CLEAR AND effective comms are an
essential part of any type of multiple
vehicle off road adventure.
Vehicles are often set up a fair
distance from each other, so chatter
between the dispersed photographers,
videographers, adventurers in waiting,
and other attendent hangers-on is
critical to the effective handling of the
mission at hand. Yes, it’s 2020, there are
mobile phones. But you’re not meant to
use phones while driving, and what good
are they when you’ve left the mobile
towers long behind?
Where to stop, when to proceed,
warnings about what’s around the bend,
the current status of the vehicle, the
plans of each driver, lighthearted banter
— it’s critical that all of this is conveyed
clearly. We wanted a simple and mobile
solution for this event. Not everyone has
a big whip aerial and a high-powered
radio installed on their 4WD. Besides,
HEAR ME OUT
you can’t take a mounted radio with you
when you pop out the car. So we went
with a quad pack of GME TX667 2 Watt
UHF CB Handheld Radios.
They’re no bigger than your mobile
phone, measuring 52 x 90 x 30mm less
the antenna. That makes them easy to
whack in your pocket, or on your belt
with the belt clip. Given that size, and
the fact these are 2 watt, the 10km
range is a big win. We were mostly
working within a few Ks so had no
dramas at all in clear conditions without
dense obstruction. So the claim
definitely stood up — sadly, even when
people were telling bad jokes.
Fortunately the rotary knob up top
makes it simple to quickly cut even the
worst of puns, or alternatively to crank
up the volume when someone is
whispering for no clear reason.
Each handheld has a rechargeable
lithium-ion battery with a 1600mAhcapacity. Withtheirlow2 wattdraw
that’ll give you 14 hoursoperatingtime
per radio. Thatprovedmorethan
sufficient, evenduringtheevent’slong
work days. Then,overnight,we’dtop
them up usingthetwotwindesktop
chargers. Whensomeoneforgotto load
them on the dockthough,wewereableto
top them up viaa USBchargerinthecar,
which comes includedinthepackage.
As you’d expect,they’vegotthe
standard 80 channelssoyou’llbeableto
findyourselfa bitof privacy,evenwhen
everymanandhisdogis outandabout.
GME certainlyhavemorepowerful
products with longerrangeandmore
functionality withintheirstable.Butthe
humble TX6672 WattUHFCBHandheld
Radio goes to showyoucanstillachieve
the critical partof commsfora good
price. That’s justshowingoff.WORDS SAM RICHARDS
PICS CAM INNISSThere’s a pretty solid argument for equipping yourself with a basic set of handheld
radios. They’re more mobile and not everyone owns, or can afford, a powerful
mounted unit. GME’s TX667 handhelds proved their worth during a recent trip up
north.
TX667 2 Watt
UHF CB Handheld
Radio (quad pack)RRP: $399.95
More info: gme.net.auOutdoor \ 31