Qld Gulf country - communications

[boys play]

Am heading up to the Gulf country later this year to fairly remote locations. Can anyone advise as to the most common two way radio communication up there, ie I am trying to establish how many hard earned I have to throw at this so I will not be stuck.
cheers
Ian

[groverwa]

Last May my son and a few of his mates went to Princess Charlette Bay for a couple of weeks and for comms they hired a sat phone as one them suffers full blown diabetes. They only ended up using it for quick calls home.

I have been told by a couple who spent about 12 months in remote areas of Qld that it is cheaper to get the called nummber to ring the sat phone back than it is to use the sat phone for the total call time but you would have to confirm that with the service provider

Mike

[boys play]

Thanks Mike,
We have looked at hiring a sat phone but it is not cheap..need to compare the cost against a good two way, or possibly buying a sat phone which would be handy in the boat offshore anyway.
cheers
Ian

[GBC]

Which bit of 'the Gulf country' - it's fairly large......

Check the cb repeater lists - there's a few up there but definately not full coverage.

Only two way that's reliable is hf

[boys play]

At this stage, Lake Julius, Gregory River and depending on time/roads etc, toward Burketown/Boraloola. I expect it is unlikely that any sort of radio coverage will be available over a lot of the area generally. Would be good to hear from someone who has travelled those roads to get an idea of what works and what doesn't
cheers
Ian

[groverwa]

boys play

Good luck with the trip

I know the following may not help out in the Gulf country but may help in a situation when you are offshore and do not have radio coverage and in an emergency we can use 112 from our digital mobile phone to gain access to 000 when your mobile phone company towers are unable to "talk" to you if other providers can "talk" to your phone - see http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_100581 which states: -

"112 is the GSM international standard emergency number which can only be dialled on digital mobile phones. 112 can be dialled anywhere in the world with GSM coverage and is automatically translated to that country's emergency number."

Mike

[blaze]

You can buy an iridumum sat phone for about $2000, I picked up a second hand HF radio and multi tap aireal for $1000. I went with the HF because unlike a sat phone help maybe just around the corner and with a sat phoneyou will never know. The Flying DOc service is only a call away. I also carried an EPIRB
cheers
blaze

[freefish]

Spent 2 weeks camped on the Gregory R end of winter last year, then Bourketown, Normanton & back to the coast in the next 2 weeks. No mobile reception but public phones at the roadhouse. Never felt the need for anything other than the UHF. A HF radio would be the best but in an emergency lots of traffic. Hospitals at Bourketown,Normanton & Cloncurry serviced from Mt Isa. The road through to Booroloola is reasonably well travelled by grey nomads. Same as the road to Bourketown. So long as you wait for the wet to end the roads are quite good remembering that you are in the opposite corner of the state. If you want some camp spots PM me. Bill

[boys play]

Thanks all for your comments, sounds like there will be more people up there than I anticipated. I think I will start looking for an HF...knowing my luck, just when you want to use a sat phone, WW3 will start and Barrack will turn off the satellites
cheers
Ian

[QF3 MROCP]

Thanks all for your comments, sounds like there will be more people up there than I anticipated. I think I will start looking for an HF...knowing my luck, just when you want to use a sat phone, WW3 will start and Barrack will turn off the satellites
cheers
Ian


boys play,

why not give the local VMR or Coast Guard a call before going up to the region. They'll know what's best and maybe they'll give you some good local tips.. maybe a beer and prawn as well!!

You can get more details from: http://www.msq.qld.gov.au/Home/Safety/Marine_radios/Marine_radio_contacts/

Coast Guard Cooktown 0600-1800 w/e-p/h 88 16, 82 2524, 4125, 6215 +61 7 4069 5655a
Coast Guard Cape York w/e-p/h - 16, 82 - +61 7 4069 3400a
VMR Mornington Island as required 88 16 - +61 7 4745 7200a
VMR Burketown as required - 16, 67 - +61 7 4745 5157a
VMR Karumba as required 88 16, 67, 80 - +61 7 4745 9264a
VMR Aurukun as required - 16, 67, 22 - +61 7 4060 6133a
VMR Weipa as required 88 16, 67 2182 +61 7 4069 7867a
VMR Thursday Island 24/7 - 16, 22, 81 - +61 7 4069 2444a
VMR Saint Pauls as required - 16 - +61 7 4069 4124a

Don't forget, if you buy a HF radio you will need to register it and have a MROCP certificate number to assign to the registration..

good fishing
QF3

[blaze]

boys play,

why not give the local VMR or Coast Guard a call before going up to the region. They'll know what's best and maybe they'll give you some good local tips.. maybe a beer and prawn as well!!

You can get more details from: http://www.msq.qld.gov.au/Home/Safety/Marine_radios/Marine_radio_contacts/

Coast Guard Cooktown 0600-1800 w/e-p/h 88 16, 82 2524, 4125, 6215 +61 7 4069 5655a
Coast Guard Cape York w/e-p/h - 16, 82 - +61 7 4069 3400a
VMR Mornington Island as required 88 16 - +61 7 4745 7200a
VMR Burketown as required - 16, 67 - +61 7 4745 5157a
VMR Karumba as required 88 16, 67, 80 - +61 7 4745 9264a
VMR Aurukun as required - 16, 67, 22 - +61 7 4060 6133a
VMR Weipa as required 88 16, 67 2182 +61 7 4069 7867a
VMR Thursday Island 24/7 - 16, 22, 81 - +61 7 4069 2444a
VMR Saint Pauls as required - 16 - +61 7 4069 4124a

Don't forget, if you buy a HF radio you will need to register it and have a MROCP certificate number to assign to the registration..

good fishing
QF3
Hi QF3
I think , well I was at least, refering to HF radio for land base use which does still require an annual licence fee of about $100 for use with VKS737 or simular network. For onthe water I would carry a VHF and epirb
chees
blaze
Ps
BS, there is a guy in brissie that deals in second HF radios, I would have details if you want

[GBC]

One thing you'll notice when driving around up there is the comms towers - they're bloody everywhere.
I can only assume that the stations use some kind of [microwave] links for telephones? The dishes "look" at each other. I don't know anything about them.

It sure would be nice to be able to jump onto that system in the case of emergency - the infrastructure already exists.

Greg downs road is full of trucks running into pasminco.

The only part of that trip that I'd even bother with upgraded comms would be West of Burketown, and even then if you're venturing off the track somewhere.

P.S. See Lawn Hill - it's worth it.

PPS Have fun.

[Noha]

hey freefish i was getting mobile phone coverage at borroloola, burketown and normanton at easter time 2008. cheers

[freefish]

Agree about mobile coverage when near a town but can be very patchy when further out. Lots of travellers through that area. Counted 10 vans camped at the main crossing of the Gregory last year & the loneliest stretch was from Bourketown to Normanton. Only 8 cars & trucks all day. On the bitumen plenty of traffic & not all 4wd. Bill

[the lobster]

How useful do you guys think a decent mobile phone aerial would be? Do they increase the NextG range much out there?

thanks

matt

[freefish]

Hi Matt, Can't say how useful a good aerial would be. The next G was next to useless away from the towns. We had a couple of phone cards & used public land lines whenever we wanted to call home. (Only to let them know we were still alive). The only stretch in my opinion where a HF might be necessary is on the road from Bourketown to Borroroola as the roadhouse at Hell's Gate is closed. Still as I said there is a lot of traffic through the area in the cooler months. Bill