[aprssig] REF: HF Net? How About 20M ?

[Ray Wells]

We have a very different set of circumstances in Australia that make the 
use of HF  mandatory for some mobile aprs stations. There is a network 
of conveniently located HF gateways on 30m. It would be unlikely for a 
30m mobile to not hit at least one such gateway.

Most of the population in Australia is in a narrow strip down the east 
and south-eastern coasts, with a few other isolated coastal based 
population centres in the west and north.

The vast interior is either sparsely populated or uninhabited. One can 
travel for many hundreds of kilometres between very small towns. It's 
just under 500km between Birdsville (poulation less than 100) and Maree 
(population not much more than 100) and that road, the Birdsville Track 
(travel it and you'll appreciate its name), is a popular tourist 
destination for the "been there, done that, got the T-shirt" brigade.

Unlike the US and Europe with very high mountains spread reasonably 
uniformly across the region, most of Australia is relatively flat so 
that VHF coverage is very limited. The tallest mountain in Australia is 
just under 6,000ft and all high moutains are along the eastern edge of 
the continent. The highest digi, vk2rgi on Mt Ginini, is little more 
than 5,000ft ASL.

30m gateways are on 10147.600khz (for 1600/1800Hz tones), USB.

Ray vk2tv

Jim Duncan wrote:

> At least one station that I am aware of was cited by FCC for operating 
> on 10.149 a few years back. FCC didn't fine, but a letter was sent to 
> the licensee. When I got back on HF in December one of the first 
> things I did was to take a listen to 10.149 during the day and never 
> heard anything.
>
> I believe that the reason the HF gateways have faded away (above and 
> beyond the low solar activity!) is that everyone is within reach of an 
> I-Gate and the need of operating on 30m for cross-country use isn't 
> necessary except in some less-populated areas out west.
>
> 73 de Jim, KU0G
>
> _______________________________________________
> aprssig mailing list
> aprssig at lists.tapr.org
> https://lists.tapr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/aprssig
>