UHF 22 /23 - Dangerous Restriction
Pagey
Had some days off last week so went 4WDing with some mates. Being a weekday
there were very few people about. When we stopped to camp overnight I left
the UHF CB on scan as I normally do. There were 3 or 4 blokes talking on UHF
22 who were 4WDing in nearby dunes. No other channels were in use.
About 5:30pm there was another bloke calling up on UHF 22 - he sounded
genuinely upset and was requesting help. The 3 or 4 blokes either ignored
the bloke requesting help (which was unlikely) or had sub-tones running,
because they didn't respond.
Anyway, I thought I would try and raise the bloke and find where he was so
went to my radio and tried to call him - only to find UHF 22 was locked out.
Crap, data channel.
No worries, I went to a mate's truck to try again - same thing. In fact, all
4 of us had relatively new radios which all had UHF 22 and 23 blocked. Our
little point nothing watt handhelds has UHF 22 and 23 available, but didn't
have the power to get out.
Long story short we drove around for an hour and finally found the bloke -
he was with his 14 yo son and had rolled his 4WD onto it's side - both were
uninjured. 30 minutes later the 4WD was upright and driving from the beach
and all was peachy. We later found the other blokes who were heard on the
channel, and they confirmed they were using CTCSS.
So, why are UHF 22 and 23 restricted for data? Does anybody actually use
data on these channels or heard data being used on these channels? Does a 1
second burst of data really require 2 dedicated channels? Personally, I
think it's a waste.
New radios which are restricted should be sold with the option of removing
this TX inhibit on UHF 22 and 23 each time they are selected. When a
different channel is selected or when the radio is turned off and on again
this inhibit would have to be removed again. Having a permanent block on
these channels on some new radios is pointless and dangerous, considering
all older radios (and some new radios) still allow their use for voice.
Permanent blocking of UHF 22 and 23 on some new radios was no doubt a
request from one of those wanna-be important CB groups, and while I
appreciate these blokes trying to 'clean up' the CB bands I find this
restriction pointless and dangerous when used in the real-world.
AP
Wrigleys
Kev
This inhibit can be removed via software, also the radios won't allow
CTCSS on repeater channels by default but this can be removed also
the only restriction that can't be removed is CTCSS on 5/35
you may also find that a lot of functions are not working on a new radio
if you turn off the radio, hold down the button for that function and
turn the radio on it will be enabled
>>
> Why was the bloke calling on 22 ? 5 would have been more sensible
because maybe he got no response on 5/35
but he could hear people on 22
no good calling on a channel that is vacant when there is a busy channel
Kev
Pagey
"Kev" <kev...@optunet.com.au> wrote in message
news:48f3f7d5$0$28215$afc3...@news.optusnet.com.au...
> Wrigleys wrote:
>
> This inhibit can be removed via software, also the radios won't allow
> CTCSS on repeater channels by default but this can be removed also
> the only restriction that can't be removed is CTCSS on 5/35
>
> you may also find that a lot of functions are not working on a new radio
> if you turn off the radio, hold down the button for that function and turn
> the radio on it will be enabled
Cheers Kev, I'll have to look into it. I've personally got a TX3440, and the
others similar GME radios - any chance you know if the TX3440 can have this
inhibit removed, or if programming software is available? I might have to go
back to the dealer.
AP
Pagey
"Wrigleys" <june...@bigpond.net.au> wrote in message
news:DENIk.5207$sc2...@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
>
> Why was the bloke calling on 22 ? 5 would have been more sensible
Unless you are in one of the 3 (or maybe 4) places in Australia where 5/35
is monitored then you are better off attempting to raise help on another
channel - especially if it is currently in use.
No point calling on channel 5 if no one can hear you :)
AP
Kev
yeah the software is available
the cable also
get the cable off Ebay
should be around $35 posted
guy in Byron Bay makes them
the software
join up the Austech forum at
http://www.austech.info/
and ask in the "Communications" forum
there are people there with the software
and yes all the GMEs with 22/23 inhibit can have it enabled/disabled
along with a host of other functions
Kev
David
Wrigleys <june...@bigpond.net.au> wrote:
> Pagey wrote:
> > Bit of a whinge, but it's a worth while story.
> >
>
> >
> Why was the bloke calling on 22 ? 5 would have been more sensible
Agreed, but also why didn't he try 40 as well?
Sounds a bit suss to me
David
Kev
on the beach miles from any highway?
what would be the point
he chose to call on a channel that he could hear others using
smartest move
or he could have wasted time calling on all the channels hoping that
someone might be listening
Kev
David
Kev <kev...@optunet.com.au> wrote:
> David wrote:
> > In article <DENIk.5207$sc2...@news-server.bigpond.net.au>,
> > Wrigleys <june...@bigpond.net.au> wrote:
> >
> >> Pagey wrote:
> >>> Bit of a whinge, but it's a worth while story.
> >>>
> >> Why was the bloke calling on 22 ? 5 would have been more sensible
> >
> > Agreed, but also why didn't he try 40 as well?
> >
> > Sounds a bit suss to me
> >
> > David
>
> on the beach miles from any highway?
> what would be the point
The point is that 40 is a general call channel and most UHF users would
have in their scan group - then after making contact they then move to a
different channel to hold their conversation. So there may have been
others not too far away who were listening on 40
It would also have made sense to try all the repeater channels -
afterall he had nothing to lose by trying them
David