Someone said :
I recently purchased a 5 watt GME TX6100 brand new, $300, and two x 2 watt GME TX670 2nd hand for $130. All came with speaker/mic which means you can have the radio in your pocket and speaker/mic attached to your collar etc. The 6100 has a removeable antenna so you can, I think, use a higher gain external antenna mounted on your car for better range.
Both are nice and tidy little units, the TX670 take AA battery's, which is nice. The 6100 battery is about $100 to replace, which is not nice.
Both have CTCSS which has 38 different settings to block out other transmissions though there is no privacy, everyone on the channel can hear you, and you'll hear them if they find which CTCSS setting your using. Still, means the kids are a little less likely to hear the filthy language often used by immature so n 'so's with no life etc etc that "cruise the airways'. I don't think you'll get "proper scrambling".
Go ahead and use repeater stations but I don't think it'll work properly if you have CTCSS enabled. Just don't transmit on 31-38 'cause that feeds back through to 1-8 via the repeater.
I got about 1.5-2km range in suburbia between 6100-670 & 670-670. Haven't gone bush or highway with them yet. Oricom PMR 3000 are 1 watt and are duplex capable so you can use with repeaters but not sure you'll find a lot of camping spots within range of a repeater.
When I was first looking at suitable options, there was a Motorla 2pack of 2w units for ~$175 on ebay. A 2pack of TX670 is only another $20 or so though you might not get speaker/mic or headset option but you ARE buying Australian :) Having said that, if I get another one it'll probably be a 5w chinese job for ~$100 off ebay.
Another person said :
Scramblers are not commonly available built into a radio and they really are a waste of time. If you can buy them, so can everybody else.
Why you'd want such security for camping is just beyond me ?
Oh shhh ! Jihad training. hehehe.
My local scout group has a few of the cheapy 2W UHF handhelds.
They always take them on camps these days and some kids bring their own. I set them up with CTCSS on specific channels so that they would not hear any CB morons if they were using them in certain situations.
CTCSS mutes the audio so that the radio will not open the squelch unless the transmitting station has that CTCSS tone enabled.
It doesn't stop others listening in. In remote locations there really is no need for tone squelch (ctcss) and in emergency situations it can cause problems. ctcss should never be used on ch5/35.
Repeaters are available, there is no reason why you should not use them. They can be very useful. The issue with them is that in the city areas repeaters are a magnet for some of the biggest morons the human race has to offer. Swearing, jamming, abuse and stupidity are common. It's just easier to avoid them, because low power handhelds will not be heard anyway. The repeater trolls will just jam you.
Out in the country it is a very different story. The local council is often provides the repeaters and they are like a town PA system.
You can get onto them and put out a call for information, even trivial information like "where's a good place to buy a sandwich in town?".
If a local is listening, they may help you out. Though sometimes you may not get any response at all. Some big towns like Dubbo or Wagga Wagga occasionally have some morons get on the local repeater.
The right etiquette... hehe, in the cities you should run as much power as possible, talk over everybody else and insist that everybody else is an idiot while proclaiming how huge your penis is.
If you don't have a penis, then this should not stop you making the claim. :)
Ok, power levels. 5 watts is the legal limit for UHF CB. But... its not uncommon for some people to use a little or a lot more. It isn't required and 5 watts is suitable for all occasions.
1 watt handhelds tend to be rather sad, they will work well over short distances, though line of sight from hill top to hill top you can expect them to work a lot further. The advantage is they're cheap and light and don't use much power, so their battery power tends to last a while.
2 watt radios are a little better, but for the money it's not much more for a good 5 watt radio.
For UHF handhelds the top shelf radios like the Icom IC-41 or IC-40s sell for $400 full retail price.
A cheap UHF ham radio 5 watts sells for $99 full retail, and they can be programed to do UHF CB. So you can factor in the price you should pay for a 5W UHF CB.
The issue with the ham radio units is that they aren't as simple to use as a purpose CB. They have a lot more functions, but if programed up well, they can be used almost like a CB.
The issue comes if the operator does something stupid and doesn't know how to put his radio back on the correct channel etc.
The antennas that are built into cheap CBs are crap. If the antenna detaches, then you can put your own high quality or external antennas on the radio to vasty improve their performance.
All ham radio handhelds do this. The operators quickly replace the "rubber attenuator" with a good quality antenna like a diamond brand or they make their own antennas.
There a lot of varibles when it comes to distance. Out of the box, the distances you have quoted are about right depending on location. Using high gain antennas etc. the range can be greatly extended but at the cost of convenience.
Radio "line of sight" is not the same as optical line of sight.
Shop around, you'll find something suitable for your needs. If you can find a good communications shop that sells ham radios, they may give you more experienced answers to the various models available.
Read more? Go to http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/ and search "Walkie Talkie"
Or click http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum/?action=threads_search&f=83&q=walkie+talkie
Example of the above original comments could be found below :
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/1223144.html
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