Thread: UHF or Sat Phone

Rely on? No!

Firstly, you'd have to plan your route making sure repeaters exist, but even if you did, they're all run by radio clubs and the like, so may be off air for maintenance or due to a fault, etc.

In this day and age, if you want reliable remote area comms, a satphone is your best bet.

You could go HF radio, either via an amateur license or one of the commercial networks with a Codan or similar, but they're still less guaranteed than a satphone (as long as you can see the sky and are in a covered area for the network you've chosen, of course).

For pure "Help, come get me now" type emergencies, a PLB is also another (far cheaper) option too.

Just my 2c worth, and I have all the above options.....couldn't tell you the last time I bothered using the HF though, and it isn't even fitted at the moment. My satphone and PLB go with me every time I'm remote though, and have the advantage they can both fit in my pocket or hunting pack when on foot and away from the 4x4 too.

Ive had a sat phone for couple years now, always goes with me even when we leave the car go on foot, has been very handy at times , i bought a second hand one for $150 and pay $17 per month for the service , the calls are around $2 per minute , which doesn't really matter when its an emergency, good way to go ,
but you do have to know who to call as well , if I'm heading to a certain location, i get the numbers of towing companies , police , hospital, 4wd clubs etc ,
and it always works , cheers

SPOT unit with a text set to alert someone you trust will work fine.. and send coordinates for rescue.

Boat offshore fishing. Both UHF and VHF range is limited. In the bush I have found repeaters hit an miss while scanning UHF channels.

For complete communications Sat phone. For just safety PLB. For safety and "I am ok and exactly where you are" SPOT is my pick.

Spot does have a small annual subscription fee.