New from Central QLD.

[argustuft2]

Hi All,
I am new to the forum and posting world and I apologise if my etiquette is a little off so please pull me up, so here goes.

I have moved to Central QLD a few years ago and notice the locals were listening to the services on UHF that had been programmed into the unit manually, because my wife frequently travels to Townsville and the Sunshine coast I suggested to her that it might be a good idea to get a CB just in case she broke down, to listen to the truckies for their road report and scan to police frequencies for what may lie ahead.
I was given a GME TX3540 (no research done by the wife) for my birthday, which was great but I have had troubles locating software or instructions to program channels into the unit.I have seen some impressive QLD frequency posts that I will get to in due course.

I am after guidance, opinions or someone to point me in right direction to answer the following;
1.Can I assume the QLD government going down the digital path like NSW and what time frame?
2.Are the QLD laws potentially going to change in relation to scanning?
(I have read some posts saying if they sell it, it's legal, and depends on how the device and information is used.)
3.Is there a “New wiz bang product” in the rumour mill going to be released that I should wait for?
4.If nothing is on the horizon, any recommendations for a solid portable and/ or in car transceiver/scanner setup? (have no allegiance to any brand as I have had very limited exposure)
5.Out of curiosity what information is associated with data and pagers? Would this be option to scan the local area as we only have limited emergency services?
Thank you in advance for your input and sorry for the longwinded speal.

[terryhaynes]

1. Yes, within 12-18 months
2. No
3. Unsure, members on here "claim" to know but nothing official.
4. Plenty of UHFs out there that double as a CB and scanner. Cheap as chips at Repco etc.
5. Anything and everything!

Terry Haynes

[Phantom]

Welcome to the forum

For assistance in programming your radio, please see HERE for the user manual. Refer page 22 for the RX programming instructions. Fairly straight forward. No need for software.

Scanning is a wide and diverse area of communications. It really does not matter what it out there - the hardest thing would be to narrow down on what you are wanting to listen to and what information you would like to potentially obtain/learn from and thru scanning. Once you have that information, we may be able to assist you in narrowing down the areas in which to focus on and obtain what you wish to seek.

You could listen to a radio all day, and not hear a thing or hear what interests you. Once you know what you want to listen to or learn more about, it could be pagers that may narrow in on your area of interest or you may be better of listening to a specific frequency/aspect as that information may not be carried on the pager network.

Hope that helps explain things and once again, welcome to the forum!