Extracts from

Network News, August 1997.

Network News is produced by the Australian National 4WD Radio Network Incorporated, PO Box 67, Elizabeth. SA 5112. Telephone +61 8 8287 1061, Fax +61 8 8287 1255.
Hard Copies of the full Newsletter can be obtained by contacting the editor by [email].

The Australian National 4WD Radio Network Inc. is a public benevolent institution. All gifts of $2.00 or more to the Network are allowable tax deductions to the donor under Section 78(4)of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936.

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Annual General Meeting.

Notice is given that the Annual General Meeting of the Australian National 4WD Radio Network Inc. will be held at 8pm on Friday December 5th 1997 at the Lyndoch Guide Hall which is located in Pioneer Park, Lyndoch Valley Road, Lyndoch. SA.

Membership Fees 1998.

Members are reminded that membership fees are due on 1st November 1997 and payable no later than Monday December 8th 1997. If payments are not received by the above date the members' licence to operate on the VKS737 Network will be cancelled until payment is received.

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Adelaide Base.

The Adelaide Base Station is now at its new location 380 metres above sea level in the Adelaide Hills. Located away from the noise of the city,and using 5 dedicated antennas, should ensure that we get optimum performance both on transmit and receive. The base is remotely operated either by rostered volunteer operators, other Network base stations or the Communications Centre of the South Australia Police. All activity through the base is logged via an on-board computer, and downloaded daily to a remote computer for long term storage.

Alice Springs Base.

• Northern Territory weather reports provided by the Bureau of Meteorology (NT Regional Office). Daily at 0800 & 0855 on 5455kHz. Friday at 1900hrs on 5455kHz. The weather reports are received daily at around 0750hrs from Darwin.
• Road conditions compiled by the NT Police Communications Section. During the wet season these reports are broadcast at the same time as the weather reports. These reports are upgraded daily.
• Northern & Western South Australian Road Condition Report. Broadc ast at same times as weather report. These reports are upgraded only whenany road conditions change.

Gosford Base.

Perth Base.

The base operates in limited voice scanning mode between 0800 & 1700 Monday to Friday, if you do not get through please try again a little later.

Voice Call Schedules (WA Time): 0810 and 1700 hours Monday to F riday (excluding public holidays).
Selcall Operating Hours (WATime): 0800 to 1700 hours. After hours, and weekends, it is planned to divert selcall calls to a duty volunt eer operator.

Woomera Base.

South Australia Police

As a means of providing greater safety benefits for our members I am happy to announce we have now joined forces with the SA Police in a two-way arrangement that will allow members direct access to the police in emergencies.

At the time of writing the SA Police are fitting our five frequencies into all of their HF equipped patrol cars, aircraft and water recovery vessels. Future plans will be to fit the frequencies into strategically placed SA Police Base Stations around the state.

Each police vehicle has a call sign i.e. VKS-737 mobile Golf 040, VKS-737 mobile Tango 705 etc. to allow members to identify them as being licensed users of the Network. The call signs and selcall numbers, as well as the normal area of operation, are included on the latest membership list.

In cases of emergencies either our base stations, or the SA Police Communications Centre will arrange for the nearest patrol vehicle(s) to talk directly to members and liaise to provide whatever assistance is necessary. The SA Police Communications Centre has direct access to our base station in Adelaide to allow them to talk directly to both members and patrol cars to ensure the most efficient method of assistance is rendered.

If you have a Genuine Emergency the South Australia Police can be contacted by: VKS-737 Base Station Operators or Telephone on [08] 8207 4487 or Selcall No. 0698 (via Adelaide Base)
Non Urgent calls to the South Australia Police can be made by: Telephone [08] 8207 5000 or Selcall 0697 (via Adelaide Base)

In the near future similar arrangements will be put into place with emergency organisations in other states and these will be notified to members in future editions of Network News.

Department of Environment & Natural Resources (SA). We have now approved the Department of Environment & Natural Resources in SA to fit our five frequencies to their vehicles. This will allow for a two-way flow of information between our members and DENR Rangers in remote areas of South Australia. Members will be ableto talk directly with DENR staff to obtain road reports, road closures etc. Similar arrangements with DENR in other states should occur shortly and these will be advised in future newsletters.

Selcall Number Changes. With the involvement of Emergency Service organisations on our Network we have to look closely at the Selcall Numbers used by members to ensure that we do not have duplicate numbers with the problems that this can cause to users.

The emergency services work to a national selcall scheme and as such they are not in the position to be able change their numbers when they operate on our frequencies. The easiest solution is to reallocate any Selcall numbers that clash in the future with the Emergency Services numbers.

We apologise in advance to any members that may have to change their Selcall number and hope that the change will not cause too much inconvenience to those users. Those users will be contacted whenever a problem arises to assist in arranging a suitable replacement Selcall number.

Similarly we will no longer allow Selcall numbers to be allocated in the following blocks as they are required for future use by our planned automatic base station interconnects. 0500 to 0599. 0600 to 0699. 0700 to 0799. 0800 to 0899

Australian Customs Service.

The Australian Customs Service is proud to announce its association with the Australian National 4WD Radio Network. This partnership recognises that four wheel drive enthusiasts and members of the AN4WDRN in particular have a unique opportunity to help protect Australia by participating in CUSTOMS WATCH. CUSTOMS WATCH is an initiative of the Customs Service aimed at helping us to protect Australia from illegal import and export activities, in particular the illicit trade in drugs and wildlife.

The Customs Service realises that your recreational activity takes you into remote areas that pose a particularly high risk for these activities. We need your help in reporting any suspicious or unusual activities tous as soon as possible so that we can do our job. To make reporting easier members of the network can call the toll free 24hr number 1800 06 1800 or report details to any of the AN4WDRN base stations. Alternatively members can call Customs Watch Directon Selcall No. 0606 via the Adelaide Base Station.

To enable all details to be relayed we have included a simple reporting sheet which may be of assistance in remembering relevant details. Your assistance will make a difference and contribute to the continuing success of the program. By participating you will be demonstrating to the general community some of the positive and significant benefits that the four wheel drive fraternity can deliver for all Australians.

The main thing to remember is to report anything you see or hear that is unusual or suspicious. All information provided will be treated in confidence. Be a part of CUSTOMS WATCH and help WATCH OUT FOR AUSTRALIA. Phone 1800 06 1800.

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[...] safe driving and make the most of the VKS-7 37 Radio Network and all of its associated benefits.
- Steve Johnston. Chairman / Network Coordinator.

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