using hand held uhf radio on french line simpson desert

In the Simpson UHF units are good for vehicle-to-vehicle comms over a short distance - 5 to 10k, depending on the terrain, atmospheric conditions and the quality of your unit.

Also handy to hit the "scan" button regularly - you may detect UHF radio traffic from vehicles heading in your direction!

George_M

Why wouldn't it work in some areas??
Was there a 'cone of silence' over it at that stage???

Signman,

I was in a convoy of 11 vehicles. At times the handheld worked fine. At other times it did'nt. Don't know whether it was due to atmospheric conditions, terrain ( dips, dunes, etc ), or what. On the flat (highways etc) it worked fine. Did'nt really have the time to analyse what the problem was, I was too busy enjoying the trip hahahaha

Do The same thing here Phil , and when normal country driving set it to ch 40 for truckies.

We meet a Fritz in a Britz last year. He had a 0.5 W hand held.We could hear him comming for about 5 or six dunes as he called the crest of every one. He was having a ball. You do need to have it on scan if possiable as not every one will be on Ch 10.
Vince

G'day Phil..

I agree all the way - that a 'suggested' designated channel for a particular area should be used (eg. Ch 10 for the Simpson)..
Why is it that some groups (especially some commercial Tag-a-longs) just don't adhere to it ??
and prefer to waffle on on their own channels- not even monitoring Ch 10 ????

Signman,

The reason that I don't use ch10 when crossing the Simpson Desert and I class myself as a commercial tour operator is because of all the chatter from other convoys.

I followed a convey from Big Red to the Knolls turn off and the female in the lead vehicle did not stop talking.
Every time they crest a dune she would ask if any convey could hear her and that they had a convey of 6 with campers.
Every time a camper got stuck and this happened a lot, they had ch10 tied up while they backed the camper down and had more attempts at cresting a dune. This did not let up the whole time I was in radio range.

I might call that there is a big dip over the top of the next dune, and if there is a convey close they could talk over my message and also my convey might get a message not meant for them.

We also tend to chatter when on a trip and this would not be fair to other ch10 users in the area.

What I do do is have one vehicle mounted UHF, with the aerial on the front of the vehicle set on to scan all channels except ch16.
The other vehicle mounted UHF with the aerial on the back of the vehicle is on ch16 for convey use.

I think that at least one vehicle in a convey should have a UHF on scan all the time.

Wayne

Wayne
As you seem to be pretty well up to speed on the Simpson crossing what is your thoughts on towing campers west to east as I am having talks with a group with a view to do it latr this year.

rayj,

I am not keen on trailers in the Simpson Desert, or any desert. That is my own opinion.

If I was to take a camper across the Simpson Desert I would go on the Rig Road.

About 30k past Purni Bore turn right.
That will take you on to the WAA Line.
At Lynnie Junction turn right again.
This will put you on the Rig Road.
The track turns left and will take you past the Lone Gum Tree.
Follow this until you get to the Knolls track and turn left.
When you reach the French line turn right and follow the rising sun to Birdsville.
This is a longer way across but most of the dunes are clay capped making it a lot easier on the tow vehicle.
There is also less traffic going that way so the track should not be chopped up as much.

Wayne

What was I thinking of?? They must be a couple of the worst sentences I have ever written. That's the problem with stopping half way through writing something, then finishing it off without rereading the whole lot.

Have another think :-))

If you are going to have trouble using (" for") a mike going up one side of a dune do you think the other guy is doing any better as he is bouncing up the other side ?

Probably best if you made your call when on top of a dune.

Ooops also ! I meant ("scrambling for")

Yep, but it is the incoming messages that I am real keen to be aware of, and I just may not be on top of the dune when something of interest pops up.

Careful - you'll have the self-appointed site radio policeman after you for using non type approved radios on public bands in Oz.

What's the shipping cost to Oz? Might get one myself for 70cm Amateur use.

Mike Harding

>Careful - you'll have the self-appointed site radio policeman after you
>for using non type approved radios on public bands in Oz.

Oh well .. I'll live with that risk! ;-)

>What's the shipping cost to Oz? Might get one myself for 70cm
>Amateur use.

Hmm... 'not much'. Need to double check. I got 2 radios, 1 charger, 2 batteries, 2 holsters, cable and sw for ~569 AUD. Can't remember what the actual postage was ..

/Jorgen

Sorry; that was all inclusive of postage as well, but I'll check what the actual postage was .. stay tuned..

/Jorgen

Mike,

Just checked; shipping from the US to Melbourne was $35.15 USD.

/Jorgen

Thanks Jorgen.

That's a reasonable price.

Mike Harding