Portable Two Ways Radios – UHF Versus VHF Technology!

Portable two ways radios are no longer confined to police and military departments. Now, these radios are easily accessible even to the general public and more and more people have gone in for them. These portable radio handsets offer wireless connectivity if you happen to be in a shopping mall with your friend or family and help in tracing each other, if one of them is nowhere to be found. However, before you decide to buy one for yourself, it is better to know which one is better for you. Since UHF and VHF are two technologies that have been employed in these wireless systems; it would prove helpful to know the difference between the two.

A huge number of people believe that portable, handheld two way radios with UHF technology have certain inherent benefits over VHF. However, if you go through the facts, you would find that similar to any other technology, both UHF and VHF have merits and demerits. So, it is not necessary that UHF would be the right choice in every situation.

Before going in for any particular devices, there are numerous factors that you need to consider such as where do you want to use these two-ways radios and how and for what purpose or application will they be used. Furthermore, you cannot keep aside the cost factor as it is always of prime consideration. Additionally, there are other factors that may affect your buying decision like whether you would use the equipment across the different cities or it would confine to a limited territory.

In simple words, you can say that a UHF system does not have an edge over the VHF in terms of technical capabilities. The foremost advantage of UHF is that it supersedes the probability of interference due to its more available frequency spectrum.

There is no denying that interference due to inauthentic outputs from other radio frequency equipment is comparatively less in UHF frequencies. It is just because of some of the transmitters being operated at frequencies which are likely to cause some problem. Even the digital devices or electrical equipment which are in UHF frequencies tend to experience lower obstruction. It is possible as the noise gets less intense with the expanded frequency.

Another important factor is ‘cost’. When you have decided to buy two ways radio, keep in mind that UHF portable handheld radio will cost you more in comparison to the similar VHF radio. However, the higher cost of UHF equipment is not unreasonable as expensive ultra-high frequency components are used in it. Also, the components in UHF radio are more in number and it is also made up of better material. Other manufacturing costs in UHF are also higher specifically the amount of time consumed in adjusting the equipment and its performance verification. It should be noted here that though, the cost difference between UHF and VHF is on the decline these days; it is unlikely to vanish altogether.

When it comes to battery life; VHF scores better as its battery life is always longer compared to its contemporary UHF. If you want to have larger wireless installation, the cost of antenna splitters, antennas and preamplifiers is often quite low for VHF equipments; but they give better performance.

So, from the point of view of cost, VHF finds favour with the masses; while UHF device has lesser chances of interference. Still the choice can be affected by a number of applications issues:

No matter whether you go in for VHF or UHF, diversity systems are most often suggested. Further, it holds more importance for UHF as it is UHF frequency that gets troubled by dropouts because of multipath.

It would also be noteworthy here that in some specific situations, VHF devices work better compared to UHF. For instance, since the VHF frequencies tend to be lower, it is quite possible that they work better even when the transmitter and receiving antenna are not in each other’s sight. As a matter of fact, most of the UHFs are considered as ‘line of sight systems’ as they can provide more range compared to VHFs.

Handheld portable two-ways radio with VHF and UHF technology fulfils different needs of different individuals. It is up to you to first know about the technology and then make your decision. Anyways, the fact is that two ways radios are the simplest way to stay connected wirelessly. Though their access is only to a limited area but their cost-effective features make them different, useful and affordable from other means of communication. Above all, you do not have to worry about the time of engaging in conversation, as you do not pay any network provider for any service. Once you buy one, you begin to enjoy its fruitfulness.