4WD MODIFICATIONS – COMMUNICATIONS & NAVIGATION

Elon Musk’s low-earth-orbit satellite internet service is gradually expanding around the globe, but it’s not ready yet for reliable, remote-area mobile coverage.

Uniden’s 2021 App-enabled XTRAK PRO Series of in-vehicle and handheld UHF radios can track and share the user’s location through the XTRAK Bluetooth App. 

Hema Maps unveiled its seventh-generation GPS and navigation product, the HX-2, in August 2021. The product is said to integrate digital mapping and data of remote areas with moderated community sourced data and social networking. 

The ZOLEO satellite communicator is compact and provides over 200 hours of battery life. It is designed to operate in temperatures ranging from -20°C to 55°C, is shock-resistant and features an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance. 

When it comes to choosing the right UHF CB aerial, size is important, but it’s probably not what you think. Taller, with higher ‘gain’ isn’t always better.

Uniden’s new UH600 radio series are claimed to be built for Australia’s rugged conditions, offering high grade performance in a lightweight, compact design.

This specialist automotive electrical and electronics company’s range of wireless chargers can charge a compatible device without the need to plug in a power cable.

We’re all familiar with weather radar displays, but this new Doctor App product takes weather radar to a new dynamic level and displays it on your Apple Phone or Watch.

We’re testing a 2019-release mapping app that promises more free features than any other mapping software.

Polaris’ latest Maxx range is designed for maximum ease of use, with a large, adjustable screen and kits that suit many 4WD utes and wagons. We’re testing one during 2019.

You may not know it, but the piece of real estate you’re sitting in has a unique three-word code, developed for a free app called ‘what3words’. That code can be input into a navigation device or mobile phone, allowing a delivery to be made, without the driver’s need for a detailed address and access instructions.

We know that after being shown the instruments of torture Galileo recanted and avowed that the Catholic Church knew more about heliocentricity than he did. Nice people, the Renaissance Catholics. However, this scientific colossus’ name has been applied to Europe’s challenge to the US-owned Global Positioning System (GPS).

ToooAir is claimed to be Australia’s first two-way radio style transceiver using a cellular network, providing push-to-talk communication across Australia, using the Telstra network.

In February 2017, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) very quietly reversed its decision to make 40-channel UHF radios illegal from June 2017. When the 80-channel spectrum was gazetted, 40-channel radios were banned from sale and were to be phased out. Now they’re not.

We bought our satellite telephones years ago and wouldn’t leave home without one of them; a couple of vehicle breakdowns and medical emergencies during our travels in Australia’s Outback and our best satellite telephone has more than paid for itself.

Queensland-based Hema has an App for Apple and Android device users that puts detailed outback map data in your lap or pocket.

It’s much more relaxing in the Outback when you know that reliable contact with the outside world is only a button-push away. However, UHF (CB) radios are great for vehicle to vehicle communication, but near on useless in an emergency if there isn’t anyone close-by that also has one. Mobile telephones are great, when you’re in a mobile service area, but there’s not much service in the Outback or remote areas.

Outback Travel Australia relies on the VKS737 network on all bush trips. Contrary to the belief of many, HF isn’t ‘dinosaur’ system, but thanks to recent developments is the communications network of choice for remote area travel and disaster relief.