Hi Guys,
Transgrid has a stack of freq in the 40Mhz range example:
http://web.acma.gov.au/pls/radcom/assig ... E_ID=56034
they have the emission designator for FM voice, does amny one know waht they are used and what for?
Regards
kev
Transgrid 40Mhz
Re: Transgrid 40Mhz
Have listened to these before, its some sort of telemetry/data.
Re: Transgrid 40Mhz
I have monitored Madden Plains freq... they sound like a burst of morse code every few min's..
Re: Transgrid 40Mhz
Thats the ident
Re: Transgrid 40Mhz
Kev,
It's a dying breed. Transgrid have a very long history of using VHF LOW for the links between their PMR bases going back to the 1960s. I remember when I first started working at Transgrid sites large wall or rack mounted STC radios, these were still in service in to the early 1990's. They now use Midland radios (XTRs) as they are one of the few that make Low band gear. Transgrid cover some rugged terain and have always had the need to communicate along remote transmission lines back to their control room (meaning long non-line of sight link paths such as Mt Mumbulla to Mt Wambrook). For example Yass to the Snowy. They used this for safety & line maintenance. A lot of this is disappearing and so are their PMR systems. You could always pick a Transgrid owned site by the VHF Low yagis, absolute monsters, often mounted on bazaar looking arms off the side of their 1960's eras EPT towers. If you want to see some photos I've got a heap at work.
The tones you here are CW call sign idents, a link to the past (when I started as a trainee my employer still used morse idents on their PMR bases).
Cheers,
Richard
It's a dying breed. Transgrid have a very long history of using VHF LOW for the links between their PMR bases going back to the 1960s. I remember when I first started working at Transgrid sites large wall or rack mounted STC radios, these were still in service in to the early 1990's. They now use Midland radios (XTRs) as they are one of the few that make Low band gear. Transgrid cover some rugged terain and have always had the need to communicate along remote transmission lines back to their control room (meaning long non-line of sight link paths such as Mt Mumbulla to Mt Wambrook). For example Yass to the Snowy. They used this for safety & line maintenance. A lot of this is disappearing and so are their PMR systems. You could always pick a Transgrid owned site by the VHF Low yagis, absolute monsters, often mounted on bazaar looking arms off the side of their 1960's eras EPT towers. If you want to see some photos I've got a heap at work.
The tones you here are CW call sign idents, a link to the past (when I started as a trainee my employer still used morse idents on their PMR bases).
Cheers,
Richard
kevnerd486 wrote:Hi Guys,
Transgrid has a stack of freq in the 40Mhz range example:
http://web.acma.gov.au/pls/radcom/assig ... E_ID=56034
they have the emission designator for FM voice, does amny one know waht they are used and what for?
Regards
kev
-
kevnerd486
- Posts: 186
- Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2008 6:46 pm
- Location: Richmond
Re: Transgrid 40Mhz
Thanks for the info Richard,
So do they still carry voice comms? The yagis would be very large, I have a 50Mhz 3 element yagi and I couldn’t imagine mounting that vertically of a pole, a lot easer to mount horizontal but I would think they ran them vertically.
I want to do a lot more low band VHF monitering this E season so have been looking around to see what users there are in that part of the spectrum.
Regards
Kev
So do they still carry voice comms? The yagis would be very large, I have a 50Mhz 3 element yagi and I couldn’t imagine mounting that vertically of a pole, a lot easer to mount horizontal but I would think they ran them vertically.
I want to do a lot more low band VHF monitering this E season so have been looking around to see what users there are in that part of the spectrum.
Regards
Kev
Re: Transgrid 40Mhz
Hi Kev,
I'm not sure how much of the old network is left but I'm sure there is some still around. I'm pretty sure there is still 40MHz links down around the Snowy (Snubba Trig at Batlow) and I'm pretty sure there was a 40MHz link through Mt Gray & High Range (Goulburn-Mittagong). Transgrid invested in big, and I mean big, towers that can carry these large yagis & large dishes. They were very well engineered, the old EPT tower at Maddens Plains was there from about 1965 until it was replaced in around 2003- the new tower there is one of the heaviest towers (as in weight of foundations & the structure) in Australia.
You will need to be very keen as this network has a very low duty cycle & even when there is traffic it is very brief. But I can see the challenge.
Another system that might be worth listening for is Peter O'Brien's 35MHz system down the South Coast. Pete bought a fair bit of GE bases ex-USA that are absolute boat anchors but have very low current consumption & very reliable. He operates this network between about Mt Wandera & Eden.
Cheers,
Richard
I'm not sure how much of the old network is left but I'm sure there is some still around. I'm pretty sure there is still 40MHz links down around the Snowy (Snubba Trig at Batlow) and I'm pretty sure there was a 40MHz link through Mt Gray & High Range (Goulburn-Mittagong). Transgrid invested in big, and I mean big, towers that can carry these large yagis & large dishes. They were very well engineered, the old EPT tower at Maddens Plains was there from about 1965 until it was replaced in around 2003- the new tower there is one of the heaviest towers (as in weight of foundations & the structure) in Australia.
You will need to be very keen as this network has a very low duty cycle & even when there is traffic it is very brief. But I can see the challenge.
Another system that might be worth listening for is Peter O'Brien's 35MHz system down the South Coast. Pete bought a fair bit of GE bases ex-USA that are absolute boat anchors but have very low current consumption & very reliable. He operates this network between about Mt Wandera & Eden.
Cheers,
Richard