Barry Lennox wrote:
in nz.general09sbkv4em73nmp7fpgrato4fe94mfc4a32@4ax. com,
: On Fri, 22 Aug 2003 11:50:35 +1200, "Fred"
: wrote:
:
: I am interested in buying a portable UHF CB radio, which operates between
: the 476.425 and 477.400 MHz frequency range. I have had a listen to these
: frequencies on my Yaesu Communications Receiver and I haven't yet heard
: anyone using them. Is CB radio fairly dead in NZ these days? Apparently the
: 26 MHz sets are being phased out, but you used to be able to find dozens of
: people to talk to on the 26.330 to 26.570 MHz range a few years ago. I do
: quite a bit of tramping about the hills and I thought a CB set might give a
: bit of added security, but there don't seem to be many repeaters available
: yet, and if hardly anyone is listening to the UHF channels, I guess a CB set
: would be a bit useless for security purposes?
:
: CB is pretty dead-ish these days (Thank god!) Most were far too big
: and ugly to haul about anyway. Any radio is useless for "security
: work" Somebody will hear you. A digital cell-phone will be a much
Um ... I kinda got the impression that the "security" he was after was
precisely so that somebody *could* hear him ... if need be.
: better solution. OK, out in the hills you may have a long walk to get
: near cell-phone coverage, but they are reliable, small and light.
: Check both Tele$com and Voda$one coverage maps to see which has the
: best coverage for your intended tramping.
snip
: I am looking at buying either the Uniden UHO44 XR (2 watts) or the
: Uniden UHO52 XR (5 watts). Are these good sets?
:
: Uniden does have a reasonable name, but I don't know about the
: specifics of those sets.
A friend just last week took his marine Uniden MC610 VHF radiotelephone to
the local Uniden agents for repair. It was made in 1997 (date on the pcb).
It's suddenly stopped transmitting, but still receives. They *refused* to
service or repair it. When pressed, the chap took it out back to at least
determine whether the microphone or unit itself was at fault. Mic was OK.
That was it. He said he was told that *if* he could get a schematic and find
a tech elsewhere who would service it, good luck, but they wouldn't do it.
Or couldn't. Six years, and obsolete/unserviceable. He'd bought it there!
http://www.uniden.co.nz
Rather riled at this treatment, my friend went across the road and bought
the latest Icom as a replacement, vowing never to buy Uniden again ...
YMMV ... then again, maybe not. OTOH, Icom in NZ don't seem to list CB
http://www.icom.co.nz
: Barry Lennox
Ross Matheson