Did you realise that your 40 channel UHF radios were going to be banned this June?
UHF radios are pretty much standard equipment for most 4WD’s and other vehicles heading into remote regions. Not to mention farmers, mining companies, truckies and the huge number of handheld UHF radios in the field.
So it might come as a surprise to hear that the ACMA (Australian Communications & Media Authority) decided in 2011 to make 40 channel UHF radios illegal effective from June 2017 to make way for the new 80 channel system.
The changes were originally introduced to manage congestion and interference in the CB radio channels.
The good news is that this week the ACMA has backed away from it’s 2011 decision and is now saying that their monitoring has shown that the two systems can work side by side without any issues.
UHF radio is the backbone of remote communications in Australia so banning 40 channel radios and forcing an upgrade to the new 80 channel units would have been a massive financial hit for business’s that depend on it like farmers, the transport and the mining industries not to mention road trippers like us.
We have a 40 channel UHF in our Landcruiser and a few handhelds so upgrading to 80 channels would have been close to a $1000 exercise.
Of course any new radios we buy will be on the new 80 channel system but it’s nice to know we can keep using the 40 channel units.
A little common sense goes a long way when it comes to matters such as these.