UHF Handheld Radios
UHF radios are the trail rider’s friend, because they’re an affordable, easy to use and a practical way for a group to communicate internally. UHF radios work best in line-of-sight but can still operate reasonably well in thick bush and hills.
There are a range of units available, with tiny .5-watters, 1-, 2- and 5-watt handhelds. All work, but you get what you pay for. The bigger the wattage, the more powerful the signal and the greater the range. The bigger units also have better speakers which deliver clearer speach. The range of the various units depends greatly on terrain but in line-of-sight, mountain top to mountain top applications, look at 8-10kms from a 1-watter and up to 50kms from a 5-watter.
While 10kms sounds a long way, remember that this takes just six minutes at 100kph, which means someone riding sweep needs to get a message through to the lead rider pretty quickly in an emergency. And that’s under ideal conditions. The 5-watt units are a very good investment, particularly in the desert where a little elevation can give a call signal a 50km radius, covering a huge area. There are very few places in Australia where you won’t find a UHF user within this range – there are a lot more people in the bush these days.
To be really useful, UHF handhelds should have a good quality remote speaker/mic clipped to the collar of the rider’s jacket. This allows him the hear – up to about 80kph – and even transmit without having to stop and fumble around in his backpack or pockets. Speakers mounted in the helmet are better, but become a hassle when you take the helmet off, and the leads are more likely to snag in tight going. Being able to constantly monitor a scanning UHF radio will give you advance warning of other groups in the area.
Please, do not use UHFs for idle chatter, especially if several riders in the group are using them. The lead and sweep riders need to slow and check the nature of the talk every time their radios receive, so save the yabber for after the ride.