Two Way Radio

[Kappy]

Not sure this belongs here.

My two way radio died enroute to Nsw in March.
Haven't done anything about till now, as haven't needed it.
Maybe on the move again.
Looking for some guidence on whether it may be worth getting looked at.
I have checked fuses and connections
Its a ORICOM I got 2nd hand.
I feel it may good money after bad.

[Kappy]

Yes checked fuses etc.

Was working when leaving SA in March, then just stopped no lights.

Fixed 12v, microphone has up and down buttons with a INS button between.

20200925_164906.jpg

Not hooked up in reverse polarity as was working.

[jon_d]

It will cost $150 + just to have a quick look..... however, it might have a 5 year warranty.
https://oricom.com.au/product/uhf400r-h ... -cb-radio/ might be worthwhile giving Oricom a ring to discuss your options.


Kappy, if you're considering buying a new one; have a look at GME.

https://www.gme.net.au/au/



High quality, owned, designed and manufactured in Australia.

[Cuppa]

GME or Icom.

Had a Uniden before, horrible to use & died prematurely. Replaced it with an Icom IC450. Chalk & cheese as far as build quality, sound quality etc goes. Had a GME 40 channel unit in our old bus- always dependable - just worked, as does the Icom (professional quality & Japanese built) - love the speaker, screen & controls all in the hand piece. Have used the CB more than I ever did previously since buying it.

[Kappy]

Just another question.

Does anyone use a portable hand held two way in their vehicle rather than a fixed set.

If so how affective are they, as most comms with other vehicles is normally line of sight.

[BernieQ2]

We have a hand held Kappy works ok for our needs...that includes talking to Trucks and or pilot vehicles and eaves dropping on lollie pop people when put on scan .
Bernie .

[supersparky]

Whatever you decide to go with, make sure it is at least 5 watt. There are plenty of 2 or 3 watt hand-helds out there that are next to useless. The ICOM that Cuppa mentioned are a very good unit.

[Cuppa]

I think the antenna is the limiting factor. A Hand held which can be used with an external antenna would work almost as well as a vehicle mounted one of the same wattage. The 'almost' is because the hand held would be battery powered with the possibility of needing a battery change at a time when you most need it. Hand held for occasional use communicating with other road users nearby would be fine.

Personally I often find speech on uhf to be a little difficult to decipher when there is other 'noise'. My Icom is certainly clearer than any other UHF I've listened to, but as I already had an extension speaker I'd used with the now dead Uniden, I have also connected it to the Icom. The speaker sits within inches of my ear & is, for me at least, worth having. Many a time when on outback roads where grading etc has been occurring,or ultra wide loads have been coming through it has been useful to listen to ongoing conversations to know what I'm approaching or what is approaching me. With a battery operated handheld I wouldn't have had the thing switched on. There is a downside though. A sudden unexpected voice in my ear has scared the crap out of me on more than one occasion!

By far the occasion when I thought, as I used it, that having a UHF was so useful, almost essential, was when we came up behind a convoy of giant mining trucks on the back of low loaders, south of Newman, WA. 3 of the monsters taking up the full width of both lanes with pilot vehicles front & rear. We listened to the front one telling oncoming road users to get off the road & wait for the convoy to pass.(He was several kilometres in front of the front truck). The rear pilot vehicle was in contact with us letting us know when we could overtake, & that we should only have room to overtake one truck at a time. We had warning of when to go by listening to the conversation between front & rear pilots, and had guidance all the way through from the rear pilot as we floored the pedal to get past each truck before the road narrowed back to two lanes again. All very exciting really, but anyone without a UHF would have been stuck behind the convoy for a very long time.

[Kappy]

I've accepted my Oricom UHF 088 is toast, not worth fixing cost me $50 I think.

I have been searching for replacement and have considered a hand held.

The search has been narrowed down to 2.

1 Oricom UHF025
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ORICOM-UHF0 ... Swrpta7~tm
2 Oricom UHF400R
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Oricom-UHF4 ... ctupt=true
this one is almost the same as I have, appearance wise and I can source new one for about $160 with no warranty. apparently ORICOM's warranty is not transferable.

Can anyone enlighten me as to difference in different models, apart from price and size, seem to range from $140 ish to $400 ish

[Kappy]

So I pulled the trigger on this one, except I got a new one for $160.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Oricom-UHF4 ... ctupt=true

Persuading factor is this model is a 1 Din type and I already have a hole the same size to fill.

Does heavy duty mean more robust, this one has a heat sink on the bottom, whereas my old one seemed to be a circuit board surrounded by tin.