Thread: HF/UHF and Satphone advice

I have neither but friends i go away with have, 1 has a sat phone and another an HF.

Personally from my (limited) experience with them i would go the sat phone. The HF seemed to have more troubles (than the sat) with obstructions like trees etc. We needed to use the HF for a recovery in the outback (gearbox) and spent a good few hours trying to work out why no one could hear us... bad earth.

With the Sat phone a big plus (in my book) is that you can take it with you if you go for a hike in the bush or something. Or lend it to a friend . My mate shares his around as long as the bill is covered for that period.

The sat phone owner is on a low bill: std $30 per month with i think $5 worth of free calls (used in a micro second).

The other thing is he got a government grant for the satphone at which i think a lot of people are eligible for (but they don't realise). Something about remoteness. I can find out more if you want?

hope that helped

well must ask where you going to live in oz

as 90% of the population centres live within mobile telephone coverage

EPRIB (emergency beacon) changing frequency after 2007 different satillete so you going to have watch which one you buy, old system used to cost $300 -$400 new one much dearer.

If your only after a sat phone or HF for emergency situations then buy a EPRIB and keep in car.

If your after car to car or car to base communication HF radio fine

If your after person to person from the outback then sat phone the go.

If your only planning on getting them for outback trip once every year then it would be cheaper to think about leasing or renting the sat phone for the trip from dealer as cheaper than buying one and taking out contract

Originally Posted by cartm58

well must ask where you going to live in oz

Living in the Perth suburbs, but planning to explore remote bits of WA by 4x4 over the next year or so, and then maybe further afield too.

Wanted car to car for 4wd clubs, so that's the UHF bit as I understand it. Then wanted emergency comms, though maybe not as drastic as all or nothing with just an SOS beacon!

well a eprib beacon is all you need and these can be bought or rented as well from any reputable cb communications shop around perth.

unless your constantly going bush for prolonged periods not worth outlaying huge amounts of cash for one

what 4x4 club you joined or been out with since you been in Perth

Besides LORCWA as land rover specific

there are good clubs like West Coast 4x4 and GO Bush which have internet based membership ie no monthly club meeting to go, just front up for the posted outing and pay your annual fee membership around $60. The clubs also have spare equipment for use by members like radios. winches etc you can borrow for trips

UHF - 5w is the legal limit I think. Handhelds are either 1/2 or 1w. But UHF is for convoy use use, don't rely on for emergency use. There are repeater channels listed on the 'net, but I repeat don't rely on for emergency use.

27 mhz is also still around, due to a cockup in government regulations permitting both instead of switching. Don't rely on in emergency situations. Its possible you'l get hold of a SSB set, great range, but there won't be anyone listening. GME for example don't make SSB sets anymore.

HF - still usable, practical, & cost effective. Have a a squiz at www.VKS737.on.net. believe me, it's nice to be able to raise the alarm with someone 2000 km away. And get weather forecasts. And it's possible help is nearby - you'll never know with satphone. Listenening to the evening skeds can be a revelation.

Everything can be broken, but typically HF transceivers are bullet proof. Unlike some satphones I could name!

Satphones - the only way to go really if you want someone to call you. Radphone on HF is just too hard. Emergencies? It depends on what phone numbers you have with you. Literally. Friends & family aren't always up Rangers no's, police no's etc etc in the middele of nowhere.

EPIRB - the true emergency button. Penalties for misuse. Again, do some homework, new frequencies are coming in, old ones won't be effective. Can't recall when, it's all to do with standardisation following the Sydney-Hobart yacht race deaths a few years ago.

So what to get.. I've gone with 2ndhand satphone & HF instead of new one-or-the-other. Search on www.explore.oz.com for some good stuff.

Regards
Max P

I have a SatPhone for the reason's you've outline - easy to use as it works like a mobile phone and therefore most people can use it. I have had to use it in an emergency and was very grateful for it. HF is good to but needs installation, mounting of antenna and some knowledge to use, that said the new modern systems like the Coden NGT work like a phone (almost).

I also carry an EPRIB, if you are buying an EPIRB you should get the new higher frequency one and register it. The old system is to be phased out by February 2009 and the new ones are now available.

UHF Is good for vehicle to vehicle but is less of a safety "tool" as it's range is limited.

You should also get a good first aid kit for the vehicle and know how the basics of first aid.

I'd recommend a SatPhone and EPIRB, but if you are in Perth you should be able to hire these for short term rather than buy them.

Originally Posted by cartm58

what 4x4 club you joined or been out with since you been in Perth

Haven't yet, and was going to ask for recommendations once the car is a little more prepped than it is right now.

Just had the timing belt done, serviced it, and now adding a few goodies like the comms gear, and then I'll be ready!

Only been here 3 months so far, and have been concentrating on sorting out my other hobby first, which now needs the 4x4 to get me to places for that too.

I have a Telstra Satphone, works great anywhere in the world as long as you're outside.

Don't sign up for a Telstra Satphone account, minimum cost is $30 per month. If you're not going to use it much just go to a telstra shop and ask for a standard (NOT nextG) GSM SIM card with global roaming enabled. These plans start at just $10 per month.

Telstra don't really acknowledge this works from my experience, but then again most of the telstra staff I spoke to - including those in the Sat division - didn't seem to really know what a Satphone was!

Nathan