HF RADIOS
16-17th September 2006

Written by Roger Riley.

I’ve seen the need to run a training weekend for HF Radios and have been pestering Mervyn(aka ‘The Porkupine’) to run one for a number of years. So as soon as I saw this trip advertised in the Club Activities Calendar I immediately emailed Mervyn with my thanks for his efforts and my intention to attend.

The training/familiarisation was to be held at a beautiful bush campsite only seventy-three kilometres from home so a leisurely start on Saturday morning ensured my arrival at 8:30am for the advertised 9am start. Mervyn, Wayne and Dave went up Friday night, not without a few dramas as the second hand fuel pump (fitted Friday afternoon) in Wayne’s Rangie failed about five kilometres before the campsite. A quick phone call to Mervyn who was just leaving Sydney, had him detouring via Range Parts at Wentworthville to pick up a new fuel pump which was being fitted to the Rangie as I arrived on Saturday morning – problem solved.

The cooperation of LROC members and parts suppliers who advertise in the LROC News is unsurpassed – this is not the first time I have seen this sort of sequence occur.

The Burdett’s arrived late morning followed by the Parfait’s and Ralph’s during the afternoon. This staggered arrival made possible a very relaxed afternoon enabling one-on-one training and answers to specific queries regarding set up and operation of HF radios and associated networks. We were also able to inspect Laurie’s very neat radio installation in his Disco II – including his SG237 Smart Tuner mounted discreetly behind the spare wheel carrier.

The training proper got underway as we all gathered around the campfire and Mervyn gave us an excellent overview of radio operation and use of the many and various networks available to the HF radio operator. These ranged from the well-known and excellent VKS-737 National 4WD Radio Network through various phone connect networks (Radtel, Bush Phone etc.) to the RFDS emergency network.

After this and many more questions and answers, it was time for the evening ‘skeds’ and our opportunity to make some real calls to some of the ten VKS-737 bases scattered all over Australia. During the following hour or two we spoke to St Marys base (Tasmania), Adelaide base, Perth base and Charters Towers base. After dinner, the fire was stoked and many subjects and aspects of club activities were discussed with some quite lively debate at times.

Sunday dawned another beautiful day so after rekindling the fire and enjoying a cup of tea, I enjoyed a short walk to the end of the valley while waiting for the others to emerge from their swags. A lazy breakfast was next on the agenda before saying goodbye firstly to Sally and Jane who had other functions to attend and then, later in the morning, to Flash and Kris who needed to spend some of their ‘hard-earned’ at the Penrith 4WD and Camping Show.

Wayne and I had a chat with another Disco owner camped nearby and encouraged him to join the club. We were unsuccessful in actually obtaining his signature and credit card details on the membership application form though, as we had done with Laurie on Saturday afternoon.

We then took a short walk across the creek and up to the waterfall, discovering a few other interesting things along the way. The first of these was what was described by the Ranger as a well. However, on closer inspection we concluded that it was a cellar and probably had a small hut over it many years (and probably a number of bushfires) ago. The placement of the sandstone blocks was outstanding and I doubt if they have moved since the day they were laid.

The other interesting point was a naturally water weathered hole in a rock with a view of a magnificent Angophora tree above it. Both of these were less than twenty metres off the main track.

This whole area known as Burralow National Park is, to my knowledge, the closest area to Sydney that you can camp and feel that you are really ‘out in the bush’. Because of this plus a few other factors I believe that the LROC should take the necessary steps to ‘claim it’ as the clubs MOU area. While discussing this around the campfire during the weekend we identified a number of areas within the park where we could assist the NPWS in managing this park and enjoy a pleasant day or weekend while doing so.

I have already initiated proceedings along these lines and if any member is interested in being involved in this project then please contact me (see front of magazine for contact details).
Getting back on track with this report, I’d like to thank Mervyn for sharing his vast knowledge of HF radios and HF radio networks and Wayne for sharing his technical expertise on the subject of radios and other electrical systems.

I believe that there will be a follow-up weekend to this and I’d encourage members to attend, even if you don’t have a HF radio as it was just a great relaxing, educational time in the bush with like-minded fellow club members.