I'm doing more and more highway driving so I'm thinking of installing a UHF radio. Installation methods/sizes aside, is there much difference between different brands and models of units? There's an DIN-mount Oricom for $199 in the latest Autobarn catalogue which seems a pretty damn good price to me (plus it has amber lighting to match the rest of my interior :P).

My main hurdle so far is the antenna. Firstly, does anyone have any experience with glass-mount antennas such as this one (http://www.radioworks.com.au/prod32.htm)? I'm not after anything super-crazy - a couple of kilometres of range should suffice.

If not, how would I go about mounting an antenna? I've seen plenty of brackets, but all seem to require drilling (albeit inside the boot/bonnet lid) - is there any way (apart from a magnetic mount) to mount an antenna without any drilling? I'm looking at installing one on the back right corner of my car. While I'm at it, are there any recommendations on antennas? I understand I'll need a ground independent antenna, with a gain of about 4.5-6db. I wouldn't want anything taller than my radio antenna (so a tad higher than the roof).

Cheers

Hand held units are supposed to give up to 3km range so I would think that just about any antenna on something like you're talking about would easily give a couple of km range.

Any reason to get an installed one and not a hand held unit? I've got one that takes 4xAAA batteries, has an earpiece and a seperate speaker mike on a long wire and VOX operation - I rarely use it but it's perfect for cruises or just listening to people venting on the air waves :)

I have a cheapo handheld but it's pretty crappy. It seems to work OK on AMC cruises, but I roadtripped it back home a couple of weeks ago with a mate (who has a UHF and a small antenna installed in his ute) and had issues. I couldn't hear him at all unless I sat on his bumper :P In the 6 hour trip I only picked up truckies and other road users twice (very briefly). It has a really quiet speaker too, so I had to hold it up to my face to hear him.

I've considered a higher-end hand-held but I'm leaning towards something I can properly mount in the car. Unless its sitting in the car ready to go, I probably won't end up using it...

if you are only doing highway driving on flat terrain,id recommend a 9db gain antenna that is ground independant like you said as you will be mounting on minimal groundplane,the higher the gain the flatter the trajectory of the wave so will not be good in hilly areas,but will outdo lower gain antennas on flat stuff everday of the week,keep low gain for 4wd`s etc that go bush,id go for a "z" bracket on/under the fender/guard bolts that potrude from the bonet gap,very easily removed aswell and can readily get the coax into the passenger compartment

steve

Thanks for that Steevo. Aren't 9db antennas only really for flat areas like plains, or are some hills ok? I mainly drive along the Qld coast, which can be hilly (but not mountainous - see here (http://www.google.com.au/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=brisbane,+qld&daddr=-25.572176,152.652283+to:gladstone,+qld&hl=en&geocode=FcTgXP4dNAUfCSmTRr5wBFqRazGTl2rdS2RSgg%3B% 3BFcsylP4dg-cDCSnxxQpLiHTCazHVTLDN1251nw&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=10&via=1&sll=-25.718261,152.62619&sspn=1.035574,1.573792&ie=UTF8&ll=-25.676187,152.666016&spn=4.143172,6.295166&t=p&z=8) on Google terrain view). I thought 6db would have been the way to go?

On my Vitara I use a Uniden UH400SX with a DSE 3.5db Gain Aerial and it gets me around 15k range in the Hilly area's and about 7-8 k's on the flat.. Has been a great unit to use on the highway. Also being a small unit, fits easily into a single Din Slot without any hassles..

some other advice i'd give you is go onto a few 4x4 forums in your area. i'm a member of one of the perth ones here and there's a for sale section with plenty of cb radio's for sale for well under their value and they'll be able to give you further advice should you need it.

GME had a promotion a few weeks back of a radio and Ariel package fir about $349. Put one on the pajero and it worked a treat for our trip driving half way round Australia. It was nothing fancy but I was so suprised on well it worked. You could buy cheaper brands but GME is a faily decent one.

GME had a promotion a few weeks back of a radio and Ariel package fir about $349
Buying a radio/antenna package is something I hadn't thought of, cheers.


very easily removed aswell and can readily get the coax into the passenger compartment

Silly question, but how easily removable are the antennas? I'm leaning towards one of these (http://www.prestigecom.net.au/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=379&products_id=636) antennas mounted on a z bracket on the bonnet. What I'd like to do is to remove the z bracket and the antenna, and just leave the wiring behind under the bonnet for when I'm not using it - is this doable?

Also, would it cause any issues if I ran the antenna wiring adjacent to my amplifier power wiring?

R V

My past life was as a radio tech/installer so will throw a few things in for you. The antenna you refered to is a good all round performer. It unscrews from its base allowing you to put it in the boot or on the back floor. Its not practical to remove the base/bracket combo unless you want to muck around with a 10mm spanner every time you go somewhere. Best place for any antenna is in the middle of your roof but no one wants to drill holes there so next best for you would be at the front on the guard and use as mentioned before a Z bracket under one of the guard bolts. GME and Uniden both are quality products and both have remote face models that allow you to locate the main unit in the boot or under the front seat and the head unit is fairly small and can fit in a rather small space such as a DIN pocket under the radio or at the side of the console. You mentioned glass mount antennas RFI make such an animal quite similar to a mobile phone antenna and have fitted these to various cars with reasonable success. Hand helds are a waste of time I have access to several different makes and types including a Motorola worth 4,000.00 and my mobile set kills them all. Beware claims made that a radio will cover xxx kms. Maximum range is totally dependent on the terrain and these claims are only possible across water or flat country.

Neil

I don't mind whipping out the spanner to remove the bracket. The main thing I wanted to know is if the cable at the base of the antenna removable or fixed? Even if it takes a little longer, I'd like to be able to remove everything (sans the wiring to the unit) to keep a 'clean' look when not in use. Thanks for the other advice :)

IMO GME & iCom r the best in the market, try n get GME TX3440, u can hide the main unit behind the dash n control everything from the mic Click Here (http://www.gme.net.au/products/radio-communications/uhf-477mhz-cb-radios/TX3440) plus its 99ch scanner n 40ch UHF i think they are arround $350 - 390 it depends on ur budget ;)

good luck with it.

Cable at the base is not removable you would have to undo the bolt and then store bracket mount and all under the bonnet.

Do you have a Toe Bar? If so you could mount it there.