VKS737

Last updated

The VKS-737 Radio Network is a division of the Australian National 4WD Radio Network Inc., a national Public Benevolent Institution, [1] established for Outback travellers who are in distress by providing them with emergency assistance and support in cooperation with other organisations.

Contents

The VKS-737 Network provides services in conjunction with the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Police and State Emergency Service organisations 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, via 15 base stations located around Australia. [2]

Founded in 1992, the Network's stated goal is to provide reliable radio communication for travellers in remote and Outback areas of Australia. All Network activity involving both bases and subscribers is subject to formal licensing by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

History

The use of HF between Outback travellers goes back many years, based on Royal Flying Doctor Service frequencies such as 5300, 5360 & 5410 kHz.

“Mobile Outpost” licenses allow the use of RFDS frequencies outside of base hours; increasing numbers of users concerned the RFDS, which, in 1992, requested the Department of Transport and Communication (now ACMA) to limit the general use of their frequencies.

Mid-1992: Dept. of Transport and Communications contacted the SA Toyota Landcruiser Club (TLCC) regarding creating a network to allow members to communicate with each other and bases.

Submissions were lodged by Colin Brown and Jeff Francis from TLCC and a submission and license application were lodged by Steve Johnston on behalf of the SA Association of Four-Wheel Drive Clubs (SAAFWDC).

Colin Brown is still actively involved as a show volunteer.

November 1993: The first VKS-737 Radio Network license was issued, and a base station was established at the Hilton in South Australia.

The Network, managed by Steve Johnston the Radio Officer of the SAAFWDC, was only available for use by members of South Australian 4WD Clubs.

March 1994: The Network was placed under the control of Steve Johnston, the Radio Officer of the Australian National Four Wheel Drive Council (ANFWDC), for use by members of 4WD Clubs Australia-wide affiliated with ANFWDC via the state 4WD associations.

July 1994: Woomera Base opened.

August 1995: Gosford Base opened.

October 1996: The Australian National 4WD Radio Network was incorporated and the VKS-737 licenses were transferred to the new organisation.

December 1996: The Australian Taxation Office issued approval for the Network to become a Public Benevolent Institution.

February 1997: The Network became a partner in Tread Lightly! Australia. Steve Johnston was appointed to the Board of Directors of Tread Lightly! Australia.

February 1997: Perth Base opened.

April 1997: Alice Springs Base opened.

July 1997: Agreement signed with SA Police to provide a joint safety network for subscribers, SA Police patrol cars, and police stations fitted with VKS-737 frequencies. Similar arrangements are now in place with emergency services in several other states. All bases are linked to emergency services giving subscribers direct selcall access.

Agreement signed with the Australian Customs Service (now Australian Border Force) for subscribers to be involved with the Customs Hotline (now Australian Border Watch Hotline). [3]

December 1997: Woomera Base closed. St Marys Base opened.

June 1998: Sandstone Base opened.

January 1999: Darwin Base opened.

May 1999: Adelaide Base was relocated to the Head Office at Elizabeth. Cairns Base opened.

August 1999: Derby Base opened.

November 1999: Gosford Base closed. Newcastle Base opened.

September 2001: Charters Towers Base opened.

April 2004: Sandstone Base closed. Swan Hill Base opened.

2008: All bases upgraded with the latest generation Barrett 2060 radio-telephone interconnects.

August 2008: HF-Tel (a division of the Australian National 4WD Radio Network Inc.) was formed to provide direct-dial radio-telephone facilities for subscribers via the new Barrett 2060 radio-telephone interconnects.

November 2008: Two additional frequencies approved by ACMA for use by VKS-737 subscribers.

November 2009: Duplicated Base Stations installed at Alice Springs and Charters Towers.

January 2010: New digital PABX installed to allow improved communications between the Network and other Emergency Service Organisations.

May 2010: Duplicated Base Station installed at Adelaide

October 2010: The VKS-737 Radio Network formed a partnership with the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (Queensland Section and Western Operations) to provide Emergency HF radio communications services for the RFDS. As part of the agreement the VKS-737 Radio Network installed new base stations at the RFDS bases in Queensland and Western Australia, these bases operate on all VKS-737 frequencies as well as the existing frequencies licensed to the RFDS at the relevant base.

October 2010: VKS-737 Derby Base relocated to the RFDS Base.

October 2010: New VKS-737 Port Hedland Base commissioned at RFDS Base.

November 2010: New VKS-737 Carnarvon Base commissioned at Carnarvon RFDS Base.

November 2010: New VKS-737 Meekatharra Base commissioned at Meekatharra RFDS Base.

December 2010: New VKS-737 Cairns-1 Base commissioned at Cairns RFDS Base. The existing Cairns Base was renamed Cairns-2 Base.

January 2011: New VKS-737 Mount Isa Base commissioned at Mount Isa RFDS Base.

March 2011: New VKS-737 Charleville Base commissioned at Charleville RFDS Base.

June 2012: VKS-737 Cairns - 2 Base relocated from Innisfail to Malanda in the Atherton Tablelands.

August 2012: Head Office PABX extended with 100 dedicated VoIP lines enabling emergency services direct in-dialing to VKS-737 operators.

January 2013: VKS-737 services expanded to provide Emergency Service access to satellite telephone users who do not have HF radio facilities.

February 2013: Head Office PABX extended with a further 100 dedicated VoIP (total 200) lines to further enhance services in cases of emergency.

2017: All bases upgraded with the latest generation Codan 3033 / Envoy radio-telephone interconnects.

March 2019: Port Hedland Base closed due to the termination of the RFDS TX site lease at Port Hedland International Airport.

August 2019: Derby Base closed due to the relocation of RFDS from Derby to Broome.

January 2020: Swan Hill Base closed and was relocated to Stawell.

January 2020: Stawell Base commissioned.

April 2023: Darwin Base closed.

September 2023: Cairns 2 Base closed.

December 2023: HF-Tel Service Closed closed.

Administration

The Australian National 4WD Radio Network Inc. is managed by a Committee of seven people who are elected for two-year terms by Network subscribers.

Related Research Articles

Telecommunications in Georgia include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.

Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN) is a mobile telecommunications technology, developed by Motorola, which provides its users the benefits of a trunked radio and a cellular telephone. It was called the first mobile social network by many technology industry analysts. iDEN places more users in a given spectral space, compared to analog cellular and two-way radio systems, by using speech compression and time-division multiple access (TDMA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radiotelephone</span> Communications system for transmission of speech over radio

A radiotelephone, abbreviated RT, is a radio communication system for conducting a conversation; radiotelephony means telephony by radio. It is in contrast to radiotelegraphy, which is radio transmission of telegrams (messages), or television, transmission of moving pictures and sound. The term is related to radio broadcasting, which transmit audio one way to listeners. Radiotelephony refers specifically to two-way radio systems for bidirectional person-to-person voice communication between separated users, such as CB radio or marine radio. In spite of the name, radiotelephony systems are not necessarily connected to or have anything to do with the telephone network, and in some radio services, including GMRS, interconnection is prohibited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family Radio Service</span> An improved walkie-talkie radio system in the United States

The Family Radio Service (FRS) is an improved walkie-talkie radio system authorized in the United States since 1996. This personal radio service uses channelized frequencies around 462 and 467 MHz in the ultra high frequency (UHF) band. It does not suffer the interference effects found on citizens' band (CB) at 27 MHz, or the 49 MHz band also used by cordless telephones, toys, and baby monitors. FRS uses frequency modulation (FM) instead of amplitude modulation (AM). Since the UHF band has different radio propagation characteristics, short-range use of FRS may be more predictable than the more powerful license-free radios operating in the HF CB band.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is an Australian government statutory authority within the Communications portfolio. ACMA was formed on 1 July 2005 with the merger of the Australian Broadcasting Authority and the Australian Communications Authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telephone numbers in Australia</span>

The Australian telephone numbering plan governs the allocation of telephone numbers in Australia. It has changed many times, the most recent major reorganisation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority taking place between 1994 and 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cordless telephone</span> Portable telephone that connects to a landline

A cordless telephone or portable telephone has a portable telephone handset that connects by radio to a base station connected to the public telephone network. The operational range is limited, usually to the same building or within some short distance from the base station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Flying Doctor Service</span> Aeromedical organisation in Australia

The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an air medical service in Australia. It is a non-profit organisation that provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote and regional areas of Australia who cannot access a hospital or general practice due to the vast distances of the Outback.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Project 25</span> Set of Telecommunications Standards

Project 25 is a suite of standards for interoperable digital two-way radio products. P25 was developed by public safety professionals in North America and has gained acceptance for public safety, security, public service, and commercial applications worldwide. P25 radios are a direct replacement for analog UHF radios, adding the ability to transfer data as well as voice for more natural implementations of encryption and text messaging. P25 radios are commonly implemented by dispatch organizations, such as police, fire, ambulance and emergency rescue service, using vehicle-mounted radios combined with repeaters and handheld walkie-talkie use.

The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) is a network of volunteer amateur radio operators based in North America. It works to provide emergency communications between Salvation Army posts during times of disaster, and to pass messages with health and welfare information between the Salvation Army and the general public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">000 (emergency telephone number)</span> Australian national emergency phone number

000 Emergency, also known as Triple Zero or Triple 0, and sometimes stylised Triple Zero (000), is the primary national emergency telephone number in Australia and Australian External Territories. The Emergency Call Service is operated by Telstra, and overseen by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), and is intended only for use in life-threatening or time-critical emergencies.

Selcall is a type of squelch protocol used in radio communications systems, in which transmissions include a brief burst of sequential audio tones. Receivers that are set to respond to the transmitted tone sequence will open their squelch, while others will remain muted.

Winlink, or formally, Winlink Global Radio Email, also known as the Winlink 2000 Network, is a worldwide radio messaging system that uses amateur-band radio frequencies and government frequencies to provide radio interconnection services that include email with attachments, position reporting, weather bulletins, emergency and relief communications, and message relay. The system is built and administered by volunteers and is financially supported by the Amateur Radio Safety Foundation.

Mount Isa Airport is an airport serving the western Queensland city of Mount Isa, Australia. It is served by a variety of scheduled regional airlines, with flights to Brisbane, Townsville and Cairns as well as several other regional centres.

The World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC) bands are three portions of the shortwave radio spectrum used by licensed and/or certified amateur radio operators. They consist of 30 meters (10.1–10.15 MHz), 17 meters (18.068–18.168 MHz), and 12 meters (24.89–24.99 MHz). They were named after the World Administrative Radio Conference, which in 1979 created a worldwide allocation of these bands for amateur use. The bands were opened for use in the early 1980s. Due to their relatively small bandwidth of 100 kHz or less, there is a gentlemen's agreement that the WARC bands may not be used for general contesting. This agreement has been codified in official recommendations, such as the IARU Region 1 HF Manager's Handbook, which states: "Contest activity shall not take place on the 5, 10, 18 and 24 MHz bands."

Kiss FM is a narrowcast dance music station based in Melbourne, broadcasting on various frequencies between 87.6 and 88.0 FM in Melbourne. KISS FM broadcasts underground dance music as an independent radio service.

An international distress frequency is a radio frequency that is designated for emergency communication by international agreement.

The Strategic Air Command DIgital Network (SACDIN) was a United States military computer network that provided computerized record communications, replacing the Data Transmission Subsystem and part of the Data Display Subsystem of the SAC Automated Command and Control System. SACDIN enabled a rapid flow of communications from headquarters SAC to its fielded forces, such as B-52 bases and ICBM Launch Control Centers.

The Altai mobile telephone system is the pre-cellular 0G radiotelephone service that was first introduced in the Soviet Union in 1963, and became available in the most large cities by 1965. It is a fully automated UHF/VHF network that allows a mobile node to connect to a landline phones, and was originally conceived to serve government officials and emergency services, but has since spread into general use, and is still in use in some places, where its advantages outweigh those of conventional cellular networks. Work on the system of automatic duplex mobile communication started in 1958 in Voronezh Research Institute of Communications. It was established subscriber stations and base stations for communicating with them.

SmartPTT is a DMR software application developed by Elcomplus Company for MOTOTRBO Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Platform from Motorola.

References

  1. ↑ Factsheet PBI acnc.gov.au [ dead link ]
  2. ↑ "VKS-737 RFDS Base Stations" (PDF). vks737.radio. January 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  3. ↑ Australian Border Force homeaffairs.gov.au [ dead link ]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.