Anyone know UHF??

[mitch92]

Afternoon lads

Have a question for you all RE: UHF radios

Firstly, am looking to purchase sometime soonish

Secondly, looking at two main brands, Icom and GME, However also considering possibly Uniden

Basicaly, what are people thoughts on a decent unit. Will most likely be buying from prestigecom.net as a package, budget around $450 - $500.

Always been an icom fan, have Uniden in dad's car, GME in the boat, all have worked well

Thoughts??

Cheers
Mitch

[Aunty Jack]

I use Uniden in my 4x4 and trucks havn't had a problem yet.
If you google Uniden you can get some real good prices.[AUS]

[liltuffy]

Mitch, bought a GME twenty years ago - never had a problem except with antennae's. Reckon all brands are pretty good these days.

Craig

[chisel]

place called prestigecomm looks to have good prices. Worth a look anyway. (no, I've never bought there so dunno about service etc)

[FNQCairns]

I don't really know UHF but i do know it's Icom all the way these days if it's my money I am spending..silly not too.

Indecently I have bought a UHF from prestige 5 years ago, they had a top reputation at the time.

cheers fnq

[Captain Seaweed]

I just bought the icom and I am really happy with it. I have had the others in the past and it was time to try something new. I figured they made lots of top end stuff so icom it was and I am very happy. I bought the unit with the screen and buttons on the handpiece not sure of model cost $450 from OLBIS

[finga]

The first thing you'll need to consider is where are you going to mount the sucker.
A lot of new cars do not have room to mount the traditional 1 din sized UHF radio (ie the same size as the old radio/cassette player) in a spot where it will not annoy the crap out of you ie in the footwells or on top of the consul or dash.
Have a look at the sizes of the various radios you like and make a polystyrene block the same size (including depth. Depth is very important) and go exploring.
If you have a newish car that may narrow the options down a smidge.

Icom seem to be the quality item now but I have an old Uniden and it does it's job.
I personally would not touch GME with a 40' barge pole purely due to lack of aftersales service. Just not worth the chance in my books

[Apollo]

Mitch

I have used and had both Uniden and GME with no problems on either. I probably have a preference for uniden as I have a couple of really old models that are still working a treat.

Steve

[shrunken pojie]

Mitch,

Probably more important then the radio unit itself (as others have said, they are all pretty good these days) is to get good advice on the antenna. Make sure you get the correct size and type for what you want to do. I think that this has more of an impact on the radios performance then the unit itself.

Phill

[mitch92]

Should have given a bit more info

Looking at one with all controls in the mic, or a remote head from the main unit.
Size does not matter whether DIN or smaller, plenty of room, especially if with a remote head/mic.

As for antenna, will be hooked up to the one that comes with the pack until such time as i can afford a better one.

[BILLY THE KID]

GME 3220 is small and fits anywhere . mine has been going strong for 12years now

GME 3420 has a remote face so the main body can be mounted away from the face


check them out here

http://www.olbis.com.au/ap_template/subcat_uhf.asp

[gros21]

I have a 400sx -rm in in my work truck with remote mic
seems to do the job and pics up all cop channals as well
Do u work for EE?

[ozscott]

I too have the ICOM where all the controls are in the mic' - fantastic unit and have had it for a year now.

If you want REALLY cheap sets (just make sure you get the ones that are UHF CB Australian Spec) look at places like shop409.com...the handheld portable 5w no names are about $80 landed....I would only use those as a back up however. For my boat and 4wd I have Icom fixed sets and love them.

My brother sells Uniden and Icom...he recommended and fitted the one in my truck. If you can stretch the dollars the Icom is the way to go mate.

Cheers

[Kevaclone]

The UHF radio quality goes like this
From crap to best

Uniden(UH088 isn't too bad, rest are crap)
Icom IC-400PRO or the new 450
GME
Commercial


Uniden are cheap for a reason, because they are absolute crap
The transmitted audio is just horrible, mostly muffled(you need to hold the mic at least 6 inches from your mouth)
Their receive is garbage, drive through any high RF area(most cities) and sometimes you can't squelch out the noise from out of band transmissions(radio front end is too open, I have a UH012 and it is absolute garbage, when ever I was in Brisbane I had to turn it off because of the constant noise. I replaced it with an Icom IC-207H UHF/VHF dual bander)




Icom make some good high end gear, The 400PRO is not one of them
They are none too bad though with good TX and RX audio, can be programmed with extra channels if you want to listen to the police etc. And the selcall needs to be reprogrammed as it's default is 12345, most annoying when some idiot starts calling your radio. Also don't be tempted to up the power to 25watts(yes they can do it) as this was the main drama a lot of people had with them


GME are about the best(for standard UHF CBs). Made here in Australia. large range, Good customer support(despite what some may say, try getting any from Uniden)
The new TX4800U is a commercial grade 25watt UHF(5 watts on CB freqs) uses the same compact chassis as the 600 series VHF marine
Can be programmed with extra channels
TX3820 is also commercial 25 watter but in the TX3420 sized chassis and can have either the controller mic or remote head for control


Of course if you want a real good commercial grade UHF radio for LESS money than a UHF CB, then something like a Tait T2020, Motorola GM338/339 or Kenwood TK860/880 radios will outlast and outdo any UHF CB for performance(RX and TX)

[Sevric]

I sold and serviced marine electronics for 20 years, if it were my money i would stay with Icom.