Thread: Hand held UHF's - anyone got a GME TX610

Hi LRH

(Not to insult your intelligence)

I've just checked out the specs at:

http://www.strathfield.com/ViewProduct.asp?ProdID=1246

It has 1 watt as opposed to my Uniden 0.5 watt so should have a greater range. Uniden have a hand held with selectable .5w / 1w.

I would look at the rechargable battery situation. If the batteries drain on the track then recharging rather than replacement will be required and this might involve 240v or an inverter not to mention time.

The Uniden uses aa batteries and after 4 years they are still on full charge 8O although on 1 watt more juice would be used. The VOX facility is a useful feature. I have this with my uniden with a head set (hands free).

GME has a good reputation but I've not been able to fault either of my Unidens (fixed and handheld) apart from slack installation :roll: .

cheers OI - I was going to also buy a 12v trickle charger.

The RR will also get a Uniden UH013 car based system - so really only to be used when outside the car and until the Uniden gets purchased!!!

LRH

i have the uniden hand held as well as an in car set up..... whichever brand u choose i think its a great facility

They are great. Dad has a GME something or other in his Disco. We just did a trip to Dubbo then east to the coast and back to Briso. I borrowed one of the ones you are looking at and used it car to car with dad, it worked all the time even when dad was a few km back in un even country. GME are also made here and have a longer warrenty.

have used that unit.. we have a couple at work and they are great.. the VOX is a bit average.. but who cares..
I also own Uniden handhelds and they are also good.. but the CTCSS function on the GME unit is nice to have...
If i were buying handhelds again, I would buy the GME units...

I've got a Uniden hand held UHF with 1W / 5W output, CCTSS, scan, group scan ......

The unit is h/duty & water proof. Apparently it was a US Marine radion and Uniden have released it here with UHF CB frequencies.

I've put a remote mic on it which is small enough to clip onto you shirt pocket, or rear vision mirror, or dash mat. They go for about $400, but it doubles up as an in-car radio and doesn't need any installation. On the RR I tuck it behind the instrument pod and on the SIII it goes in the o'head console.

I'd reckomend the greater versatility of a full 5W handheld with a hand mic.

While it is nice to have a 'brand' name'
It depends on how far from the vehicle your going to go.
I didn't check the strathfield car radio link, but I bought two 'digitalk' uhf portables from them(they are a lot cheaper now even supercheap cheap sells them) 5km range and clear as a bell. I checked them here at my place down a gully and talking to the house and they were no problem even though they only pump out .5 w.
I tried them out west and the range was not bad, although you need the batteries fully charged all the time.

john

On the last trip I did, we had a variety of hand helds, some cheapies (0.5W) up to mine (5W). They all worked equally well within a short range. We had enough for just about personal issue for everyone on the trip, which was great because communication was not limited vehicle to vehicle, but broadened person to person. (we already had a few in the group, then borrowed somemore from a mate who works for Uniden)***

The better versions will allow you to access repeaters, and are better when you get strung out over long distances or are in heavily wooded areas. For example, if a vehicle or a person scouts ahead of the pack, or on the highway if the group spreads out over a several km distance.

If you have Toyotas in the pack, you will notice they fall back in the rough stuff, then race ahead on the highway to "compensate." :wink:

Batteries in the cheapies won't last as long, but can be easily replaced with AA's, the more expensive one's need a charger, but will go for a couple of days of use.

Cheapies are great (buy them even cheaper at cash convertors) but the more expensive models will offer you all the features and power of a vehicle based unit with the security and portability of a hand held. This may work out cheaper in the long run. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

*** Footnote - I didn't want to distract from the subject, so I'll add it down here. I should see if Uniden have some factory returns (repaired units) that they want to off load cheaply. Maybe I could advertise them on the forum for anyone interested. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img] 8)