Plug and Play UHF

[lr4]

I'm keen to hear about the GME plug and play UHF kits. What sort of range can be expected? Is a hard wired system still the better option? We don't have a front bar on the Disco 4 so not many options for fitting an antenna without it looking out of place.
If you have any advice or ideas please share! Thanks!

[trout1105]

Looking at these a simple 5w hand held would probably have the same range. [thumbsupbig]

[Ferret]

...We don't have a front bar on the Disco 4 so not many options for fitting an antenna without it looking out of place.

D4 Antenna Bracket without drilling holes



(http://www.labtronx.com.au/aerial-bracket.htm)

[weeds]

Given the amount of use most UHF's get a handheld might be good option.

We have a couple of plug and play units in the office but you need to be be happy with a magnet base on your paintwork.

I just did a 10 day camping trip and didn't use it once to talk to anybody, turned it on just the once to listen for what was up with traffic.

Just drove 500km last night to get to a job site, turn it on when approaching the range and that was it.

The times i do use it is for line of sight, a couple of hundred meters I.e. Getting around a wide load etc.

[AK83]

Brother had one in his Patrol, but it went with the Patrol when he moved it on.
Range was good with a proper aerial(4dB), but the dinky little 2" 2dB(I think) aerial it comes with was very limiting when we tested it.
I still have that little 2dB aerial too.
The magnetic base with that aerial shouldn't scratch the paintwork, as it shouldn't move around, and it is rubberised .. so that's not something to worry about.
Just the size of it. Depending on terrain and environmental conditions, I doubt you'd get more than about 500-1klm range, unless you're in totally open desert-like country.

[p38arover]

Questions of this nature should be in the Electronics and Communications area. This thread will be moved.

[p38arover]

The magnetic base with that aerial shouldn't scratch the paintwork, as it shouldn't move around, and it is rubberised .. so that's not something to worry about.

How much of the bodywork is steel for the magnetic base?

[Tombie]

How much of the bodywork is steel for the magnetic base?

All of it [emoji41]

[ramblingboy42]

I've had a "plug'n play" uhf cb for several years now...its perfect....simplest installation. Range is no different to any other cb.

[AK83]

How much of the bodywork is steel for the magnetic base?
Like Tombie said ... all of it, Brother's Patrol was where this aerial was used. Later I gave him an old 4dB whip antenna we installed on the bullbar of that same Patrol and it definitely gave a small advantage in hilly country(north off Melb).

The plug'n'play GME went with the Patrol tho .. at the moment he's got my old Oricom in his D2.

For the OP.. the radio unit itself is fine ... as with any 5w vehicle powered unit .. and you can get them relatively cheap too.
Brother initially mounted it on the dash via the windscreen suction cup mount thingy, but then he had a phone holder up there, and then another device running his Sygic nav software .. so eventually the UHF was as moved down to the drivers left knee, so access and sighting of controls was next to unusable for him. But it's down to the aerial that gets supplied with the unit from GME .. it's just too small to be of any real use for vehicle travel .. except in a convoy scenario.

[gusthedog]

FYI dust always gets under magnets on a car and ruins the paintwork. We have a number of work utes with scars from magnets of various types.

[Disco-tastic]

All of it [emoji41]I tried sticking a magnetic light to the bonnet of the D3 and it wouldn't stick. Stuck to everywhere else though.

[Tombie]

I tried sticking a magnetic light to the bonnet of the D3 and it wouldn't stick. Stuck to everywhere else though.

My apologies you are correct!
I was thinking along the lines of the roof... [emoji6]

[trout1105]

Given the amount of use most UHF's get a handheld might be good option.

We have a couple of plug and play units in the office but you need to be be happy with a magnet base on your paintwork.

I just did a 10 day camping trip and didn't use it once to talk to anybody, turned it on just the once to listen for what was up with traffic.

Just drove 500km last night to get to a job site, turn it on when approaching the range and that was it.

The times i do use it is for line of sight, a couple of hundred meters I.e. Getting around a wide load etc.

I have a regular 80 channel UHF fitted and so does the Missus as we usually travel in 2 cars (1x boat and 1x van) we use these to keep in touch and we also carry a hand held UHF for chan40 and this works perfectly.
If you are Not travelling in convoy then a simple hand held unit will do the job just fine [thumbsupbig]

[superquag]

Even when coach driving out of the metro area, a 40ch - 2W UNIDEN handheld in the top pocket worked fine for communicating with Pilot-escort vehicles. Best range was around 5 km open road/Pilot in front of me.

I'd suggest a 5W handheld, cradled, and a good bullbar mounted antenna,
- Second-best would be a gutter-mount antenna, where a wire whip would suffice for convoy use and a bit more. Running the cable under the door-seal might be a potential leak-point.

[SBD4]

For Aerial installation info on D3/D4 check these threads:
Show us the antennas on your D4/D3 (https://www.aulro.com/afvb/l319-discovery-3-and-4-a/149036-show-us-antennas-your-d4-d3-2.html)
Aerial install for D3/D4 TailGate (https://www.aulro.com/afvb/l319-discovery-3-and-4-a/104077-aerial-install-d3-d4-tailgate.html)