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Roothy installs a UHF to his tow car, perhaps because it’s an essential part of touring, or maybe so he doesn’t have to chat to the Handbrake on long runs! Words and photography by John Rooth “John,” said my Handbrake without the ‘angle grinder starting up’ noise I associate with instant trouble, “what’s that ‘UHF Channel 18’ logo we keep seeing on the back of caravans?” “That’s the radio channel that most of the caravanners tend to use darling, just like the truckies favour channel 40 and channel 5 is usually reserved for emergencies. And,” oh the traps of showing off too much knowledge, “channel 31 is also used as a general call channel from memory too.” “So the people towing that Windsor have a radio in their tow vehicle do they? How does that work?” This is where most husbands tend to keep explanations of a technical nature simple, not so much because our other half won’t understand as much as us but (certainly so in my case) we don’t bloody well know any better do we. So I told her what I knew about UHF (Ultra High Frequency) radios, that the little ones were good for line of vision, that there were 40 channels to choose from, that once you’d installed one the calls were free. “You mean I can talk to other road users while we’re travelling and it doesn’t cost anything?” I waited, here it comes, any second now. “SO WHY HAVEN’T WE GOT ONE?” Ah, I knew it was time to err! Why couldn’t I just have said ‘18 is probably their favourite outback telly station dear’ or something? Oh no, had to be a smart arse… Which is why I found myself fronting the counter out at the 4WD Megastore again, this time in search of the best value radio they could recommend. Because the Megastore’s major clients are travellers and off-road drivers and because of the sheer buying power and size of their operation, I knew that that’d be the best place to go. And that’s about all I knew. You see UHF for me is a complete mystery despite the fact that I’ve been using them for the last 20 years. So I really needed good advice and to come home with the right product. To not do so would amount to instant dismissal, something I’d rather the Poms copped on the cricket field than me at home around dinner time. After looking, listening and learning about the options I had to choose from I selected – with a lot of help – the best possible unit for our needs and vehicle. That was the GME Electrophone TX3400, a UHF transceiver with enough of everything to do the job and with a reputation for doing it for life. I’ve used the smaller 3200 units – same internals I think judging by the specs page – in my tour guide work and they’ve always been terrific. By ‘terrific’ I mean they work, constantly, and you can hear them. Communications need to be reliable first and foremost or they’re no use at all! The big advantage to the 3400 is that it comes with a remote face so the radio body can be placed under the seat or something and the bit you need to control and see placed closer to the line of vision. Having gone to the trouble of selecting a 3400 after seeing a couple of examples of how the 4WD Warehouse workshop fits them to similar Toyotas, once back home I then decided that in our case it’d be simpler to convert it to a one piece unit. That was dead easy, it was covered in the excellent instruction/installation manual and means I’ve got a box of bits should we ever decide to convert it back again to suit another vehicle in future! GME’s pretty much got the UHF market sewn up so it was no surprise to be directed to one of their antenna kits too. Like radios, you can buy an antenna to suit all sorts of different applications but the AE4018K1 model I chose is right in the middle of the ‘does all things pretty good’ sort of bracket. That is it’s not better for sending signals over hills at the expense of flat ground range or vice versa. I got lost in the techno speak beyond that but couldn’t be happier with the package – and the price! Price? The antenna cost another $125 so our all-up investment in the wife’s ability to talk the leg off a stool is around the $655 mark. Consider that there’s no call charges and I reckon we’ll save that much within a month. I know that there’s not much charge for fitting a UHF through the workshop facilities at 4WD Warehouse but as usual I decided to tackle it myself to increase understanding of what was involved. The instructions for the antenna were non-existent, probably because it’s obvious, while those for the GME were superb and detailed. Anyway, apart from having to tell the difference between the red (power) wire and the black (earth) wire, fitting couldn’t have been any simpler – even if, thanks to Chooka, I did let the wife think it took all night and most of the next morning… Seriously though, a UHF can make all the difference when you’re travelling. I remember the last time it did for me. We’d just left Port Lincoln and were heading north west with a 100km worth of fuel in the tanks. Not having travelled that way before I figured there’d be a garage on the outskirts of town or maybe at one of the ‘towns’ listed on the map within coo-ee. But when a couple of caravans went the other way I used the UHF in the test tow car to call up and ask them. Sure enough, no fuel. Far better to find out when we still had enough time – and fuel – to go back! That was essential use and I can think of plenty of times in the past when the ability to call up a passing vehicle has saved the day. But what I’m thinking now is that maybe there’s another advantage too. Perhaps my little Handbrake might find other people to talk to out there on the open road? Just think of the ear burnings I could save! |
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