UHF CB

UHF CB is a class-licensed citizen's band radio service authorised by the governments of Australia, New Zealand, Vanuatu, and Malaysia in the UHF 477 MHz band.^[1] UHF CB provides 77 channels, including 32 channels (16 output, 16 input) allocated to repeater stations. It is similar in concept to 27 MHz CB Radio in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.

Class licensing means that users do not have to apply for a licence or pay a licence fee however they must comply with the regulations of the class licence.^[2]

User equipment designs are similar to commercial land mobile two-way radio except the maximum legal output power is 5 Watts. External antennas are permitted and commercially manufactured antennas have gains as high as 12 dB. Handheld transceivers (walkie talkies) are permitted and have transmit power from 500 mW to 5 W (full legal power) and are relatively cheap compared to full-sized transceivers.

It is illegal to use non-standard radios purchased from overseas because they interfere with licensed land-mobile services. This includes overseas personal radio service devices because they do not share the same band plan, power output and channels as UHF CB. Care must be taken when importing radios from overseas to ensure they comply with local regulations. Approved radios are identified by an Australian standards C Tick usually found on the tag or sticker of the radio.

Scan

Many UHF CB radios allow the user to scan channels to find a conversation. Several different scan modes may be provided:

Open Scan scans all 80 channels to find an active conversation. Some radios allow skipping selected channels when scanning.

Group Scan scans a small number of selected channels. For example, a caravanner travelling around the country may choose to group scan Channel 40 (Road Channel), 18 (Caravan Channel) and 5 (Emergency Channel) so they will hear any conversations relating to their travels.

Priority Scan allows selection of a "priority" channel whilst scanning a handful of selected channels. This could be useful in a convoy of cars where vehicles can set their own convoy channel as a priority channel whilst scanning the designated road channel for traffic updates, if a member from their convoy speaks, the radio will always switch back to the priority channel even if someone is speaking on another channel.

Selcall

Selective calling (Selcall) allows a radio to call another radio using a sequence of tones, usually presented to the user as a series of 5 numbers. UHF CB radios can be set to be completely silent until they receive a series of tones matching a pre-programmed sequence. Radios which have this feature usually indicate that a call has been received by emitting a number of beeps and by opening the squelch. The popularity of selcall has dropped since the introduction of CTCSS.

CTCSS

Continuous tone coded squelch system (CTCSS) allows a group of radios set with the same tone to converse on a channel without hearing other radios using that channel. CTCSS can be used to silence a radio until another radio with the same tone transmits. This allows monitoring of a channel for transmissions from radios set with the same tone without hearing other conversations that use different or even no tone.

The use of CTCSS is not permitted on UHF CB repeaters or the designated emergency channels.

Repeaters

Repeaters extend the range of transmission by receiving and automatically rebroadcasting a transmission using an antenna located in a high location, normally the top of a mountain, tall building or radio tower. Sometimes a transmission range of over 100 kilometres (60 miles) can be achieved through the use of a repeater. Repeaters are on channels 1–8 and 41–48 and the duplex button should be pressed to access the repeater.^[3]

Signage

It is common practice to install signs at the rear of camper vans and caravans, worksites, roadworks, regional highways, national parks and heavy vehicle checking stations to advertise a UHF channel to communicate on. For example, during the widening of the M1 Pacific Motorway between Sydney and Newcastle, contractors installed "UHF 29" signs at the entry point to each worksite.

Channel use

Legally restricted channels

The following channels are legislated as a part of the ACMA UHF CB Class Licence.^[4]

• Channel 5 and 35 are the designated emergency channels, and are not to be used except in an emergency. To make an emergency call, switch your radio to Channel 5 with duplex on, if there is no response, try again with duplex off.
• Channel 11 is the 'call channel' and is only to be used for initiating calls with another person, who should quickly organise another vacant channel to continue their discussion on.
• Channel 22 and 23 are only to be used for telemetry and telecommand, packet data and voice transmission are not allowed.
• Channel 61, 62 and 63 are reserved for future allocation and transmission on these channels is not allowed.
• Channel 3 by default would be the private channel for local businesses and organisation usage and would commonly be found to be private in many cases.

Channels used by consensus

The following channels are not legislated as a part of the class licence however are used for the following purposes by consensus.

• Channel 10 is typically used by 4WD clubs when in a convoy and in national parks. This channel is used to avoid interfering with road safety communications on channel 29 or 40. If you are not in a convoy it is recommended you use 29 or 40 depending on the road you are using.
• Channel 18 is the campers and caravan convoy channel typically used by travellers.
• Channel 29 is the road safety channel on the M1 Pacific Motorway and Highway between Brisbane (QLD) and Sydney (NSW). It is used so that users of these roads only hear conversations related to the highway and not unrelated conversations in built up areas. Once leaving the highway, trucks switch to channel 40. It is recommended to avoid using this channel on the east coast unless your conversations relates to road safety communications on these roads.
• Channel 40 is the primary road safety channel Australia-wide, most commonly used by trucks including pilot/escort vehicles for oversized loads.^[5][6]

Users should be aware that UHF CB channels 31 to 38 and 71 to 78 are the 'input' channels for repeaters. Users should avoid using these channels to avoid interfering with repeaters. If you wish to use a repeater, switch to 1–8 or 41–48 and press the duplex button.

UHF CB band plan

Expansion to 80 channels

On 27 May 2011 the channel spacing on UHF CB was changed, allowing the band to expand from 40 channels to 80 channels.^[7] Due to data channels 22 and 23 occupying 25 kHz bandwidth, the expansion effectively allows the use of 77 channels, as channels 61, 62 and 63 are reserved.

Current UHF CB band plan (80 Channels)

General chat channels are used in simplex mode, repeater channels must be used in duplex mode. If you are not using a repeater it is recommended to choose a "general chat" channel.

Currently, older 40 channel radios may still use 25 kHz spacing however this may be phased out by 2017. The ACMA plan to review this policy in 2016.

New Zealand

New Zealand offers a similar PRS service. New Zealand's Personal Radio Service (PRS) and 26 MHz Citizens Band radio are very similar to Australia's UHF Citizens Band and 27 MHz Citizens Band services.

The New Zealand Government's Ministry of Commerce introduced the UHF PRS in 1996 to allow for freely available short-range wireless communications outside the 26 MHz CB band. The UHF (but not VHF) band was selected due to its ability to withstand atmospheric and groundwave interference unlike the existing 26 MHz allocation.

NZ PRS channels

• http://www.uhfcb.com.au/NZ-PRS-Channels.php

See also

• Citizens band radio
• VMB4 Newcastle - An example of an Australian UHF CB Repeater

References

External links

• Radiocommunications (Citizen Band Radio Stations) Class Licence 2015 - The Australian official licence under which UHF CB operates
• Australian Communications and Media Authority - The Australian regulator of the radio-frequency spectrum
• Tropinet UHF CB Repeater Database for a listing of repeaters in Australia.