General News
17 July, 2023
Local radio group switch on UHF repeater station to support community during emergencies
Dunolly and surrounds are now better placed to receive communications in the event of an emergency, after a group of radio enthusiasts switched on a new UHF repeater station. After several years of planning, the Central Victorian Radio Operators...
Dunolly and surrounds are now better placed to receive communications in the event of an emergency, after a group of radio enthusiasts switched on a new UHF repeater station.
After several years of planning, the Central Victorian Radio Operators turned on the new community UHF repeater late last month, with signals being picked up from as far away as Bendigo, Castlemaine and Wedderburn.
Group member Nick Angelo was among those to erect the repeater near Mount Hooghly and said it would be a benefit to the whole community.
“Communication is number one and phone reception can be pretty crappy out this way,” he said.
“This repeater means that people who have UHF radios in their cars, and there are a lot of them here, are able to communicate across bigger distances.
“We’re hopeful that this is the first of many, we’d like to do a few more like this in the area.”
A Woodstock West Fire Brigade volunteer, Mr Angelo said the repeater would also serve as a safety net for communications in the event of an emergency.
“The repeater is a second line of defence in the sense that if the power goes out and communications are down or there’s an emergency, the repeater will still operate,” he said.
“It’s a standalone system with solar panels and batteries so it doesn’t need to be plugged into mains electricity.
“The whole idea of having a standalone system was that it wouldn’t need any backup and would work in an emergency situation.”
The system has already been used extensively by radio enthusiasts in the district and Mr Angelo said it was a way for the Central Victorian Radio Operators group to give back.
“The repeater may not be as good as some in the area like Mount Alexander, but it gives fairly good coverage for what it is,” he said.
“We’re just a bunch of people that get together and yap on the radio and this was something we wanted to give back to the community.
“We had assistance with this project from Eddington Engineering, Jaycar in Bendigo and a few others.
“At the end of the day CB radios are still alive in Victoria and there are plenty of enthusiasts around.”