekend course which are run by many
amateur radio clubs in Australia. These are easy to do and you will
learn a lot of basic stuff and get to know people that know heaps about
radio, Amateur radios use different frequencies to the CB ones and you
will be able to fit much more efficient antennas and really know about
radio wave propagation. More details are on the Wireless Institute of
Australia web site (wia.org.au) and look up Foundation License.
As you can guess that is my main hobby and I am quite envious of guys
like Don and Llane that live in the bush as you have wonderful
opportunities for putting up fabulous antennas - not possible in my
flat in Sydney. Like bird watching I think amateur radio is ideal for
"bushies"....using HTs for communication is a great idea....good luck to
you both. Cheers Brad Crowe.
Don and Llane Hadden wrote:
Has anyone had experience of using these in the field? We live far from any mobile phone coverage and there have been times when 2 of us have been searching for birds and it would have been really handy to have been able to call them up to come over and see something special. I'm interested in the best possible range. It would be helpful if they took AA batteries but I guess not essential. I tried a fairly basic Uniden pair yesterday with a claim of up to 4km. They were marginal at 1km and useless beyond.
Any suggestions?
Don Hadden
_________________
PMB 922
Derby
WA 6728
Australia
Ph: +61 8 91917826
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