Communications out there

Hi Terry

What equipment do you envisage for VHF? All VHF requires a license as far as I know. I am an amateur operator and dont know of any services that are available to the general public. I use the VKS737 network and have a Barrett 950.
UHF is good car to car but fairly useless in a real emegency unless you are within a couple of K's of other travellers. EPIRB is good insurance in these circumstances.
Cheers
Ted

Hi Terry,

Welcome to the site; hopefully you will find it both helpful and enjoyable.

Re communications, I think you will find that most outback travellers have UHF for convoy work and a combination or all of HF, sat phone and Epirb for long range comms. There are many forum threads on the pros and cons of such the various options. There is also quite a good article under the blue Articles button in the blue bar across the top of the page.

VKS737 is probably the biggest HF "club" and that is what we use with an oldish Codan HF radio. That arrangement has worked very well for us on many outback trips.

Cheers,

Val.

As mentioned Terry, see the comprehensive article here on options for communications in Oz - also comment on HF versus Satphones on vks737.on.net may be useful - VHF rarely emerges as a solution for Oz travel comms (others might be able to explain why - widely used in aircraft as I understand it).

Hi Terry (ACT here myself)

For short distance work, just like others have already said, get a UHF CB for local stuff either to others on the road, plus roadhouse and local farmers and station holders as well.

For long distance either or both a a satphone or HF radio. For HF you have two options, namely get something on the 4WD HF service like VKS737 or get a ham licence and a radio for both. Ham radios are miles cheaper and have access to several travellers nets. 4WD HF radios are more expensive and can cost as much as $3000 including radio and everthing. However with the Han radio you have to study for and get a ham licence. At about $70 a year and radio as cheap as $200 plus antennas it is cheaper but takes more to get. 4WD HF is basically across the counter access. Cost could be $120 a year plus the radio.

Personally we only have UHF CB and a satphone.

Phil

Without trying to go OT, how does a high powered VHF behave in comparison to a HF in terms of signal bounce (propagation?) in the ionsphere? Is it something that could be used over long (1000km) plus?
Tim

Hi Terry

When it come to long range, reliable outback communication, HF Radio is the only tried and proven form of free to air communications.

The down side it that it will cost at a starting price of around $3000 for a new unit, so there are many questions that you have to ask yourself, like how long do you think that you will be using the until and how often will you be away, will you be in the company of other vehicles etc, etc.

I have an old now, Codan 8525 and brought in new over 20 years ago and back then even with the tap antenna, it was well over $3000. The radio has served us very well, but to be very honest, if I was faced with the same situation all over again, I would have to think very carefully. Yes it is great to keep in contact with the VKS Base Stations, and has been used for a couple of emergency calls over the years. The cost of the licence, like all things , is getting dearer and dearer every year, to the point where one asks do you renew your licence for the sake of using it a few times a year. I know that it is illegal to use the HF without a licence, and big fines apply if caught using it without one. I still have a licence but will monitor the cost of renewing in future years. If I had to use my HF without a licence, there is no way that I would be able to be fined in a genuine emergency situation, and I am not being a smart ass about it, as it would come down to "Duty of Care" and it would open a whole can of worms if it was ever taken to court.

On the other had we always carry in a backpack a hand held UHF Radio, PLB and Satellite Phone. In the event of a vehicle accident, these items are safe in the backpack, (well lets hope they are). and when on foot, my HF Radio is no help to me what so ever.

My Satellite Phone is on a pre paid basis, so I have no monthly continual fees and charges, and was cheap to buy with my 50% Government Subsidy at less than $400.

If my HF Radio dies tomorrow, I personally do not think I would send the big dollars again knowing that I still have a means of getting help if all does go pear shape.

One think that I always have on me, and no body ever mentions is a hand help GPS. Even with all our outside communications (Yes my Satellite Phone has the ability on sending its GPS Co- Ordinances). This is one cheap little tool that is overlooked and if you need genuine help and are speaking with an operator, by any form of communications, being HF, UHF or Satellite Phone, at least you can tell them your exact location and not like.........the first track on your left, about 30 kilometres from Birdsville heading north.

Like personal insurance, we have these safety divides and hope like hell that we never have to use them.




Cheers



Stephen

Gday Terry
UHF for the 4X4 and a sat phone
I have worked in tourism in the Kimberley for 10 years and have seen my fair share of roll overs and breakdowns . Our satphones were with us all the time and were used on several occasions .
I'm no longer in tourism but still do the GRR , Mitchell Plateau , etc once a year .
I purchased my own sat phone a couple off years ago after being the first on the scene to a roll-over North of Doongan Station on the Kalumburu road .
The Male passenger had neck injuries and I wasn't in my ute I was in a hired 4WD .
I had a mate still working for the tour company I had worked for and new he was only about half an hour behind me , with a sat phone and a good chance one off his clients would be a Doctor or Nurse . ( there was 2 )
Want go into great detail but without the sat phone and being able to contact the RFDS this bloke would have been in trouble .
All went well .
I purchased my threw www.satellitephonesales.com.au
They were excellent , I got the government rebate and all up for the phone , 100 minutes of talk time and the waterproof pelican case was about $780
I've just bought another 100minutes for $240 this lasts a year , Have all numbers programmed into phone , and very happy with it , Its a small price to pay if it can save a life .
Safe travels hope this helps
Regards Paul

Another option is something like the Spot Connect. This will allow short text comms (41 chars) via satellite when paired with a smartphone; longer predefined text messages via buttons on the unit; sat tracking; plus SOS msg & coords which will be relayed to AMSA.

The unit is about $200 plus an annual sub (IIRC USD 115; more for tracking).

I use the more basic Messenger when bushwalking and ski touring where weight is at a premium. Outback in the car, a prepaid satphone.

Hullo Terry

FWIW, here is what I carry and some rationale :-)

UHF - mainly vehicle to vehicle but still useful for contact in the bush via a repeater. Can be used for contacting HS re permission for camping o/night and can result in timely assistance from them if required.

SPOT - very useful bit of kit. Light weight, goes with me everywhere. Uses satellite to send signal with lat.long and short sms message. I have set it up for 4 modes - 1) All OK (goes to daughter and son who have app on mobile that shows my position on a map - used at the end of the day while I am setting up camp; 2) Need vehicle help: 3) Need medical help but not life threatening; and finally, 4) emergency message to SAR in Canberra.

HF - old Barrett 950 with auto tune. Member of VKS-737 and regard the annual subs as good value cf all the other expenditure we incur when travelling, eg equals cost of ~300kms of fuel. Check in most nights during remote travell. Chief benefit is that, unlike a sat phone, it is a broadcast system. (Similar to VHF marine and I would assume with aircraft) The times this has been a significant help are well documented - advice re road conditions ahead, spare parts being delivered by someone coming along the same track, etc. Most outback police vehs still use HF and police cellcall #s are available. Both Codan and Barrett are built to military specs and, unlike most amateur sets, can take the pounding out on the road.

Sat phone - prepaid and used sparingly as we use our mobiles to talk to family, etc as needed when we are in range. We turn it on for receiving messages at an agreed time when we are in camp. Can be used in an emergency if HF not working well. Note: there are also times when HF reception is good and sat phone is poor or not available.

Laptop - used when in mobile range via modem - emails, forecasts, photos, etc

Hope this is of some use to you as an overview.

Cheers
Andrew