Upgrades To Aircraft VHF Radio Network

A ground-breaking project to modernise and upgrade the VHF radio communication network vital to safe air navigation across Australia has reached a major milestone.

Airservices technicians have now upgraded air-ground-air voice communication equipment at 100 of around 150 sites nationally.

The 100th upgraded transmitter is located on Table Mountain, Rockhampton and was introduced to service this month.

Airservices is replacing outmoded radios, aerials and network equipment with state-of-the-art hardware as part of an eight year, $46m VHF System Upgrade project.

General manager technical and asset services, Alastair Hodgson, said the system provided crucial communication links between air traffic controllers in centres in Brisbane and Melbourne and aircraft travelling across the country.

“It delivers services to over 180 individual operating positions using around 590 radio transceivers located at more than 150 sites across Australia, many in regional and remote areas,” Mr Hodgson said.

The system upgrade will enhance reliability and allow remote monitoring and defect rectification by Airservices technical staff.

It also introduces additional system redundancy and back-up capability, improving the long-term safety and security of Airservices operations.

“Ultimately, all VHF services will be transitioned onto digital bearers as part of a separate multi-million dollar upgrade of Airservices own national telecommunications infrastructure,” Mr Hodgson said.

The VHF System Upgrade Project is due to be completed in mid-2010.

Marine radio uncertainty

(Source: Border Watch Newspaper - September 26 2009)

Marine radio infrastructure has been installed at The Bluff, near Glencoe, to improve the safety of boat operators, but uncertainty remains over whether anyone will be listening if distress calls are made.

Volunteer Marine Rescue SA has sought interest from fishing clubs, individuals and others able to monitor VHF activity, which is expected to increase following installation of the new repeater.

The repeater operates on VHF marine channel 22, allowing an alternative to the existing internationally recognised distress frequency - channel 16.

Darryl Wright, who manages Volunteer Marine Rescue SA, which is associated with the State Emergency Service, said the new channel could be used for increased communication, including weather reports, safety warnings and exchanges between vessels.

"It will take non-emergency communication to a separate channel and leaves the other free for distress signals," he said, explaining the development extended the network from Portland to Ceduna.

However, he said groups were needed to monitor both channels as there was no dedicated full-time base in the region, with the effectiveness of the system reliant on volunteers.

Mr Wright said wheelchair-bound operators had provided a valuable contribution on Yorke Peninsula and the SES also had a team of radio enthusiasts who he hoped may become involved, stating manned bases provided the quickest response for rescues, which was crucial.

He said there was not a big presence of marine emergency services in the region, but a boat had been delivered to Kingston last year to assist with rescues and searches, which were traditionally undertaken by fishermen in the region, with police maintaining a register of contacts for assistance.

Port MacDonnell Offshore Angling Club president Paul Carrison welcomed installation of the new infrastructure, which had been sought for years.

He said he hoped it would allow activity in the region to be heard at 24-hour bases in Victor Harbour and Adelaide, as well as Portland, while a new bait and tackle shop to open at Port MacDonnell was also expected to assist with radio monitoring.

Mr Carrison said the club had monitoring and safety measures in place for its own events, using channel 88.

"There is a general understanding all boats on the water have their radio on and chat and know who is out and there is a board people to sign when they head out, which guys usually look at in the evening or see what trailers are around," he said.

"In a fishing town there is a general understanding that if you are unsure you make a phone call - if there is one word of someone in trouble there will be 10 blokes ready to go."

Infrastructure Minister Patrick Conlon said the new repeater would fill the gap between Robe channel 82 and Portland channel 81, providing coverage in waters near Beachport through to the Glenelg River.

Mr Wright may call a public meeting in the South East to establish arrangements for monitoring of the new repeater channel and said people interested could call him on 8204 1672 or email wright.darryl@ses.sa.gov.au

CFS radio upgrade continues - 27/6/09

The S.A. Country Fire Service are continuing to rollout digital radios to replace ageing analog infrastructure. Currently digital capable radios are being fitted to all CFS vehicles throughout the state, at this stage there are no plans to utilise the digital network however it is anticipated that this will occur in the future as the GRN is upgraded and analog is slowly phased out. The upgrade includes a combination of XTL5000 and XTL2500 mobile radios and XTS2500 portable radios.

In areas where GRN coverage is not possible, the CFS is trialing the use of a HF-GRN cross-patch. Situated at Summertown, the system allows users to make contact on HF frequencies which are then re-broadcast on CFS GRN talkgroup 208. This results in extended radio coverage into areas that are not covered by the GRN, testing in some remote areas of the state has so far had mixed results. Talkgroup 208 can often be heard re-broadcasting the HF signals from the Mt Lofty GRN site.

Public Transport to go digital - 3/3/09

It appears that the buses, trams and trains will be one of the first users to change from Analog to Digital talkgroups on the SA-GRN, with XTL2500 radios currently being installed to replace the extisting MCS2000 units. At this stage it is unclear what the ID's of the new talkgroups will be but once they are identified they will be added to our 'Talkgroups' page, it is understood that encryption will not be used by these agencies.