(OT?) Custom gear for RFDS HF comms

Hi, In the past I've hired a small HF SSB set from RFDS to take on trips to out of the way locations. Does anyone know whether it's possible to produce your own set, and get it licenced for the same purpose? I have an old ham set (Atlas 210X) that could easily be xtal locked to the RFDS frequency.

Checked some of the prices for the commercial gear, f**ing ridiculous. I guess it's peanuts for a mining outfit.

Reply to
bruce varley
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For emergency use it may not even need licensing, would it??

Reply to
Mark Harriss

From:

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"Where should RFDS frequencies be used?

The RFDS frequencies have been assigned specifically to allow the provision of a medical emergency service to people living and working in, and travelling through, remote areas. To ensure the RFDS frequencies are not congested when people in remote areas need to use them, they should not be used in areas where there is ready access to a fixed telephone, even if it is to contact someone who is in a remote area. In particular, it is not permissible to set up an HF transceiver at home to keep in contact with people you met while in a remote area.

Licence required

An Outpost (Non-assigned) licence is required to authorise the use of RFDS frequencies, whether the transceiver is mounted in a vehicle, is portable or established at a campsite. Communication is authorised with RFDS or St John Ambulance control stations and other outpost stations? on the condition that both parties are in a remote area and there is no possibility of interference with a control station. The use of the Telstra Marine Radphone service is also authorised by an Outpost (Non-assigned) licence.

Licences may be obtained from any ACA area office, either over the counter, while you wait or through the mail.

Licence fees

The annual fee for an Outpost (Non-assigned) licence is currently $30. "

Reply to
Mark Harriss

Wouldn't a satellite phone be a better idea? You can hire them, or buy a second hand one and use a pre-paid SIM (I've heard there is a way to do that).

Dave.

Reply to
David L. Jones

Building an SSB set from scratch is not for the faint-hearted and it would need to be type approved.

The time/cost would be higher than buying a secondhand Codan etc.

I used to have one of those.

It's VFO controlled but if you gutted it and changed some tuned circuits it could possibly be modified to RFDS etc. But it would be difficult to keep it as an amateur set.

But it wouldn't be type approved and it's less robust than a Codan etc. Also they need the SWR to be spot-on, which might not be the case with a makeshift antenna.

Reply to
Peter Parker

To use a radio on the commercial HF bands it must be "type approved" and the Atlas would not be. However, as someone else pointed out, you can use any radio on any frequency in a "real" emergency. You could think about buying a second hand Barrett, Codan, Q-mac, IPC/Perth Comms radio.

Use the Atlas for amateur use while you're travelling and programme in the RFDS channels just in case. Don't forget that you will also need to make a two tone emergency alarm generator to trigger the RFDS base alarm (880Hz and 1320Hz).

I always recommend taking an EPIRB/ELB with you for the occassion when you can't contact anyone via radio.

Having said all that, there are a lot of people using amateur radios on the commercial HF bands.

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Reply to
Alan

I forget the exact wording, but maintaining an unlicensed radio "to only be used in an emergency" is specifically made illegal in the Rad Com act.

You can use a ham set on emergency frequencies in an emergency, but you do have to have a ham license in the first place.

To put it another way, there are various legitimate reasons to own an unlicensed transceiver (resale, for instance), but owning it for "use in an emergency" isn't one of them.

regards ............ Zim

Reply to
Graeme Zimmer

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