Scanner FAQ’s

Here is a few FAQ’s or Frequently Asked questions that you may ask , this should be read before purchasing any of the scanners or receivers on my webstore

this will hopefully clear up any questions you may have , if you have please drop me an email il do my best to answer any questions you may have ,

Q1 ) What’s the most common purchased scanner For CFA /Emergency Service Receive use

A) the most common sold scanner is the 436PT this is a portable scanner , this was the same scanner that was subsidized by the Victorian government for volunteers some years ago this can be found with the rest of the uniden scanner page here https://secomms.com.au/product-category/scanners/

Q2 ) Jeeesus !!! they are expensive !! why should i pay that price they used to be $100 via my CFA bridges

A) well , easy that’s what they are worth , I’m guided by what the wholesale price is , i think you will find that my prices are reasonable and fair to both parties you can find these cheaper in places such as ebay , gumtree , facebook market place , i do from time to time get second hand units , these are normally advertised via my facebook page , and sold in the monthly specials section found here https://secomms.com.au/product-category/monthly-specials/

Q3) Can I receive the Police ?

A) NO nope not a chance , all police in Victoria and many other places around the country are now fully encrypted this also includes other service such as Metro ambulance service in the Melbourne’s metro areas , and some other government service , there are a few odd patch’s that still have police in the clear , this is up to you , BUT for VICTORIA POLICE AND METRO AMBULANCE ARE ENCYPTED AND CAN NOT BE MONITORED so save us both the pointless conversation and don’t ask

I will also not give refunds or credits for returns due to you believing you can listen to the police , this is not implied or suggested and not with in the scope of the radios operation

Q4) OK that’s cool but my mate down the pub down the corner says that’s rubbish he has a radio he can listen to the police with why cant you ?

Maybe I wasn’t clear the police are encrypted with encryption that is beyond the every day user ,the only way he is going to hear the police is if he is in the force or is standing beside some one with a police radio if there is a different way I challenge you to show me and show me how , (funny to this day no one has ever succeeded or come forward will you be the first ? )

I will also not give refunds or credits for returns due to you believing you can listen to the police , this is not implied or suggested and not with in the scope of the radios operation

Q5) So what’s the point if i cant listen to the police ?

Well there is still plenty to listen to , here in Victorian areas , you can listen to the CFA FRV SES Airband road safety users , marine , Transport , just to name a few , there is always something to listen to the police are only a small part of the services available to listen to

Q6) Do these come Programmed ? Do I need to program them ?

If your a Victorian purchaser then they will come programmed with our latest SD card info on that card can be found here https://secomms.com.au/product/micro-sd-card-for-uniden-ubcd536pt-scanner/

if your from other parts of the country then they will come with the standard SD card that has basic a CFA file you will need to program it for your area , I dont program for other areas i only program for Victoria

here is some of the reasons for my programing in previous post from this blog some time ago https://secomms.wordpress.com/2021/12/03/scanner-programming-service/

this all being said its suggested and encouraged for you to be familiar with the programming and know how to change the basics if you need to ,

Q7 How far will I be able to listen or Hear

Distance depends on too many factors to provide an easy answer, such as the elevation of your home, whether there are hills or other obstructions between you and the agency you wish to monitor; the transmitter power of the agency you wish to listen to, etc. These and other factors all play a part. Generally speaking, with a handheld or desktop scanner you can hear in a 20 to 40 mile radius, but that’s not set in stone. things such as fire ground Chans while using portables range will be significantly less

Q8 I hear A lot about Trunking , what the hell is that ?

Trunking is probably the most used format in most scanning of most emergency services here in victoria

the Victorian services use either UHF or VHF p25 phase one or two network

At this time the CFA and FRV are P25 phase 1 , the SES and LSV are phase 2

As public safety agencies and businesses grow they require more and more radio frequencies for their operations, consequently available radio spectrum has become more valuable and more difficult to find. To help resolve this problem, radio manufacturers developed trunking which works on the same principle as a trunk telephone line. Let’s take for an example the Area of Region 8 , . This mid-size area used to have two or three frequencies for the police and two or three for the fire as well as one for public works . Now, with their trunking radio system, they have upwards of 50 or 100 groups of users on 10 radio frequencies. thus fitting more users on the same set of freq

One of the frequencies in the system is the control or data channel, continuously broadcasting a stream of computer data that sounds like a buzzsaw over the air. Every time a police or, a firefighter his microphone button an instantaneous computer command is sent out to all the other users within that person’s radio group to move to one of the nine available voice frequencies in the system. The channel the group is assigned is almost completely random so there’s no way to follow a communication unless you have a trunking scanner that works on a principle similar to that of the actual two-way radio. Hence, the TrunkTracker. One moment an officer in the police calling his dispatcher on one of the nine frequencies, and seconds later that dispatcher may reply to that officer on a completely different frequency. So now, a small group of radio users, such as the Police fire or ambulance can effectively have their own radio channel. It’s not a frequency per se, just any one of the 9 available radio frequencies as long as it’s not in use by another talk-group of users.

Q9 What the hell is Digital and APCO-25 all about?

in a way Just like your mobile phone, a digital two-way radio system converts voice into ones and zeros and transmits this data to another radio which decodes the information so the voice communication (sometime sounding a bit robotic) is heard on the other end. Older radio systems are often being replaced with the new digital systems. There is no way to upgrade an older or non-digital scanner. You must buy a digital scanner (such as the Uniden Bearcat 436 portable USDS100 or 536mobile .) There’s now digital Phase I as well as the newer Phase II. It’s important to find out what is being used in your area

Digital scanners decode APCO-25 non-encrypted transmissions automatically (encrypted communications cannot be decrypted not possible). A few agencies operate in encryption full time. There are also a few non-standard digital radio systems that are not monitorable at this time such as the few non-standard digital modes and particularly encrypted communications cannot be scanned. There is no scanner for them.

Q10 ) Can I listen to Mobile phone calls? Can scanners be modified to listen to it?

By National rad comms law (the ACT ) monitoring private phone conversations is prohibited this includes some phone patch’s such as trunking and pmr networks . No scanners made in the last 10 or so years have been capable of monitoring Mobile phones or are capable of being modified to do so.

This is a start , if you have any other questions about scanning or scanners that is not answered here , send me an email sales@secomms.com.au and il answer it and add it here ,

Pager FAQ’s

Here are a few frequently Asked questions I receive about pagers most if not all of these should be considered before purchasing a pager ,

Q1 ) What is a pager ?

A ) Pagers are one of the oldest forms of wireless mobile communication, allowing the exchange of short messages and alerts. Although they’re no longer as popular as they once were, these devices continue to play an important role in various industries.

Q2) Who uses pagers these days , I thought they were gone the way of the DODO ?

A) Pagers are Primarily used by a range of emergency services in Australia , some services have crossed over to 4G or sms messaging , these to some degree can still use the form of a pager , these are also still used internally by hospitals , hotels , doctors , industry just to name but a few ,

Q3 ) What do I need to enable or use a pager ?

A) Firstly you will need to know if the pagers being used are on a 4G pager or on vhf Network be it local or wide area , most pagers unless its for the emergency services in Victoria will be on a local network or transmitter , the wide area paging services around Australia closed down some years ago

if you have determined your network type and freq then you will also need the baud rate and cap code , you will need to have these details before purchasing a pager with out these you will not be able to use the pager ,

YOU are responsible for locating the correct details for use of the pager , these are not supplied or implied ,

if your with an emergency service such as the CFA or SES then speak to your comms officer or other members there are a few that play around with their own pager “decoders” and can provide this info , this is not part of the service I offer or imply

I am selling you the DEVICE that is all , Returns due to misunderstanding and not having the correct details of the service will not be accepted , so its very important to have these details before purchasing a pager with out these you will not be able to use

Q4 ) What the Heck is a Cap Code ?

A) Each pager has a specific identification sequence called a Channel Access Protocol (CAP) code. The pager listens for its unique CAP code. When it hears the code, it alerts the user and may provide additional information this is some what like a phone number for your pager ,

in some cases in situations like the CFA the pager can have several different cap codes for different uses such as personal cap code , region , group , alert , bmt , to get all messages you must have all cap codes ,

if you only want the brigade alerts , example would be if you want to watch what the brigade in the next town is doing then you could program the alert cap code with out the others and receive their alert pagers ,

as mentioned with out these cap codes the pager will not function , its your responsibility to obtain these and have ensured they are accurate before purchasing a pager , I will not advise or distribute cap codes ,these can be obtained from your system administrator or some times on online forums and pages

Q5 ) What the Heck is a Baud rate ?

A) “Baud,” abbreviated “Bd,” refers not to some legendary mother computer’s operation, but to Émile Baudot, who invented the Baudot code in the 1870s. Like the Morse code, this system was used to encode letters over a telegraph line, but instead of a series of dots and dashes, it used 5 bits to represent each character. The shortened version of his name, “baud,” or “baud rate” is used to represent the number of signaling events — i.e. symbols — across a transmission medium per second.

The same concept applies to RF applications in wide use today, where a limited spectrum range is used to transmit information through the airwaves. One obvious application is WiFi, where various modulation schemes allow for increased speeds, while still remaining within the rules of physics (and the FCC). Consider that the original IEEE 802.11 standard specified a rate of 2Mbit/s. Subsequent iterations improved, and today we have the IEEE 802.11ax standard which can reach up to 11 Gbit/s.

Such techniques are used in a wide variety of arenas to increase data. I touch on quadrature phase shift modulation in more detail here. To summarize, baud rate (Bd) is not the same as bit rate, or bits per second. To simplify, given various overhead factors, one is a function of the other, with Bd x (bits/symbol) = data rate in bits per second, or bps.

In most cases this will appear as 512BPS OR 1200BPS

For CFA or SES it will more than likely be 512BPS most others will be 1200bps but again this is up to you to confirm before the purchase

Q6) What the Heck is the Frequency and where do I find it ?

The paging frequency will be known by your service or system administrator failing that have a dig around on radio hobby forums or the like most are pretty easy to find ,

Q7 ) How do I program the pager ?

A) Some if not most of the pagers I sell are keypad programmable this means you can program them your self including on the fly in case of any changes ,

On the sale of the pagers I can provide in most cases a link to a youtube video on how to program these or a instruction manual or sheet , in other cases i can program them before they are dispatched ,

how ever the above applies you are responsible for providing the correct information absolutely no support is given in relation to gathering cap codes or other network info

Q8 ) Is it legal to own and use a pager ?

As described above the pager is in its simplest form a receiver rather than receiving voice it receives data and text , in some case some CFA groups have been against your own pager for what ever use , however they are not illegal per say

Q9 ) Do you provide any support at all for the pager ?

Of course if the pager is faulty or not operational then I will of course provide support , how ever if this is found to be due to the information being incorrect then I will either refuse support or charge for my time (see my Min service fees on my Terms and conditions page)

Q10) My pager will not turn on , What’s the trick ?

Remember when turning on the pager generally , all pagers require you to hold the models power button for around 5 seconds a quick momentary press will not power on the pager

its also important to ensure that the pagers batteries are in the right way – correct polarity , , and they are seated correctly

Q11) I have a 4G or Sim Pager and I’m getting a error , what’s the trick to get it to work ?

These use a sim card its important to ensure the Sim card is seated correctly in the place holder provided normally behind the battery , if this sim card is not seated properly the sim card will not register in the device and you will not receive messages

if you have any other questions you think haven’t been answered here send me an email at sales@secomms.cm.au and il answer it

Illegal Radios Warning !!!

In the Recent few Months This issue has popped up from time to time and due to the free market on these radios it seems that most think , because they can buy them on ebay or amazon , and can program them with any frequency they like they are legal and open to use , bad news they are not !!!

Here’s a Copy and paste of the legal section of my website this is also a copy and paste of a mx of a few sites the best information has been collected and lets say the bones picked from them all

The rules say the following , read on below , this includes CB users Commercial Users any one Government departments if your using a radio in Australia these rules apply to you , the points and info have been taken from the act , personal interaction with the ACMA and their advise , and past advise

Australia has stringent laws for two-way radios. This includes the testing and approval of hardware including the Transmit and Receive stages for approved operation complying to Australian Specifications from the ACMA (Australian Government) for the Safe Operations of Radio Transmitters.

Each 2 Way Radio must undergo expensive type approval test to ensure it does not exceed normal radiation standards and to ensure safety whilst operating the device.

If a radio has not been approved then it is instantly ILLEGAL to own and operate in Australia. Heavy Fines can be levied on Users and Importers who break these laws. Radio Inspectors are out there checking and tracking Illegal Users and importers all the time.

There are exemptions for amateur or ham radio use at this stage there is no limitations on what radio a amateur radio operator can use providing they stay within the limits of the bands or frequencies permitted and power limits 

This does not mean that an amateur op can operate these radios in bands or freqs out side the bands such as cb or commercial the operation is limited to the bands permitted and the operator must be appropriately licenced 

How to tell if your radio is Legal 

Check for an RCM or C-Tick Label (like the ones below) check on the inside case under the battery area. If the two-way radio dose NOT have these Marks or Stickers then the Radio Is generally  Illegal for use in Australia

The older mark like this with a N12345 styled number after the label is called a C-Tick.

These illegal unapproved two-way radios pose a significant risk to public safety, not only are they often programmed Illegally to the same frequencies as those used by the Police, Fire & Ambulance services and Licensed Private Frequencies but also because the radios sometimes transmit across multiple frequencies because they are cheap and badly designed.

The following fines are applicable if a user is found in possession of a radio:

The Australian Government Department ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) has legislated that only Radios which pass the approval System can be sold and used in Australia.

As of January 2007 the maximum penalties for the misuse of the legally allocated CB emergency channels are:

• For general misuse – if an individual 2 years imprisonment, otherwise $165,000 (a $220 on-the-spot fine can be issued in minor cases per radio); or
• For interference to an Emergency call – if an individual 5 years imprisonment, otherwise $550,000

Supply of devices that are non-compliant would be a breach of Section 160 of the Act.

The Act provides for court imposed penalties of up $270,000 for breaching Section 160. The ACMA also has the power to issue infringement notices for these breaches.

in accordance with Section 301 of the Act, supply of radio communications equipment must only be to licensed persons. If a radio is programmed with a frequency such as the one below, the supplier must ensure the recipient of the device is suitably licenced to operate on that frequency prior to supply. Pursuant to Sect 279c of the Act, an ACMA inspector may request a supplier to provide copies of documents relating to the supply of that product, including copies of the licence.

Some of the Illegal models are , its not limited to this list but this is a rough list 

Illegal Motorola Radios

The following Motorola models are illegal to import and/or use in Australia:

These radios are NOT type-approved and are actually programmed on American UHF Frequencies (FMRS) which are Illegal to use in Australia. ALL Motorola Radios Starting with the Model Letter T xxx are Illegal to use in Australia and NZ.

• TLKR T3 Radio
• TLKR T5 Radio
• TLKR T7 Radio
• TLKR T4 Radio
• TLKR T6 Radio
• TLKR T8 Radio
• TLKR T40 Radio
• TLKR T41 Radio
• TLKR T50 Radio
• TLKR T80 Radio
• T60 Radio
• T61 Radio
• T80 Radio
• T81 Radio
• TALKABOUT T92 H2O Radio
• TALKABOUT T42 Radio
• TALKABOUT T62 Radio
• TALKABOUT T82 Radio
• TALKABOUT T82 Extreme Radio
• DTR 2430 Radio
• DTR 2450 Radio
• XTR Digital Business Radio
• XTR 446 Business Compact Radio
• XTB446 Business Radio
• XTNi Series Radios
• CLK446 Radio
• CLP446 Radio
• PMR446 Radios
• XT4000 Radios
• FRS and FMRS Compatible Radios
• XPR (USA) Model Radios (The DP series Radios are only allowed to be used in Australia)
• GP340
• RDU4100
• DTR600
• T460
• T100
• T460
• T62
• T200
• T600
• T82
• T260
• T107
• T625
• T465
• 748
• T5030R

Baofeng Brand Radios are ALL ILLEGAL 

ALL Baofeng Radios Are Illegal To Use In Australia. Most of these radios come in Illegally and are Programmed with Police and other frequencies that interfere with licensed users and Public Safety Radios. These Radios are Dangerous.

Many of these radios are also marketed under different brands such as:

• Retevis
• Ansoko
• eSYNiC
• Jason
• Tenway
• Floureon

Models Such As:

• UV5R
• UV9R
• DMR Models
• UV 5XP
• BF F8HP
• MURS V1
• GMRS V1
• UV 82HP
• UV 82C
• UV 5R+
• GT 3
• GT 5
• GMRS 50X1
• UV 50X3
• UV 50X2
• UV 25X4
• UV 25X2
• Mini UV2501
• Mini UV2501
• Mini UV5001
• 888S
• UV 9R+
• BF T1
• A58S
• BF R5
• RT 22
• RT 15

Other Illegal Radios

Brands Such As:

• Bell South
• Xiaomi
• Helida
• Roky
• Tintec
• Olywiz
• Zastone
• Binatone
• Obuby
• Wouxun
• Puxing
• HQT
• Binatone
• Any-Tone
• Free Talker

PLEASE NOTE: Unless you transmit on the Free 80 Channels of UHF CB Channels only YOU WILL NEED A PRIVATE LICENSE for any other frequency. South Eastern Communications can organise to apply for a Private Frequency (at a cost for ACMA) to you. . Or lease you a short term Frequency AGAIN you cannot have an Illegal radio programmed for Australian Frequencies no ifs buts or maybes 

RULE OF THUMB

• Do not buy NEW 2 Way Radios or Walkie Talkies off Ebay, Amazon, WISH, China or USA. They WILL BE ILLEGAL
• Only Buy from an authorised Australian Company
• Some Ebay sites say that they are in Australia but are from China making them Illegal.
• Always ask if the radio has an RCM or C-Tick Label

News Articles/Reference  : 

Critical Comms Nov/Dev 2019 – SAR Compliance In Australia – Page 24

ACMA – Beware of two-way radios from overseas

Type approved,com.au  https://www.typeapproved.com.au/fines-for-illegal-radios/

https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/media-technology-communications/spectrum/interference-radio-communications

https://www.acma.gov.au/how-spot-dodgy-device

The Bottom Line , is this if your using UHF CB the Radio you are using must be both Type and Standard Approved if its not either then the radio you are operating is not legal , you could be unknowingly interfering with a service of some kind , and acting in a unsafe manor if you are using these on a emergency service frequency you stand liable for a a hefty fine if sprung if you have a commercial work freq these are not be used as above , if your a ham operator operating on the ham bands your golden you can continue to do so , if your using this as a receiver with all transmit disabled completely generally this means the ptt or hardware needs to be removed but in some case can mean software via the programming ,

Scanner Programming Service ?

Righto Gang !! Opinion time , !!

So like every other year its rolling around to that time of year where scanners become popular and as does up-to-date programming and programming of frequencies in your area

I’ve made this very clear and continue to do so , I don’t program scanners with any other areas of states than Victoria , why you ask ? well its all very easy (and I warn you you may not like the answer )

I’m located in Victoria and really don’t get out of Victoria so the systems and services I use as an end user are that of Victorian , not any other state so I only believe that it would be unfair immoral to offer services to those in other states

oh , I hear what’s coming next but others program for other states , yes they sure do and there are some others that are scattered around the other states the same as me (some I refer buyers on to if asked , if your in QLD SA WA NT TAS and know how to program the scanners and want to be on the referral list shout out im happy to send others across for some collaboration and shared cross promotion )

There are also some that simply skim info or dump data off sites put it in a card and send it off I don’t believe that this is a way to operate or supply so I don’t do it , simple hey !

Now the Victorian file , I guess the number one question asked is ” does it have all frequencies and talkgroups of every service , ? the answer is well hell no !! no one has the time to sit down and do this i would contest that any of the other sellers that sell these that profess to have all and know all dont have every service and every talk group ,

one of the latest interesting ones to pop up as an example is the Air desk and Air support Talk groups for the CFA , that have been floating around in cyberspace now I’m not going to say they have never been used but in the areas I frequent I’ve not heard them nor have I heard them requested or referred to

So this being said and getting to the point I have the main dispatch Chans I have the fire ground Chans i have a few other ones like some multi agency etc , I have SES I have some basic LSV and any others that are often used , but no I do not have 25.000 talk groups programmed on the possibility that in the year 3025 they may one day ask for this to be used ,

Why ? well there’s three parts to this , the first part is I don’t see the point In having heaps of space being taken up with pointless data , the extra groups and talk groups will only add confusion , (its hard enough trying to edumacate some users as it is ) so for the sake of as mentioned ease of use and given it may not be used , (remember the old MAS chan plan had dozens of talk groups that were never put in to use !)

the second part of this and as I put out in the info sheet with the scanners and cards , these cards are not a definitive answer , they are based on info that is used sourced and obtained by many ways actual use , research shared info , websites , forums , social media , search’s , user submission are only a few of the ways these are put together there is no “secret source from the emergency services ” as you may think , so based on that the info is only as accurate as any one else’s or what’s in the public domain I make no secret of this and actually I’m pretty blunt about it

The third part and the part I would probably like to highlight is , that these are done as a starting point for you to build on , I cant stress this enough , its in your best interests to experiment and learn how these beasts work and how to program them not only will it help you down the track with updates etc but it will assist you to understand how they work and how to operate them , this is not intended to be as mentioned a miracle answer or a fix to all the worlds problems , this is done so it shows how the systems banks groups etc are formatted , you can them build on this and add the specific talk groups that may be region or service specific and more focused on your requirements or listening needs and learn about the device and its operation and use , just like you would any other device you own , this also something i make very clear and at times I’m pretty blunt about

As an end note and probably a finishing point is that while this is a service I offer and yes I charge a small fee for this service , mainly to cover costs such as SD cards time etc , I can tell I don’t really profit off this and I’m not driving a massarati so if your thinking I’m bank rolling a trip to the maldives your dreaming , i also don’t profess nor believe that I know all or am the “go to guy” at it was thrown at me not long ago ! but what I believe is that we share some info and help one and other (for this reason once a bit of fine tuning is done and I find the time there will be a condensed free version of these files available for download off my site soon ) and use these devices to the best of their ability in a constructive way not run around in the shadows belting our chests about this that and the other , to be brutally honest I don’t care if I never sell another card again they are more hassle than they are worth due to a small few that don’t follow instructions nor have an understanding of how these cards files or scanners operate , but while they do I will continue to sell them and support however I can with in reason but please take the mentioned points and provided disclaimers and instructions into account before getting hot under the collar it will save us both a lot of time effort and frustration in the long run

a range of Victorian files can be found on my website for a range of scanners as mentioned above this category will be fine tuned in the very near future hopefully and will include some very basic “starter ” files if you are computer savvy and know your way round some of the more popular FPPs then you will be able to use these very easily to build on and create your own files for your device

Happy scanning !!!

Antenna Build With Limited Space and how to get around rental issues with antennas

Ok so for those that don’t know me , I used to have quiet a large antenna installation with a tower a multitude of poles and masts , as a renter my last long term landlord was quiet understanding and really was not to worried about antennas , the neighbours must have thought they had moved next to pine gap as there were antennas where ever I could put them

Here is a photo of the old installation well the desk , this was the main monitoring and operating position for many years

Moving Forward a few years and now moved into a premise that is not so forgiving of antennas , I had to re think the way I did things and my approach , this is a explanation of what I found and how I achieved this

So Most in Victoria /Australia will tell you that renting real estate agents landlords and radio is not a good mix , this is very true , and I know before you say it , who cares just send it !! yep well I did that and it didn’t work ,

Starting off I used a few L type mounts attached to the facia these are very small L brackets , I sell them for about $11aud , this enables you to put the antenna on a bracket and affix it , using tiny little wood screws mine looked like this

This gave me pretty much what I needed , Flight aware /1090mhz Scanner that I ran through a Splitter A dual band 2/70cm antenna local and semi local uhf /vhf ham repeaters a added UHF CB and a few others soon after to add to my abilities or requirement

Along side this , I added one single UHF White Stick , on a 6 Meter Pole attached to the fence this was again using saddle clamps and screws , done in such away that it could be removed when and if nessacery , with a bit of filler you would never know these were even here

Now soon After this I received a rather rude and rather demanding email Advising me that there was a very large and obstructing antenna In the back yard and this antenna was well beyond and above local height laws and limitations never mind that I was breaking one of the ten commandments by having this affixed to the fence ,

I asked the then real estate what this was based on I was told planning and building laws ,

I know you know this is rubbish ,but to keep them happy I took the mast down , around this time I was also told the that the ones on the facia would have to be removed , Humf well ok

the pole was a bigger issue , the facia ones I thought ,ok if I hot them up there with out them being affixed the job will be right , off to the drawing board , so , i came up with a small thin bit of timber an old fence paling I think it was , and affixed the brackets to this ,

then calming that on to the facia , thus not actually having anything connected to the facia of the property it looked like the other ones above only not directly fixed , this was held in with a few welding clamps ,

I asked both the owner and agent at the time what their expectations were and how we should go about achieving this and welcomed their suggestions for a mutual solution I was greeted with blank stares and an answer of well its your gear your problem so back the drawing board again ,

you guessed it the agent and owner was not happy with this either , so down they came

I figured as I was pretty much doing what I needed off the facia it did not need to be that high , but out of interest and to confirm by memory , I checked with the local council I was told 8 meters and I’m golden , I have since found out that it could be 8 meters to the base of the antenna how ever this I guess depends on your determination of the laws or regulations how ever no setback is required

so , that’s not an issue that’s plenty now how to hold it up there ,

after looking around at google and YouTube and asking the question on Facebook I found a few using drums filled with sand

so off to pet stock to get a 44 gallon drum ,

then off to Bunnings , roughly 15 bags of sand and rock , cheapest I could find ,

Filled the Drum placing a conduit pipe in the centre to place the antenna mast ,

After a bit of trial and error with the mast size height and weight a pole and mast was formed with a collection of antennas ,

all main antennas and bands are covered , with antennas for the scanner flight radar /1090ADSB VHF rx VHF/UHF ham bands , Paging RX . UHF CB , etc Etc it stands at a little over 4meters and covers all local and sub local services ,

this has been placed in the yard away from the house to eliminate that as a concern , there are a number of coax runs running through the lawn to the window at the house where they enter the operating position

So I can already hear some saying , what’s the point this would have little to no coverage , well think again uhf/vhf repeaters I have coverage well into the eastern suburbs of Melbourne , where there are several repeaters , uhf cb gives me local to sub local coverage , that’s all I need Scanner gives me several Metro RMR talk groups a few MMR services and services located into Melbourne’s south east local commercial service , the Flight radar or ADSB gives pretty much vic wide with a few patch’s

see a screen shot here

So while its what some would call short one ends or small , it achieves pretty much what I need it to achieve all with no hassle from the real estate or landlord ,

This may help you out if your in a rental or a low profile area that can not have massive antennas , you may be able to modify this slightly and tailor it to your requirements

This may also suit some of the USA followers with those pesky HOA etc

What would I do different

well at some stage I’m going to make the mounts on the antennas all one length of coax , at the moment they are base and leads with joiners , and while not much difference will be made it well let me clean it up a bit the uhf cb antenna is being swapped out for a RFI ground independent , the scanner antenna is going to be swapped out for a CD30 UHF/VHF and I’m going to add a vhf marine aside form that I will be pretty much leaving it as it is

How’s the Wind rating well we have 100Km + winds and not even a issue ,

can you tip it over , not a chance , i think its going to be turned into a table or garden ordainment when its no longer needed

How’s this fix my problem , well its “temporary” so the issue of fixed masts is removed and the agent or landlord cant say its a fixed antenna , the issue of it being attached to the house are gone , so its no longer an issue , the height issue is removed because its near half the permitted allowed , its away from the house so that issue is removed pretty much leaves them with no recourse , and gives you an antenna configuration to use on your allocated bands

Stay tuned how to build a confined or small operating station !!!

Hytera PNC 370 POC /PTTOC Device

A Quick Review on the Hytera PNC 370 POC /PTTOC Device , This was going to be a YouTube video and it may still be but I’ve not had a lot of pare time of late so , I thought I would drop a quick Review here

To Start off I had heard good things about these in terms of build and quality , I had heard that these were primarily a commercial device for Commercial PTTOC networks such as Hytera’s own or the like

I had heard that these would run on zello and echolink and other “ham ” based networks with a bit of a”hack ” and I saw a few going cheap on eBay , so i grabbed one to test out and put through its paces

So Can they ? well yes they can is it easy ? i guess that depends on what you call easy ,

Firstly my impressions of the radio , and some back ground

The radio manufacture information page can be found here https://hytera.com.au/products/pnc370 this has all the specs and inclusions etc il save you the hassle of reading all that again , as you probably already have

the radio is a solid unit well built has a very solid feel to it , yet its small enough that it fits in your pocket or on your belt , for the few months I tested this radio i had it on the belt clip and it was on my belt and no one really knew it was there until it made a noise this i liked against some other other PTTOC brands such as the RT4 that is a larger tougher and more Motorola looking device that stands out a lot more

it came with a belt clip in the pack , the belt clip is a very solid clip

the operation of the unit it self over all is very simple there is no numeric buttons just a toggle type button a green a red a menu and that’s about it ,

so on with it , will it work on Zello ? well yes it will , how do you do it i hear you ask ? there are a few youtubers around that have done this and they can offer more help than me , so it will be much easier if i link their clips , thanks to those people for sharing this info

You ask do I still have it , ? and would I Still use it ? Would I recommend it ?

Well no I don’t still have it , No i would not still use it , and no I would not recommend it While the device works on zello and other apps the button and user interface is as expected not deigned for use with zello or other apps , while it can be used with these its not as good as you would expect some of the functionality is missing some of the buttons take some doing to map ,

if i was going to use this with zello i would look for a different device , if i was going to use this on a commercial network then it may well fit the use and could be a very nice tidy little radio

The Journey Begins Welcome !

Thanks for joining me! an Welcome

This is the start of a new journey , on this page i hope to create a space on where we can share some information some how too’s a few reviews some tips installation notes quirky findings just about anything

I hope to use this in conjunction with my YouTube page i hope to share some of this with you ,

how often this happens will depend on my availability to post and i guess how popular this is

please remember I encourage positive and  constructive interaction if you have a note or point please do mention it and feel free to comment

Please also feel free to head on over to http://www.secomms.com.au where you may find the items mentioned or used in this blog  for sale

Thanks Again Enjoy