It’s time to kill the idea that getting an amateur license and a “ham” radio will solve all our communications needs in the bush. That commercial type approved radio equipment is over priced (by the way, what is the life of you and yours worth?)
Looks good, doesn’t it. Around six hours study (Foundation license) and a ham set will be far cheaper than the “overpriced” commercial things.
Now there are few hobbies as engrossing as amateur radio, and I can recommend it to anyone. There’s nothing quite like it, and the areas that you can experiment in are almost limitless. On HF, the amateur bands encompass a far greater range of frequencies than any other service than the military. Amateurs talk to overseas stations on a daily basis, and many friendships are formed. There have been many famous amateurs, kings and paupers, and a few scoundrels like any walk of life.
Let’s take a look at what actually goes on in these bands of frequencies. There are people talking to people about everything and nothing, night and day depending upon the band. All over the world, but you will only be able to hear some because of propagation.
These hams derive a great deal of satisfaction from working distant stations, building and modifying equipment and aerials etc. Great stuff.
But lets see what might actually happen when you have an emergency, or come across one in the bush.
Commercial radio.
Press selcall or Emergency call button. If there’s no reply try a different channel. Someone will respond, state your emergency and you will be put in touch with the RFDS or details passed to the
police. This is done in a calm friendly manner, even though your snake might have chosen 11pm to strike.
This operation should take less than thirty minutes and perhaps as little as five.
Now let’s take a look at the same thing on ham radio.
There are traveler’s nets, but only at specific times. At other times you’re on your own.
Try the RFDS…that’s funny, nothing. They are only activated with a 2 tone call that no amateur transceiver comes with. Oh!
You try and call the 737 (for example) network. Someone hears you and selcalls the base for you. You explain your problem and the base says Ok, give me 5 and I’ll selcall you back. No can do. No selcall number or facility. Hmm…starting to get messy and the clock is ticking. Can you use their phone system to talk to a doctor at a hospital? Possibly, assuming that you are on frequency and don’t have a weak signal because of the amateur aerial that you are using.
So you have a mate looking out for you. Ok. Now lets assume that your mate can hear you, good start. (Let’s not assume that he’s asleep, crook, hanging out the washing etc). He might have tired of the static, as many amateur sets do not have an effective voice or selcall mute facility. You state your emergency to your mate, perhaps several times because non-licensed people are interfering with your transmission. Hams are not always the only ones in these bands.
He has the details, so he rings the
police who put him onto the communications centre if he’s gotten past first base. He explains that he’s a ham and that he’s received and has a call for help from you.
First thing, what’s a ham? CB? No? So how did you get this message? Who’s it from ? Let’s establish your credentials. Now, what sort of emergency is it again? Hold the line while we talk to their nearest
police station…they don’t seem to be answering but we’ll ring you back.
So your mate calls you back...but can’t hear you. He has no idea if you’re still hanging on in there, or have bumped the dial and changed the frequency etc.
Vital minutes have elapsed, and you’ve got nowhere. Your mate is starting to become very worried so they ring the
police back. They inform him that others have contacted them with almost the same information. One chap said it was in Victoria, one said Queensland etc. So our
well-meaning friends have mis heard the details. How does the officer know that the details he gave are correct? He goes through the same process all over again.
Yes it’s a hypothetical situation, but most hams are not used to dealing with emergency situations on a daily basis. Nor are they usually
well known at the local
police station that has to deal with all kinds of strange people at times. You might be a fine upstanding citizen but you’ll have to convince the officer on the ground at the time of that fact.
How do I know this? Because I’ve been there and done that more than once.
Valuable time is lost. Up to, in some cases, an hour. Or more. And if the
police put you in touch with another agency or business then the same process can happen.
Please note. I am talking operational differences in emergency message handling.
My knowledge of the differences between commercial HF and amateur
HF radio equipment is
well documented elsewhere.
No I’m not trying to sell you an overpriced commercial HF set, as some would have you believe. All I’m saying is that if you believe some
well meaning hams around here, then you could be in for a nasty surprise.
PS. Most commercial equipment will also work extremely
well on the amateur HF bands, so there's no need to carry both.