hand held uhf for kids use

[Green rv]

Hi Guys
just bought 3x 80 channel uhf s for the boy and his mates to play with

question is: what would be the best channel for them to play on. (normally late afternoon with supervision )
reason for asking is, when i find a good channel i will lock the unit on it.

these are only .5 watt with a 2 km signal radius

what i do know is
channel 5 and 35 emergency only   
channel 11 is a calling channel
channels 22 and 23 telemetry

channel 40 is a road channel
channels 01-08 repeters

 
Adam

[Ben.Archer]

Anything outside that list should be fine, there are certain channels used in certain locations so you may get interference (and foul language) but at .5 of a W you are putting out so little power that the reach will be pretty limited.

[Redcherokee]

18 is grey nomads. 29 is also truckies. And when they want a chat they ' go down 1' or 2 or 3.  So keep well clear of those if you don't want them to learn some new words.

Whatever you decide to use, have a listen yourself first to make sure some local business or group isn't using it.  Expect the kids to get an education regardless, from people who leave their CB on scan and will likely tell the youngsters to get off the radio. When the kids leave the transmit button on (as they will) it drives other users insane.

[Green rv]

thanks guys

think i found a quiet station will monitor it with the kids and see how we go

will also limit their usage to something like 5pm - 6 pm 

 
Adam

[gronk]

How old are they ??   Maybe THEY could teach the truckies a few new words ??   

[letsgoplaces]

http://uhfcb.com.au/80-Channel-UHF-Information.php shows the channel allocations.

The upper 40 channels will be the quietest

Cheers
John

[Troopy_03]

18 is grey nomads. 29 is also truckies. And when they want a chat they ' go down 1' or 2 or 3.  So keep well clear of those if you don't want them to learn some new words.

Whatever you decide to use, have a listen yourself first to make sure some local business or group isn't using it.  Expect the kids to get an education regardless, from people who leave their CB on scan and will likely tell the youngsters to get off the radio. When the kids leave the transmit button on (as they will) it drives other users insane.

29 is Pacific Hwy (NSW) & Bruce Hwy (Qld) Road Channel, not truckies

[Troopy_03]

Check out the channel list here. Basically don't use any of the red ones or specifically designated chanels.

http://uhfcb.com.au/80-Channel-UHF-Information.php

[Green rv]

Thanks Troopy & Letsgo much appreciated

How old are they ??   Maybe THEY could teach the truckies a few new words ??   

kids are only seven, cant see them teaching anyone new words, maybe some old ones.

 will always be supervised and i have locked the channel , so unless they figure out how to unlock it they shouldn't annoy anyone
will also teach them some rules to follow

 
Adam

[Beachman]

At Xmas and Easter we normally camp down main at Straddie and we also give the kids .5 watt hand held radios to play with. Seeing we go with other families who also do the same thing it could be 8 -10 kids with radio’s all on the same channel. We just turn a car UHF radio on  so at least one parent is monitoring what’s going on and the kids have a fantastic time.

We just pick any clear channel (apart from 5, 35 or 40) and never had a problem. A couple of time groups driving past have been on the same channel, but they have either changed channels, joined in with the kids or  within a couple of minutes they are out of range so no big deal.

Even channel 40 is normally empty when away camping.

[Troopy_03]

At Xmas and Easter we normally camp down main at Straddie and we also give the kids .5 watt hand held radios to play with. Seeing we go with other families who also do the same thing it could be 8 -10 kids with radio’s all on the same channel. We just turn a car UHF radio on  so at least one parent is monitoring what’s going on and the kids have a fantastic time.

We just pick any clear channel (apart from 5, 35 or 40) and never had a problem. A couple of time groups driving past have been on the same channel, but they have either changed channels, joined in with the kids or  within a couple of minutes they are out of range so no big deal.

Even channel 40 is normally empty when away camping.

Channel 5 & 35 - Emergency use only - Monitored by Volunteers, No general conversations are to take place on this channel
Channels 22 & 23 - Data transmissions only (Excluding Packet)
Channels 31 to 38 and 71 to 78 - Repeater inputs - Do not use these channels for simplex transmissions as you will interfere with conversations on channels 1 to 8 and 41 to 48

[gronk]

What about some tin cans and string....that way they can't annoy anybody !!!