Written by:Michael Hession

Participants:

Syd Baker and his son Adam from Newcastle, has a Single Cab.

Bob and Sue Etherington and Family, from East Kurrajong, were our hosts.
They have a Bus/Station Wagon.

Jim and Julie Curtin with son Dominic from Sandy Point, with their dual cab/camper. Jim has made some changes from last time we had seen his vehicle. He is currently building a side-opening tent/ camping section with a solid floor that folds back onto the top of his camping module. It looks very professional. He is setting-up his vehicle for extended desert touring.

John and Maree Hendriks from Springwood. They have one of the best looking motorhomes you will see. John keeps it in immaculate condition and it has “everything� he and Maree need. Maree also makes a “mean cake�.

Michael Hession from Nelson, Sydney, Virginia couldn’t attend as she had a prior commitment at a friend’s surprise birthday party. We have a Multicab with an enclosed canopy on the tray, which stores all our camping needs. I brought along my broken steering arm and recently broken front half shaft, along with the replacement 35 spline shaft to show the difference.

Tony and Rasa Mauragis from Canberra have a Motorhome. Tony is an “Old Landrover Man�, and is very enthusiastic about his new toy, they have had their vehicle about 12 months. He had an interesting hydraulic hoist on the rear for lifting his spare tyre up. Tony has also fitted a Glow Plug, as he found the motor difficult to start in temperatres of -6/-10 degrees in the snow.

Ron and Lyn Quigley and friend Jason from Greystanes, Sydney. They have a Dual Cab with slide on camper, which Ron has made. He also runs 17.5� rims and michelin tyres

Eric and Silvia Yeo from Dunedoo, in rural NSW. Their’s is a Dual Cab used as a farm vehicle with a Candy Camper slide-on. It is their first camping vehicle. Eric has installed a “kill switch� which is installed externally under the air intake. When feeding out stock from his OKA he lets it ‘self drive’, but on a down hill slope it can get away from him so the switch comes in handy. But as he explained it has caused a few anxious moments in the bush when trees and shrub have pulled the switch on causing the vehicle to stop. This has caused much head scratching, until he realised that the switch was the cause for the “No-Proceed�.


Wayne and Lorne Reid from Cowra were in a Range Rover, came along to speak to us about HF radio. They are Codan agents and run a business called “Reids Radiodata HF Communications� and have also set up network of bases, to offer the remote area traveller the best available coverage throughout Australia.

Saturday the 24th March was a little overcast in Sydney, in the morning with one or two showers, but by 2pm, our meeting time, it was a glorious sunny day, perfect weather. We had 8 owners and 7 OKA’s in attendance. Syd’s OKA has spent the last 5 years in his shed as he gradually works on getting it road worthy. He spent most of the afternoon talking notes and drawing pictures to increase his OKA knowledge. Jim showed us his “work in progress�, camper unit. Wayne spoke about HF radios and gave demonstations and showed how easy it is to make a telephone call using a HF radio. And generally everyone poked their heads “in and under� each others vehicles, noting all the differences.

It was a great day, Bob had planned a few demonstrations but we ran out of time as most people seemed content with looking at each others vehicles and discussing the pros and cons of repairs and modifications. He gave out a sheet on the use of HF radio that he had prepared.

Afternoon tea was a sumptuous affair and most stayed into the evening, having a great barbque, before leaving around 9pm.

It was great day and a chance to learn more about our OKAs and make some new friends.

Michael Hession

HF Radio

As mention above Wayne Reid from “Reids Radiodata HF Communications� attended our Sydney OKA Rally. He was most enthusiastic about the benefits of HF radio for Australian travellers, especially those travelling alone or in remote areas. He also offers a service whereby you can make direct telephone calls using your HF Radio. His company also sells brand new and second hand radios and is a Codan agent and offers :

• a network of stations to facilitate vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to base communications “Bush Telgraphâ€?,
• HF Radio Telephone System “Bushphoneâ€?.
• HF email service.

His contact details are: Wayne Reid
Reids Radiodata HF Communications
28 Young Road COWRA NSW 2794
Ph 02.6341.1544 Fax 02.6342.4397
info@reidsradiodata.com.au
http://www.reidsradiodata.com.au (cache)

Also below is a copy of some notes that Bob Etherington handed out about HF Radio

With regards to HF (High Frequency) Radio Usage & Operation
From Bob Etherington, (18 years experience)

Frequency Range 2-20 Megs.

Three different brands of transceivers are made in OZ; Barrett, Codan and Q Mac. Make sure you have some knowledge on how they work, to get the best out of what you have.

1. Basically there are 4 types of Antennas, the most convenient is a “Auto self tuner� – dial up the frequency you want to use, Push the tune button or bip the transmit switch, tuning will be complete in about 2 seconds! If you change Channels – retune to suit. Barrett transceivers retune themselves.
2. The next type of antenna is cheaper, quite robust and reliable. It’s about 2M tall and is called lots of things, but most common a Tapped Stick. It has taps moulded on the sides of the antenna, each tap position has it’s own frequency range. It uses a “Wander lead� which shorts out the part of the antenna that is not being used for that frequency or channel. To change channels you first dial up the channel on the transceiver, stop the vehicle and change the tap to suit the frequency and off you go. These tapped sticks work well and are reliable. Terlin (WA) is a good brand. Frequency range is between 2 Megs and 16 Megs, The more taps the better. They can be used on the move or stationary.
3. The next type is a “cut wire type�, it is suitable for one frequency only and possibly others very close by. This is where the wire is cut to the length exactly to suit a common channel. It is very efficient! Can only be used while stationary. It also can be used with an antenna tuner to get a better frequency coverage.
4. The next type is a Broad band long wire. It needs no tunning, just sling it up in a tree or lay it onto bushes if there are no trees around. These are very efficient and convenient around the camp. They are robust and rollup to a very compact size. They will tune to any frequency range without any fiddling! Q Mac make a good one for military and civilian use!

A word of warning! Do not get your other half to hold the wire while you transmit, as soon as you say the first word she will cop a big Belt from the antenna and it will burn her hand, she will drop the wire – you will have a very cranky better half. You can use a nylon cord tied on the end of the wire, you won’t get a belt then.

Antenna types 1. & 2. are omni directional, when they transmit the signal radiates out of the antenna in a full 360deg Circle.

Antenna types 3. & 4. are directional and radiate strongly broadside from the antenna, so this is an option if conditions are bad or you are transmitting to a very remote station.

A vehicle mounted installation uses the truck for an earth, due to its mass. Some portable transceivers suggest using an earth wire run out along the ground in the opposite direction to the antenna wire in the tree, it all helps! Earthing for the transceiver and antenna is vital.


The isan old saying “the higher the sun, the higher the Frequency� - around midday and the two hours either side you will need a higher frequency to communicate with a station you could easily talk to on a lower frequency earlier or later that day. This still applies.

The modern transceivers all have direct dial telephone interconnecting capabilities. This allows you to be called from, or make calls to a ordinary telephone using a service provider. You will need to have your receiver scanning your selected providers telephone channels for incoming calls usually 3,5,8,9,12,14,16 meg channels. The receiver will jump between these channels at about ½ second intervals looking for calls for you all day or night.

I can highly recommend Wayne Reid’s Radio Date Pty Ltd, Cowra. It is a good 24hrs service.
To make a call from the eastern sea board of Australia I use his Alice Springs and Woomera bases. I use 9,12 or 16 Megs middle of the day – less early or late in the day.

To use Direct Dial telephone interconnect:-
Select suitable frequency for the distance and time of day, use a “beacon call�, no voice. A digital signal is sent to the “base� you have selected. If it connects successfully it will send back a series of beeps. If they are strong, solid clear with no fade continue on with the call.
You then press Sel/Tell then key into pad the required phone number including area code. Then press chan/send to start the call.

After about 5-10 seconds you will hear the phone ringing you should also hear a feint recorded message telling you to speak after the tone. When the phone is answered there is a short beep then a longer tone, the person you called should then talk.
Only one person can speak at a time and it is customary to say “over� when you have finished to let the other person know when to speak. It is best to keep your speech shortish and speak slowly and clearly as the quality isn’t always that great. Don’t shout. The call will time out at about 6 minutes and drop out without warning, make your other party aware of this!

Wayne at Radio Data is upgrading his direct dial system so there is no recorder message or beeps, the phone will just answer and you will respond.

Once you have used it a few times is does get easier.
Don’t be scared to use a use a Radio Telephone Connection –
The microphone does not Bite! Talk across the microphone.

For any more info or if you have any problems please ask me

Regards
Bob Etherington
Ph 02 4576 3309