UHF CB

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UHF CB is a class-licensed (meaning licence-free use for most users) citizen's band radio service authorised by the governments of Australia and New Zealand in the UHF 477 MHz band.

UHF CB provides 40 channels, including 16 channels (8 output, 8 input) allocated to repeater stations. It is similar in concept to the 40 channels used in United States' HF CB allocation, which is also available in Australia and New Zealand.

User equipment designs are similar to commercial land mobile two-way radio. Except for repeater stations and stations using the data-only channel, the maximum legal output power is 5 Watts. External antennas are permitted and common commercially manufactured antennas have gain as high as 12dB. Handheld transceivers (walkie talkies) are permitted and have transmit power from 500 mW to full legal power and are relatively cheap compared to full-sized transceivers.

Other similar personal radio services used in other countries do not share the same band plan, power output, channels etc as UHF CB. It is usually illegal to use these systems in Australia and New Zealand because they will interfere with other licensed services. Care must be taken with radios imported from overseas to ensure they comply with local regulations.

Contents 1 Repeaters 2 Selcall 3 CTCSS 4 Frequencies 5 Expansion to 60 Channels 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Repeaters

UHF CBs allow you to use the many publicly available repeaters around the country. They extend the range by retransmitting your voice usually from the top of a mountain or building. Sometimes a range of over 100 kilometres can be achieved by using a repeater.

See the Tropinet UHF CB Repeater Database for a listing of repeaters in Australia.

[edit] Selcall

Selcall allows radio to radio calling of UHF CB's by dialling their selcall number. Radios can be programmed to be completely silent until they are called. On radios which have this feature, received selcalls are usually indicated with a beep.

[edit] CTCSS

Use of CTCSS can be used which will silence a UHF CB until another radio with the same CTCSS code transmits. This permits monitoring of a channel for transmissions from radios within the same group without hearing other conversations that use different or even no tone.

[edit] Frequencies

Channel 11 is designated as the "Call Channel" to allow you to call other stations, however in many city areas local repeaters are used as the local call channel as they provide wider coverage.

Channel 40 is used Australia wide as the "Road Channel" extensively used by truck drivers for safety communications and traffic updates however due to interference between the New England and Pacific Highway communications, truck drivers between Sydney and Brisbane use channel 29 if they are travelling via the Pacific Highway.

Channel 18 is used for "Caravan & Motor Home" users Australia Wide.

Users should not use channels 31 to 38 as they are the automatically selected "Transmit" channels for repeaters on channels 1 to 8. Users who wish to use a repeater should choose a channel between 1 and 8 and press their "Duplex" button.

UHF CB Channel Allocations

Channel	Frequency	Purpose
1	476.425	Repeater Channel (Press DUPLEX to use)
2	476.450	Repeater Channel (Press DUPLEX to use)
3	476.475	Repeater Channel (Press DUPLEX to use)
4	476.500	Repeater Channel (Press DUPLEX to use)
5	476.525	Repeater Channel (Press DUPLEX to use) (EMERGENCY ONLY)
6	476.550	Repeater Channel (Press DUPLEX to use)
7	476.575	Repeater Channel (Press DUPLEX to use)
8	476.600	Repeater Channel (Press DUPLEX to use)
9	476.625	General Chat Channel
10	476.650	General Chat Channel
11	476.675	Call Channel - used in areas with no repeaters - To call other stations.
12	476.700	General Chat Channel
13	476.725	General Chat Channel
14	476.750	General Chat Channel
15	476.775	General Chat Channel
16	476.800	General Chat Channel
17	476.825	General Chat Channel
18	476.850	Caravan, Campers & 4WD Road Channel
19	476.875	General Chat Channel
20	476.900	General Chat Channel
21	476.925	General Chat Channel
22	476.950	Telemetry and Telecommand Only
23	476.975	Telemetry and Telecommand Only
24	477.000	General Chat Channel
25	477.025	General Chat Channel
26	477.050	General Chat Channel
27	477.075	General Chat Channel
28	477.100	General Chat Channel
29	477.125	Road Channel (Pacific Highway between Sydney and Brisbane only)
30	477.150	General Chat Channel
31	477.175	Repeater Input Channel (Not for use - See Below)
32	477.200	Repeater Input Channel (Not for use - See Below)
33	477.225	Repeater Input Channel (Not for use - See Below)
34	477.250	Repeater Input Channel (Not for use - See Below)
35	477.275	Repeater Input Channel (Not for use - See Below)
36	477.300	Repeater Input Channel (Not for use - See Below)
37	477.325	Repeater Input Channel (Not for use - See Below)
38	477.350	Repeater Input Channel (Not for use - See Below)
39	477.375	General Chat Channel
40	477.400	Australia-Wide Road/Truckies Channel (excluding Syd->Bris via Pacific Highway where 29 is used.)

[edit] Expansion to 60 Channels

ACMA is currently proposing UHF CB should increase the number of available channels to 60 by decreasing channel bandwidth to 12.5KHz.^[1]

[edit] See also

• UHF CB Australia - UHF CB News, Information, Repeater Locations & Sales. UHF CB Australia Supporting and expanding the UHF CB network
• VMB4 Newcastle - An example of an Australian UHF CB Repeater
• Tropinet's UHF CB Repeater Listing - A database of UHF CB Repeaters Australia-wide.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• UHF CB license conditions determination - The Australian official license under which UHF CB operates
• Australian Communications and Media Authority - The Australian regulator of the radiofrequency spectrum
• Citizen Band Radio Service (CBRS / CB Radio) or Public / Personal Radio Service (PRS) — Radio Spectrum Management Group (RSM), part of the New Zealand Ministry of Economic Development - The New Zealand regulator of the radio frequency spectrum

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