The need for remote communication???

Well , Missy your mostly right about those places - unless of course you take a wrong turn on the way and then you can soon find places where no-one will find you for weeks , so always take 1 form of comms and always let someone know when to expect you.

Missy as an example of being remote or not, in 06 when we left the Mitchell Plateau carpark/camping area I counted 48 vehicles within sight of our camp in the non-generator area. So not very isolated. The Mitchell Plateau track can be pretty busy and the GRR always has traffic during the tourist season. If you come unstuck along one of the usual touristy type areas there will always be somebody to help.

If you have UHF that will give you vehicle to vehicle comms with say a 5km radius. Next G only around towns and aboriginal communities. We also have a sat phone which is handy and one day I'll upgrade away from my Telit phone and Globalstar contract and get a new Telstra phone. Can't afford HF.

Missy,
Yes you do, either HF (not UHF) or a sat phone would be the go. If you are only away for a short time hire either. You cannot guarantee someone will be along in time for when you are in distress and you should never rely on someone else being able to help.

Other than that have a great time.

Cheers

Steve

It's not in the middle of nowhere, that's for sure, due to visitor numbers.

I wouldn't worry about it....especially if money's an issue.

An EPIRB's not a bad investment though for a worst case scenario situation.

Cheers
Alan

PS - I usually hire a Satphone for remote areas however it's more for the peace of mind of others at home rather than for myself.

When it comes to discussions on communication in remote areas, bear in mind remote doesn't necessarily mean you have to be in the miiddle of no-where.

Anywhere were you may not see anyone for sometime is remote, especially if you have a medical emergency.

Always consider some form of coms when travelling.

It all depends on your attitude to risk, missy, particularly with three small kids.

Many people travel to quite out of the way places without any form of comms (or even recovery gear), and do so uneventfully. If you "hit a roo or get a flat in the middle of nowhere", the chances are good that someone is going to pass you in a few hours, or half a day, or a day, or so....

The risk would be that they are travelling like you - without comms - and may not be able to assist. Hire a satphone - you'll probably never need it, but consider it a form of insurance.

Enjoy your trip - the kids will love it as much as you do:-)

George_M

lol
Yes with my navigation skills 1 wrong turn could be the case.

What about a SPOT? Anyone know anything about them?

Our story is we are traveling for 7 months so hiring a SAT phone is out.
We looked at putting a UHF on our Triton but seeing as we have no bullbar we can only get a 4.5 db and most people seem to think we need a 6. The size of the larger db ones means that the installers are worried that the bracket will break.

With the amount of planning needed to go on this trip I think i need a holiday in the Hyatt before we go!

Hi Missy,
Great idea waiting for someone else to along, that is unless they have no idea how to help or it is an emergency. Are you going to sit and wait for someone to come along if one of the kids gets bitten by a snake or you mentioned hitting a roo, what if it causes a roll over. We spent three years travelling with kids and was amazed how many people relied on other people for emergency comms. Emergency comms are exactly that EMERGENCY.
If the car catches fire and burns to the ground do you want to want to sit and hope someone comes along.
You only need to use it once to make it worth it. We never used ours for an emergency and I was very happy to say that at the end, if I had needed it and didn't have it the outcome would be very different.
We carried a sat phone and epirb. If you are lost calling for help is hard if you don't know where you are. In an emergency most stations are trained and have medical supplies, you just need to know where they are so a sat phone is handy. Answer this question, are you willing to gamble on your kids life that you won't have an accident or emergency and need help???? If you are thinking about it then get one.
I know this sounds all doom and gloom, these scenarios are rare but they do happen, and sometimes when there is no one else around.

Josh

Personally I would carry an EPIRB as probably the best for getting help in a LIFE threatning emergency. This has been proven in several cases involving vehicle rollovers in places where the chances of another traveler coming along was unlikely. EPIRB coverage is far better than Sat phones or Hf radio. Daryl

Hi Missy,
Have fun planning your trip, it all adds to the overall experience.
We did a 6 month trip about 4 years ago and before we went we found out about the Sat phone subsidy scheme which is run by the Federal Govt. Do a search on the net and you will find out all about it. We had to demonstrate that we would be in areas with no mobile coverage etc and we sent a copy of our proposed itinerary.
We were able to buy a new Iridium Sat phone for less tha $500 as long as we agreed to keep it on a plan for a certain amount of time. This works well, especially if you plan more trips in the future.
Hope this helps.
Neil

Someone else above mentioned attitude.

I have a very experienced mate who travels and never carries any useful outback form of communication and has never had any trouble. He is more than capable of looking after himself and his family and well and truly understands the risk.

Myself, I like to be in a position to assist those who find themselves in trouble in remote areas and as such carry reliable communication equipment.

If you stick to the beaten tracks and are able to navigate without getting 'bushed' and don't plan extensive 'side trips', then it is unlikely you will need remote area communications provided you are willing to rely on others better prepared to assist you in an emergency.

Cheers,

Mark

Hi Missy

You are no more likely to have an emergency (medical, car accident) out there than you are around your home town. In remote places like the Kimberley, other travellers stop to make sure you are OK. One lady we met in our travels had stopped on the Mitchell Plateau road for a 'comfort stop'. When the seventh car came to a halt she called out "I just want to PEE".

UHF should be mandatory on outback roads. Uses such as announcing on narrow bridges/blind crests, and keeping up with what is happening ahead on the road. If you are happy to rely on other travellers to help out, you can call for help on the two-way. Even cheap hand helds will suffice but have a shorter range.

An EPIRB is a last resort "One of us will die if you don't come and find us" to instigate an expensive (to someone) rescue, and not one you would use in places you have mentioned. A SPOT messenger is slightly more versatile than an EPIRB as it can send messages such as "I'm OK" home if you are delayed as well as the "Help" EPIRB function.

We certainly found it cheaper to purchase a satellite phone than hire for a trip of a few months; it was expensive, but one breakdown in a remote area when out of phone range and subsequent problems with the Courier company saw us using it several times a day for two weeks. We were also able to phone home occasionally to tell family we were out of contact for a while and not to panic. The option would have been to drive hundreds of kilometres. We did a few other cars most days, but would have been reluctant to say "Do you have a satellite phone - we don't - can we use yours?"

We travel with built in UHF and a satellite phone.

Motherhen

When I travel it is to get away from the day to day stuff not to take it with me. For me satphones are most impressive technology but I don't want one. Similarly with HF radio I have no desire to talk to people at vast distances other than in an emergency. This is where I am coming from.

I would suggest two CBs, one being an in car and one a decent handheld. These are invaluable for contacting those nearby maybe within about 20 k or so. A handheld is very handy for communication should the in car unit fail, car roll, dead battery etc. Also handy to take if wandering off in to the bush. It does not take much for some people to get very disoriented. Suggest GME or ICOM. GME is much easier to learn to use which could be a factor in your situation. Me, I lean towards ICOM. Also lean towards high mounted antennas on roof or gutter mount or on headboard, if a trayback.

In the event of a genuine emergency, as in real emergency where human life is in serious danger (not a flat tyre or putting down a roo or a bit of inconvenience) a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) is my suggestion. These are similar to EPIRBS. A GME MT410G is what I will be getting shortly. This should allow emergency services to get a fix on the beacon to an accuracy less than 100 metres should need arise. Keep in mind timely rescue may not even be possible in a lot of situations. Much better to err on the side of self sufficiency. Can't have too much of that.

As an aside just read a story about a group who activated a PLB when lost and then wandered away from the location where they had activated it thus making things much harder for the rescuers.

Flynnie

Hi Missy,

A UHF is useful for "social" comms but no value for real emergency. The range is only a few km and any vehicle within range will pass you within a short time anyway. Also as Val has said, the language on-air is not for your children's ears.

Sat phones and HF radio (RFDS) are better for emergencies but expensive and not exactly easy to use, especially under dire emergency.

For most places you are likely to be, others will be around and assist with breakdown etc.

For the REAL emergency the most appropriate is an EPIRB (or more properly a PLB, Personal Location Beacon). The life-threatening emergencies are the likes of personal injury or hopelessly lost and just pressing the button will summon the cavalry no matter where you are. Even the kids could operate it .... even easier than dialling 000. And it will cost less than the other comms.

Missy,
I've an epirb, I have to have it in the boat because it's the law, so yes I may take it when I go to Cape York ?
But.... I believe if I was in the position where I needed to use it, many other vehicles would have passed and also stopped to assist, that's just what happens up in the bush.
An epirb is a very helpful device that allows you to be found when your 'lost' nothing more than that, and getting 'lost' in the far North is not easy, if you stay on the road.

If you think you’re going down a 'wrong road' just turn around and retrace your steps back to where you were before you thought you were 'lost'
You will need good maps if you’re going off onto 'dirt tracks' that go to nowhere in particular, if you see no other cars for 24 hours then you’re on a road going to nowhere anyway, because if it was worth the drive you would be seeing other cars all day.

Just my thoughts :-)

Maîneÿ . . .

Hello missy,
To me it comes down to what's an acceptable level of risk I'm prepared to take.

Sure you won't have to wait long for someone to come by in most of the areas you've listed.

When they arrive you can both discuss why it was more important to save a dollar on communication gear than be somewhat self sufficient.

Now for a scenario,
You, your partner or one of the kids is bitten by a snake or has some other life threatening complaint that prevents them being transported in your vehicle.

Think about how you and/or your partner are feeling about now as you are waiting that short period of say an hour for that other traveller to turn up. The one who may or may not have a method of summoning the help you need. (Remember, poorly prepared people significantly out number well prepared people on arterial roads)

If you are prepared to wait as long as it takes for the help you need to be notified of your problem and remember notified is very different to arriving then by all means rely on others.

I know that all sounds melodramatic and it probably is to some really well equiped people but they are the questions I asked myself before I settled on my own personal acceptable level of risk.

What's my acceptable level of risk? I have an Iridium Satellite phone, a UHF, a VHF, a SPOT and a PLB. My adventures take me further off the path well travelled than the ones you are planning. Also, most of my travels are solo.

The key to all my dribblings is think about how much risk you and your partner are prepared to tolerate to save a dollar. In most cases a useful piece of gear would be well less than 1% of the dollars you are commitiing to the whole adventure. (Vehicle, fuel, food, accomodation, excursions etc)

I do hope that helps,

Geoff

The areas you mention are indeed remote by any measure, mainly because you can drive along rough roads for 100's of kms and encounter no services of any kind. Going to such places with 3 small kids and having no long distance comms available for health issues is quite risky in my view. People who go in groups often share a single satphone /HF for such situations - the health risk for solo travellers is no different it would seem. Putting an all out emergency aside, just having on-air advice from a health pro (eg. RFDS) could make a big difference to issues that may arise. It would seem that all of the members of the various HF networks, plus the many satphone users in Oz have decided they want some peace of mind when on those remote roads. Have a great, safe trip, whatever you do :-o)

Hi Missy,

Lots of advice above. As traveller to remote Australia I carry HF and find it a great comfort. There has no been a place where I have not been able to contact VKS for most of the day.

Having said that, the basic Comm you should carry is a UHF . If you are not keen to buy and install this type of radio buy a hand held fo a few hundred dollars. (a tank full of fuel)

There are UHF repeaters all over the country many in remote areas. This can give an UHF radio 100ks range

Hi Missy,

My first of many questions would be...........

How prepared are you for the trip and what is your 4WD experience as you noted you were from the city?

Is this your first big trip?

When you get a flat in remote areas you just can't call NRMA to come and change it just as you can't count on someone to come along and help you.

Seems funny that if this discussion came up 30 years ago we'd all probably be carted off for the "Funny Farm" talking about GPS, Sat Phones, Spot2, 3G networks and mobile phones smaller than a packet of Cigs.

But back to your questions............

Make sure you have some type of emergency communications for the sake of the kids, carry a good first aid kit, GPS and good maps, don't go down any bush tracks in the night........its a sure way of getting lost and disorientated.

Carry spare radiator hose and basic assortment of tools.

5m of 8 gauge fencing wire and know how to do a cocky's twitch. Amazing what it will hold together.

If you carry a beacon make sure it is accessible and the kids know what it is for and how to use it properly.

Most of all drive to the conditions and enjoy the trip.