Dry Lakes Racers Australia

Am looking to buy an " in car " cb radio..
Because of the salt infested enviroment in which it has to operate,I've been looking at the water proof marine versions..
THE QUESTION IS...
Is the marine frequency the same as the land frequency that the DLRA operate on.
I know very little on this subject so any info (good or bad ) will be welcome...

WHO KNOWS WHAT..

Ross..

Ross

Marine radios totally different bands
DLRA use 477Mhz uhf you can get water proof units like Gme tx4600

Regards
Phill H

Look for a change in UHF sets as they go over from 40 channels to 80.

OKAY.. thanks for the input
Did a search on the flea bay ..and came up with the GMEtx4600 for $469.00 plus freight.
$460.00 more than I wanted to pay but never the less the first price..
Second search found one at andrewscom .com for $379.00 ... pencils are getting sharper...
The traders sales pitch of "LONG RANGE " means diddly squat to me
I'm assuming 5watts is its power and distance range... ... which brings up
QUESTION 2 :
Lets say the big boys show up and want the track graded out to 16 miles.
Will the GME tx4600 do this distance ?

ALSO .. The antenna would obviously have some control over this device..
What is the preferred option ?

Thanks Ross..

In a location like Lake Gairdner reception would be good and anything in line of site on the surface should be very good.
Any good UHF instalation should work well and if you want good signal for other reasons look at one of those big white antennas you see all the Ute Guys with. Your choice of antenna will be what gives you the range / distance.

Personaly a good portable with decent power should be all you need on the lake.

Ross,
GME make a good product and as has been pointed out "Marine" frequencies are not compatable with what we use at the lake.
The TX4600 is a good radio but probably unecessary to spend that amount of money for an equal result.
A TX3220 or a preloved TX3200 for around $150-200 would do all you want and the money you will save will cover the cost of a half decent antenna, which has been pointed out, is a critical part of the installion.
The "big white" antenna as has been suggested may be OK if you don't have any clearance issues with carport or verandahs but they are not the be all and end all. A good all round, strong, good performing antenna is the GME A4018K1 which is a 4.5db gain H/Duty whip, ground plain and H/Duty spring, with out being stupidly long and virtualy indestructable where as the "big white" ones are fairly easily damaged when they hit trees, carports etc. The A4018K1 you should be able to pick up around the $80-100 mark.
If you are a novice and have no idea on how to install the PL259 antenna plug, GET SOMEBODY TO DO IT WHO KNOWS HOW! as this is probably 80% of the install problems I have to fix is the wrongly installed PL259 plug, which can damage the output stage of the radio and result in a $100-120 repair bill (Have done many!)
If the "Big boys" turn up and we need to grade 16miles of track, radio coverage should not be a problem, as we use a repeater, which I install each year, which would give more than adequate coverage with a well installed mobile radio or good quality handheld at 5 watts, which is all that is legally allowed to be used in Australia on Citizen Band UHF radio (477Mhz).
Cheers,
Trevor

Thanks for the info everybody....
Looks like I'll get out of this for around $350.00
Plus the repair bill
All Good
Ross.....

outbacktrev wrote:
...good quality handheld at 5 watts....

Don't the rules state a fitted CB radio in push/recovery cars, ie. no hand helds? I take a cheap 1 watt hand held as well for walking around the pits,etc.

boyracer wrote:

outbacktrev wrote:
...good quality handheld at 5 watts....

Don't the rules state a fitted CB radio in push/recovery cars, ie. no hand helds? I take a cheap 1 watt hand held as well for walking around the pits,etc.

I think you are correct about that although no one said you can not have a portable to carry about in the pits.

Now that the wizbang 80 channel UHF radios seem to be taking over the world, how well do they work with the "old" 40 channel units ? (I need one for the newly acquired 4 wheeled sacrifice to the salt gods)

The old 40 channel will still work well with the new 80 channel sets. Just that after 40 on an old set you do not hear the next 40 channels. All they have done is split channels to add the extra 40. I have seen some really good hand held sets on the market recently and they have car chargers and power chargers etc. Most I have seen would be Auto Pro and Auto Barn and all good brand name stuff on special. I think about the $60-00 price tag. Still not sure if the rule about fitted units has to apply.

For push cars and tender vehicles, it has to be a 5-watt unit, fitted to the vehicle. This is a minimum mandatory requirement.
Everyone is encouraged to take a handheld, usually a 1 watt so that they can listen to what's going on.
Plan for this year is to set up a repeater for the DLRA private channel for Track 1, so you will hear who's running, speeds etc.
We will also take the FM transmitter as well, hopefully with some modifications it will be broadcasting Track 1 as well.

I noticed some pretty good deals on CB radios at the Elmore Field Days this week.

Some of the Hand held do use plenty of batteries. A vehicle fitted radio is essential and part of the rules and if you take a hand held make sure you have spare batteries.