Product History And Review!.

ith the current popularity of travel around Australia at the moment

whether you own a car,truck,camper van or four wheel drive vehicle in

our opinion a CB Radio is essential for safety as well as being a lot of fun!,

and with the cellular phone network not always up to the task in this large

country having a two way radio along with you gives great piece of mind

should you encounter any problems along the way!.

The really good news is that the current range sets on offer give you great

performance and reliability at a low price to boot!.

But which unit and what antenna is is best for our needs? are the questions

we are most often asked at our business!, before i tell you that we need to

discuss a brief history of CB in Australia which will help you in you're final

decision on which set to buy?.

In the late seventies CB Radio was in its infancy, illegal pirate radios were

being used initially, they were usually marine or handheld radios of the AM Type

set to 27.240 MHz which was a boating frequency at the time.

Around the same era people started to protest there illegality and marched

in Melbourne and Sydney in an effort to get legalization under way!.

In 1977 the government relented and granted there use with striced conditions

providing you paid a small license fee to them.

Initially our system was based on the United States band, we were allocated

23 channels, the sets were AM/SSB types and like the previously mentioned

marine radios, they were tuned around the H.F. (High Frequency Band).

The problem with the initial multi channel radios were that some of the

higher channels were found to interfere with hospital paging systems,

so the government reduced the allocation and brought in a new Australian

standard this changed our allocation to 18 channels, essentially they were

the same as the earlier models but with the problem frequencies taken out!.

This was not a bad thing as most of the early sets were of inferior quality

and were dumped from the U.S where they had themselves expanded to a 40 channel

allocation which ultimately we ended up with here in Australia and is still in use today.

The government in the early 1980s introduced a new U.H.F fm band based around

477 Megahertz with 40 channels, they did this primarily because the new system

would reduce interference to public utilities and what's called repeater access

stations could be placed around Australia, that's a real bonus for travelers as

these installations pick up you're signal and boost it for greater coverage!, you simply

go to a known repeater channel and press you're Duplex button to enjoy a

large range increase!.

The U.H.F Radio We Recommend!.

We have chosen the Uniden UH-056 as our number one CB Radio that

we would recommend most consumers purchase, a lot of this has to do with

price as the internal complexity of a U.H.F radio is such that there really

isn't a bad model on the market, they all have to be of reasonable construction to

work correctly, and to tell you the truth we have tested all of the models currently

on sale in Australia and the only one that matched this product for transmit signal

and clear reception was another Uniden! (which retails for $500.00).

A Good Antenna Is A Must!.

With most U.H.F radios being roughly equal performance wise the big improvement

in communications range is the antenna system, the basis of this being its gain

rating!, quite simply the more gain you have the stronger your signal will be!.

You are much better of spending you're money on a good antenna system than

being talked into a really pricey radio which may have a few extra features but

the name of the game is being heard at the maximum distance and you achieve

this with really good high gain Ariel.

Luckily for you we have tested most models side by side, using a high quality

signal strength meter and with out a doubt the unit that gave the best all

round performance was the ADV-500.

The ADV-500 is a U.H.F two piece mobile antenna that when both sections

are screwed together gives a massive 9 DB Gain!, (or 6.5dB) with only one part

installed.

This antenna is not cheap but worth every cent performance wise, most

antennas on the market have a lowly 4.5dB rating which is all right but

if you want to really heard above the din then the ADV in our opinion is the

way to go!.

We recommend buying this antenna from us directly as we have the use of

a high frequency S.W.R meter (they retail for at least $300.00), to tune

the product for maximum performance , this is done for you at no extra cost and

essentially this makes the unit perform well strait out of the box- (recommended!).

 Installation Tips And Advice!.

We offer a mobile installation service in the Melbourne Metropolitan Area

for all of our radios, but they are quite easy to fit yourself if you follow some simple

guidelines listed bellow!.

Always connect the units -ve (the black) wire to the body of the car.

Always connect the units red wire to the +ve terminal of you're vehicles

fuse box (the same fuse that operates you're car radio!).

Drill a small whole in the place you want to mount the antenna,

then do another in you're vehicles fire wall to run the cable to back of the set,

if you don't want to drill any holes in the outer body we have all types of mounts

to position you're aerial and protect you're transports resale value!.

 Specifications!.

Uniden UH-056 (40 Channel Mobile CB Radio).

Frequency Range (476.425Mhz To 477.500Mhz).

Mode Of Transmission (FM).

Power Output R.F (4 Watts).

Audio Output (5 Watts).

Antenna.

ADV-500 (Wide Range High Gain-).

Frequency Range (475.000 To 485.000Mhz).

Power Handling (100 Watts Rf Output Maximum).

Gain (9.0 dB).

 To Purchase These Products!.

P.E.C Order Code- FMR-056  (CB Radio),

Purchase Price. $299.00 AUD (Includes Gst).

Installation Cost- (Melbourne Metropolitan Area Only),

Average Price. $125.00 (Includes Gst).

Antenna Order Code- ADV-500,

High Gain (9 DB) Twin Section Model,

Pre Tuned At No Extra Cost.

Purchase Price. $149.00 AUD (Includes Gst).

Delivery. $15.00 (Express Post Australia Wide).

O/SEAS AIRMAIL -P.O.A (Reasonable Rates).