27 Mhz "AM" AM CB is designed to give short-range communications, car to car, with distances of 5 to 10 Kilometres and only then if the quality of aerial and mountings are good.

The value of a simple CB Radio in convoy situations is without question, but once you get off the main road you can forget it as a safety tool.

Channel Usage Info

27 Mhz "Single Sideband (SSB)" SSB CB radios offers better range than their "AM" cousins of up to 30 Kilometres, but ONLY to another SSB radio.

However this is clearly not enough when you are in remote areas.

HELP is usally hundreds of kilometres away.

SSB CB radios do allow convoys to spread out on dusty tracks and still maintain contacts because of their superior range.

You may have heard stations calling from far North Queensland or even the occasional station calling from overseas on 27 Mhz SSB. "SKIP" or "Propagation" as this is an atmospheric phenomenon and erratic this should NOT be relied upon for emergency contact from remote areas.

Many of these stations heard will be running much more powerful equipment and bigger antennas than you, So just because you can hear them it does not mean that they will hear you in an Emergency situation.

Channel Usage Info

477 Mhz "UHF" UHF CB radio is rapidly taking over from the older types of CB Radio's 27Mhz type.

With its superior clarity and range, UHF has become a choice of Rural Australia.

Most outback stations, 4x4 Clubs, Caravan Clubs, & 90% of Interstate Truck Drivers use UHF.

Unfortunately with a line of sight range of 5 to 20 Kilometres "UHF" is still unsuited for Emergencys in remote locations.

Farming areas however usually have Repeaters stations within range which Help by boosting UHF Signals to 100 Kilometres or more, but once again these repeaters are not available in remote locations.

Channel Usage Info

Cellular Telephone Mobile Phone "GSM or CDMA" coverage is generally only available along the East amd West Coast and around some outback towns.

There is no coverage at all away from major population areas.

ONLY 9% of Australia's Land Mass is covered by the Standard Mobile Cellular Telephone Network.

Satellite phones are available for mobile and NEW hand helds and start at about $1995.00 and go up to about $5000.00 Dollars.

Coverage of all of Australia, including remote outback locations is execellent, and off shore coverage is possible out to 500 kilometre's out to sea.

The big advantage of a Sat Phone is its ease of use being similar to that of a cellular phone, but you must be outside not inside a Building as the Antenna must see the SKY.

HF "High Frequency" ( RFDS ) Codan or Barrett radios are the only type that offer full legal output power of 100 Watts not like CB radios 4 Watts for AM, 12Watts for SSB, 5 Watts for UHF.

Life threatening situations are another story and a Snake bite or Heart Attack require assistance within a couple of hours at most and usually advice from the RFDS (Royal Flying Doctors Service) medical staff over the radio is vital until they can get to you for treatment or evacuation to a hospital.

These type of Radio Info

"OK" So what kind of Radio can I use in the outback that has the range to ensure contact from remote locations.

For many years outback communities have relied on the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) and the radio network established to support its remote medical services.

The RFDS network is based on a system of High Frequency (HF) radios which are capable of transmitting 100's or even 1000's of kilometres by bouncing radio signals off the Ionosphere.

With this type of radio, help or telephone access is only as far away as the microphone of your Codan or Barrett HF radio.

Over the last few years Radtel have offered coverage of the Inland area with remote telephone service.

Radphone have captured a significant potion of the Radphone market by offering a wide range of services and frequencies that extend the coverage to every corner of this great land of ours.

New radio equipment is designed to take advantage of both RFDS and VKS737 4x4 Radio Network, and the Radtel Services ( to make Radio Telephone calls ) when looking at this you should only have a HF Radio that has a full output of 100 Watts and has the lattest features such as SELCALL, GPS, Remote control, Auto tunning Antenna.

Because HF radio has had such a long and distinguished history in Australia, we are fortunate to have CODAN P/L based in Adelaide and BARRETT P/L based in Perth, as the main players on the World market, and of course on our domestic market.

Radios designed for use in outback Australia easily cope with conditions elsewhere and this ruggedness and reliability has become a standard here in Australia.

Radio's should be programable, remoteable, and have a auto tuned antenna.

Remember that it may be cheaper to buy a current HF radio and sell it when you have finished your touring around after a few years, the resale value of a current model out to two years old is usally 70% of the new price.