PSSST. . . . .Anyone wanna buy a few thousand air band radios ? ?

[Phil Perry]

It looks as though we are going to have to change our radio sets in the UK very soon, . . .Eurocontrol has decided that there are not enough frequencies available to service the growing demand for new radio planning using the existing 25KHz channel spacing, so they have decided to go to 8.33 KHz spacing; thereby creating three channels out of one,. . .so to speak.

 

It has already been illegal to market an aircraft band radio transceiver in Europe which does not have 8.33 spacing capability since 1st Jan 2013, and by 1st Jan 2018, it will be illegal to operate ANY transceiver which has 25KHz spacing anywhere in Europe. Up until then, it will be acceptable to use hybrids, but care will have to be taken when switching channels to ensure that no 8.33 slots are obliterated when changing inadvertantly to a 25 KHz channel selection .. . . . . where the radio will automatically operate with the original bandwidth and wipe out one 8.33 channel on either side . . .Confused ? ? ? yep, so are a lot of Euro Fleigen enthusiasts. . . .

 

I doubt if Australia will ever develop the need for as many separate radio frequencies as Europe, so I guess you guys ( + gals ) will probably never have to bother altering the system you already have for speech channels. This will mean that you will be able to buy thousands of lovely radios at knock down prices from us Europeans. These will include handies as well as sexy panel mount rigs for both LSA and GA.

 

Can I start the bidding please, I have three Icom hand helds, . . . an IC A3 and Two IC A20 units. all of these rigs are equipped with VOR capability, ( about as useful as a fish bicycle ) cover a frequency range of AM - 118 to 136 MHz, and the lower bits for the VOR stations. . . and all have nice little rubber ducky helical antennae. . . . . . . Who'll start the bidding ? ? ? ? ? I have not got a charger, as the Missus broke it with the vacuum cleaner yesterday. . . . .

 

Phil'z radio disposals UK PTY LTD ( ! )

 

 

[horsefeathers]

why was she using the charger to charge the vacuum cleaner????

 

 

[Hongie]

haha always love your sense of humor phil

 

 

[Tomo]

A lot of PA system wireless mic's etc.. will have to be upgraded here in Aus soon as they are changing bandwidths over or something and it will clash... making a lot of people rather unhappy!

 

 

[Phil Perry]

A lot of PA system wireless mic's etc.. will have to be upgraded here in Aus soon as they are changing bandwidths over or something and it will clash... making a lot of people rather unhappy!

Hi Tomo,. . . .I think radio Mics run up around 800 megs "ish" here, but I have not performed on the stage for a while with my old farts blues band, so I can't remember. We used to have to use those things as we are all very old and inffirm and kept tripping over the mic leads. . . . . . . perhaps you've heard of us. . .GERRY AND THE HATTRIX ? ? ?

 

Dunno whether this is pertinent to your aircraft radio bandwidths though. . . . which is precisely what it is in Europe. I shudder to think what the voice quality is going to be using AM and compressing it a lot to avoid cross - channel splatter. . . . only time will tell. We could all end up sounding like Daleks or Professor Stephen Hawking ( minus the brilliance of course. . .)

 

Phil

 

 

[Phil Perry]

why was she using the charger to charge the vacuum cleaner????

NO NO Nooooooo. . . . .you are misunderstanding ! ! ! SHe CHARGED the vaccy along the study wall. . . .and ripped the charger out of it's leccy socket thereby causing irreparable trauma to the unit ! ! ! ( AND the studded Study wall. . . .)

 

( Sirry Iriot. . . .)

 

 

[Guest GraemeM]

Phil, I'll give you $50 for the lot ( the radios only not the vacume cleaner or the missus).

 

Graeme.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Phil, I'll give you $50 for the lot ( the radios only not the vacume cleaner or the missus).Graeme.

Sooooo Generous Graeme. . . . . . . but someone beat you to it with first refusal. . . .sorry old boy. . . Oh,. . . did you mean my three, . . .oR the several thousand in Europe ? ? ?

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

I think there is something about radios have to be purchased here in Oz and have to have the appropriate AUS standard tick of compliance.

 

 

[Admin]

I think there is something about radios have to be purchased here in Oz and have to have the appropriate AUS standard tick of compliance.

Any radio used in aviation in Australia has to have the CASA certification or else you get a very hefty fine. I remember a few years back some telecommunications dept was wandering around the crowd at Avalon Airshow and anyone that was listening in on a Transceiver were checked and issued a fine if it was a grey import...scanners were ok as they don't have a transmit capability.

It is not illegal to sell them but it is illegal to use them so watch out for anyone trying to make a quick buck out of you by selling non-Australian certified radios...for example Icom radios have an AU in their model number and don't come from the UK or USA

 

 

[Guest Andys@coffs]

A lot of PA system wireless mic's etc.. will have to be upgraded here in Aus soon as they are changing bandwidths over or something and it will clash... making a lot of people rather unhappy!

Yeah our fantastic fed gov has this concept called the "digital dividend", in this case brought to you by labour but happily pillaged by liberal now, they killed analogue TV(good!) , moved the digital stuff to higher frequencies requiring those affected to retune all TV's PVR's etc (bad for technophobes and little old ladies) and anything that was left was simply made redundant and illegal at owners costs...the benefit, gov sells the freed up spectrum for rivers of gold to the Telco's for more 4G LTE coverage a cost that has to be passed on to us, and rather than compensate those with transceivers like radio Mic's in the middle (absolute noise compared to the revenue being raked in) simply force them to buy new.....easily said but a lot of charities/churches and schools all with little to no budget for superfluous legislative drivers are being put out. Had they simply said we will tax all charities schools and churches there would have been public outrage.....effect is exactly the same though.

 

Andy

 

 

[spacesailor]

I have a transceiver but don't know if its legal now, (not as old as owner), so will be walking around with a BIG trani., and a Looong power cord. LoL.

 

Don't trip.

 

spacesailor

 

 

[Hongie]

I'm sure all the international flights that fly into and through oz airspace have CASA certified radios....right? Right?

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

I'm sure all the international flights that fly into and through oz airspace have CASA certified radios....right? Right?

Being international it would be more like does CASA comply.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

When I wrote the original post, I had a strong suspicion that the Oz government would have a regulation against anything that they had not had a piece of somewhere or somehow during certification. . .so to speak,. . .can't blame them I suppose, . . every other government does it ! ! ! STILL, it isn't all bad news I guess,. . .some of these European radios are quite heavy and will, I feel sure, make terrific fishing weights.

 

An old adage suggests that people get the Government they deserve,. . . .well, we certainly deserve ours, BUT what did you guys do ?

 

Phil

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

That's the problem Phil, we have sat on our asses and done squat. Long over due for our revolution.

 

 

[spacesailor]

Just like the English did in the 13th century. (1215)

 

We NEED our own "Magna Carta"

 

spacesailor

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Yes,. . . . . . The Magna Carta. . . . fat lot of good it does us now, since we are effectively ruled by Germany via the European Commision. . . . . .

 

Only thing which will save UK now is an IN /OUT referendum re Europe,. . . . .then we can go back to trading with the world instead of being forced to buy over priced farm products from over - subsidised French farmers. . . . . .

 

The govenment is terrified of this because they know what the outcome will be by a large margin, and their bloody cushy retirement jobs in the European Parliament will then melt away rather like all our money does as a result of hundreds of hidden taxes on it. . . . . . . .

 

BUT . . . .

 

as the man said. . . . .THATZANOTHERSTORY. . . . .

 

 

[Admin]

Well, I have just found out that Icom ceased manufacturing their A6-AUS hand held radio early this year and the A6 is the ONLY hand held radio approved for ground use in Australia. Vertex and now Icom only have approved hand helds for the air. Icom just told me this morning that a new replacement model for the A6-AUS is still only in its design phase and don't expect it to be available for at least another year.

 

I can see the only option now is to have a base station in your car with their much more expensive A110 which is a bit silly however our pilot supplies shop here still has the A24 and A15 in stock and I say no more.

 

 

[Guest Andys@coffs]

but how does the radio know if its on the ground or in the air....and where is that boundary exactly......if I stand and hold it its roughly the same distance from the ground as it would be in my Jab when I get in it......

 

<Sensible mode> As I understand it no Duty applicable to aircraft radios, which leaves only the GST gouge.....if its a ground radio then Duty (at whatever rate that would be) plus GST so a double whammy..... I guess the OEMs figure that best they have as much of the profit margin as possible sharing as little with the gov as possible....... International tax minimisation at work

 

Andy