GME XRS 390C UHF radio review

The XRS 390C UHF radio from GME has been out for a few years now but it still retains its spot as one of the best and most capable UHF radios on the Aussie market.

While there are a number of radios in the XRS line-up, the 390C sits at the top of the pile and like others in the range features a hide-away main unit and a separate speaker microphone that can be mounted at any handy location in a vehicle’s cabin… or on an ATV or similar.

The 390C is an 80-channel radio that features 5-Watt output power, while the top line speaker mic has an impressive 2-Watt front facing speaker that delivers crisp clear sound with plenty of volume – I reckon it’s the best I’ve heard. Both the main unit and the mic have IP67 ingress protection against water and dust, and MIL-STD810G rating for vibration and shock resistance.

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The 390 was the first UHF radio to feature a built-in GPS receiver, located at the top of the handset, offering true location awareness without relying on a smartphone to provide GPS location data. With Bluetooth wireless technology, this radio has app control via your smartphone which allows such things as creating and sharing scan lists and location sharing. All XRS radios are software upgradable via the app, keeping your unit up to date with the latest features and technology.

There’s a heap of other expected features such as Repeater and Duplex modes, priority channel, and adjustment of the squelch level (too high a squelch level can cut out a weak signal you are trying to listen for). There’s also Selcall, which is only activated when your own radio’s unique identification number is called. A voice scrambler function allows you to enjoy private comms with others who have activated the same settings.

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The radio also has a range of scan settings including open scan, net scan and priority scan. Priority scan is a favourite of mine as you can scan your main or priority channel (say Ch 16) as well as a group of user-selected channels (eg. Ch 10 and 40). There’s much more detail on the GME website and the 80-page instruction manual is available as a pdf download.

The antenna twin pack we added to make this radio work combines two of GME’s most popular antenna options – the AE4705B (6.6dBi gain antenna) and the AW4704B (2.1dBi gain) – in a convenient all-in-one package. The former is ideal for wide open spaces (think our desert country) while the latter is the one to choose when in the Victorian mountains or similar, or around town. With a bit of wiring to be done to power the radio, and the antenna lead to run from the remote unit to the front antenna mount, I left the technical work to the crew at Outback 4WD (www.outback4wd.com.au).

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The radio is easy to use with good reception in all sorts of terrain and situations with clear and crisp voice modulation. While I’ll probably never use most of the functions or the Bluetooth abilities of this radio, its capability is there for those who want it or need it.

THE 390 is covered by a five-year warranty while the antennas have a one-year warranty. I don’t think you could do better than this UHF radio for 4WD touring wherever you are in Australia. Yeah, it’s that good.

Pricing

Radio: $619
Twin antenna pack: $439