Perhaps defining outback travel would be a start?  Many people think outback
travel is the trip to Mt Isa from Brisbane...

UHF is handy while you are enroute(still on the blacktop), more than being a
primary comms aid when really out in the sticks.  They are the best tool for
talking to truckies along the way, and you would be suprised where you will
encounter a truck out in the middle of nowhere; carting sheep or cattle.
For that end, they(UHF) are ONE of the comms necessities I would reccommend.
if you are really going out back, either an HF or a CDMA\Sat handset like
the Kyocera models they sell at some of the comms dealers.  This gives you
CDMA coverage within range of many outback towns, but is Sat for the rest of
the way.  This seems to me to be a worthwhile tool. An essential
'run-out-of-options' piece of gear would be an EPIRB; they are bloody cheap
insurance, as well as dirt-cheap, in my opinion.

And finally, a survival kit with the gear to make a water still, big box of
matches and a mirror for signalling.  Nothing like a mirror and\or a fire to
get the attention of a search aircraft...

Just my thoughts. Travelling the more populated areas, I find the UHF & CDMA
phone in a car kit all I need.  When I worked for QDPI, all remote-area ops
cars had to have either Sat-Phones or HF radios, or both. Most stock
inspectors had HF and UHF, for calling properties they were inspecting stock
on. I would have suggested adding a UHF as well, but QDPI werent all that
serious about remote-area ops when I was there(I think they just gave the
concept lip-service).  Some people in my centre had been driving a car for 3
weeks before they thought to use the sat-phone.  Found out it died when
trying to make a call, which gave them all a fright. They had assumed that
because the unit turned on and said all was well, that it would work when
needed.  I had been making a point of trying out the phone prior to leaving
on trips(as well as carrying my own UHF and mobile Phone), but others in the
centre thought it a waste of money (optus satphones were about $2.90 a
minute at that stage). That little episode spooked them all up, and I see we
had remote-area assessments done on all vehicles after that...

Cheers,

Rod.......Out  Back

Oh he's always on "the job". heheheheh

Cheers
Jim

No, I wont be allowed to go on any jobs until I pass my basic training and
earn my boots, hard hat and spiffy orange overalls.At the moment, I'm a
"level one" member. After September, I become level two, and start training
in areas I'm interested in, which will be vertical rescue, road accident
retreval, radio comms, 4wd training, land search, navigation, land search,
flood boat operations, etc. I'll give catering and welfare a miss I think.
Evey course I do gives me a license or a certificate and it's all natioanlly
accredited TAFE qualifications. I'm hoping it will look good on my resume,
as I'm hatching an eveil plot to leave Qld Health and move from nursing into
OH&S or something similar So all this training is well worth while, as well
as lots of fun.

Townsville is the quietest SES in Qld, in terms of "activations" SEQ has
storms and missing tourists, FNQ has floods (and missing tourists) but NQ
only gets exciting when there's cyclones, which haven't hit Townsville for 5
years, a decent one since 1974 (?) Althea. .

I was involved in some microwave networks using troposferic ducting in a
past life. We regularly passed commercial traffic up around 750-1000K with
excellent continuity.  It was quite secure from other ears, a big bonus.

Cheers
Jim