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?

Is there a calling channel on the UHF sets that most people use? It seems
that CB radio these days is confined to talking between two people who are
situated close to each other, that is, within about 3 to 5km. In addition,
the other person would need to know when to listen out for you, because it
seems you are not likely to come into contact with someone you don't know
because there are so few people on the air.

Another question, can the signal from a 5 watt CB set travel two and a
half times further than the signal sent from a 2 watt set? Two watt sets are
advertised as having a maximum range of about 4 kms (on the flat and without
major obstructions like hills and high buildings), so would a 5 watt set
have a maximum range of 10kms, or don't radio waves travel in an exact
proportion to the power output?

I am looking at buying either the Uniden UHO44 XR (2 watts) or the
Uniden UHO52 XR (5 watts). Are these good sets?

Thanks, Fred