Question to HF radio Operators

first thing you need to do is make sure that your have your outpost licence from the Australian Communications and Media Authority. Without this it is illegal to use the radio at all. $39.00 this year so wont send you broke.

Tim

Lewis' answer is 99% correct, but in an emergency a base must respond to a distress call even if the caller is not unlicensed, I would recommend either VKS or the HF Radio Club, both have operators that will contact the appropriate organisation in the event of an emergency,
Yes you can if your a member of VKS call in during a sked or talk to another member off sked times and on the correct frequency, protocol is strictly enforced.

HF RADIO CLUB

VKS-737

.

VKS is $100 and you DONT need a licence, its part of the deal.

You DO need a licence to use HAM channels,

I think if using VKS, Charters Towers would be your most used contact point. The VKS network is fantastic ! Without selcal I don't think you will be able to contact a station outside of skeds but there will almost always be someone somewhere that will pick up your message and will be able to forward your message. This is also applicable during skeds if you have a bad signal, someone with a clear signal will help.
We were Badly bogged in Arnhem Land last year and put out a call for help, 700km away a VKS member picked us up and was able to relay our message to someone in the area who came to help.
I would recommend having a GPS as you will be able to tell people exactly where you are should you need to call for help.
This helped us as we had a rough idea of where we were but not exactly. The person coming to help us looked up the
co-ordinates on Google earth and could see the track we were stuck on.
Good Luck

Lyndon

Tim,

I'd add to the above is that your authority to operate is inherent in your VKS737 membership.

In practice, 10 channels is ample, especially if you are paying for crystals. Assuming VKS737, you will spend almost all the time on channel 2, though it's worth having channel 1 too. The other "old" frequencies give a little flexibility but in practice are very little used. Several new frequencies have recently been allocated, and may be useful with more feature packed radios than yours (and mine!).

Lacking selcall may be a slight disadvantage, as it is possible to use selcall through the VKS737 network to reach RFDS and various emergency services.

HTH

John

All HF frequencies require a licence to operate. If you want to use RFDS you need a licence. If you just want to use VKS then you need another licence for thatl. However, your annual VKS737 subscription incorporates your licence for using VKS frequencies.

When I still had an Amateur license the law, for good reasons, provided that it is not illegal to use a radio without a license in the case of an emergency. I reckon that would still be the case.

Owen

My first HF radio was a crystal job - still going fas as I know - for voice only, using a tapped whip antenna, it was bullet proof with a great range and exceptional clarity, compared to many modern sets - I upgraded just to get into selcalling and Radphone.
Re $ outlay for licences and emergencies etc. It is true that you can legally comm with anyone, if unlicenced but only if you have a real emergency. Trouble is, healthy people experiencing an outback breakdown in a car full of food and water is not an emergency ! This potential situation is the one that prompts most outback travellers to join an HF organisation .... then when you simply need a hand to get out of a potentially difficult situation, you can talk for hours and days to as many members and staff as you like.