Newsgroups: aus.radio
Subject: WICEN National Newsletter No 4
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1992 10:06:00 +1000

      To      : All Emergency Management Agencies
      From    : Wireless Institute Civil Emergency Network -
                Australia
      Information for inclusion in this fortnightly Bulletin
      should be sent by one of the following methods :-

      Postal  : WICEN, P.O. Box 106, Mitcham, Victoria, 3132
      InterNet: vk3tp@csource.oz.au
      FidoNet : Paul Walton @ 3:632/404
      Packet  : vk3ur@vk3bbs.vic.aus.oc
      Voice   : Paul Walton (03) 754-8646 (A.H)

WICEN.003 BULLETIN                              23rd August 1992

                 WHAT IS WICEN ?   ( Part 3/3 )

Capabilities
------------
Applications typical for WICEN during emergencies are :-

*   Providing  radio links for groups with no  communications  of their own,
ranging from a link between two points, to providing a network of stations many
kilometres from a control station.

*   Providing  radio  links between different  services  with  no direct 
communications. e.g. Community relief field services  and their respective
Headquarters.

*   Providing  links between services with  no  compatible  radio  frequencies, 
e.g.  Bush Fire Brigades  working in  another  area where their own frequencies
are not applicable.

*   Providing additional radios or other communication  equipment where  all
available equipment is inadequate, e.g. FAX  or  RADIO TELETYPE, Packet, etc.,
for emergency services.

*   Providing  links  for low priority  traffic  which  does  not justify
diversion of a channel from other uses, e.g. a link  from evacuation centres to
relief organizations.

*   Providing a health and welfare message  distribution  network where no
telephones are available so that disaster survivors  can inform relatives etc.

Many WICEN operators are employed in the communications  industry and can
provide a high level of expertise.

Equipment
---------
            Most Amateur Band radio equipment is now commercially made  to  a
high standard and exceeds the  capabilities  of  some equipment used by
professional organizations. For example :- hand held  radios operating on
hundreds of channels, -100 Watt  mobile high  frequency transceivers, -VHF
mobiles along with UHF  mobile type  radios, -portable radio teletype 
equipment,-Facsimile  and computerized picture and text sending equipment. It is
 estimated over $1.000.000 worth of gear could be called on in an emergency, all
of this equipment belonging to individual members.

There is also an ever increasing number of portable / mobile  UHF stations and
Digital hard copy Modem Systems.  The WIA supports a repeater network that
covers the heavily populated areas of  each State and much of the remainder of
each State.  To cover gaps and diversify  peak  load  areas  WICEN  maintains 
several  portable repeaters, some of which act as links to the permanent
repeaters. Short range, long  distance and  National  networks can be set up
quite quickly.

FREQUENCY BANDS :- The number of frequency bands allocated to the Amateur 
Service internationally is second in number only to  the Military Services, thus
allowing great flexibility of  operation. The  bands  which are of practical use
in  providing  a  reliable communications service are :-

VHF - Characteristics similar to Police, Ambulance etc. networks. Equipment
commonly available can be vehicle mounted or hand  held and can provide reliable
communications up to 30km, but if one of the many Amateur repeaters is within
range then this distance can be extended to in excess of 100km. Within an hour
it is  possible to  set up a Base Station and dispatch several mobiles  into 
the field.  In  Melbourne,  for  example, networks  of  up  to  fifty  mobiles
at a time can be maintained for long periods.

HF  - Characteristics similar to the Royal Flying Doctor  Service Network. 
Radio propagation conditions are  continually  changing and for a particular
link the long term availability can only  be considered  as  95%.  There are
several  HF  bands  available  to Amateurs  and  these  can be used  to  provide
 links  throughout VICTORIA   or   throughout   THE  WORLD   if   needed,  
although international  links can only be considered as 10%  positive.  HF
equipment  and  antennas are larger than  VHF,  and  establishing portable
stations will take much longer to set up. Normally a  HF station  would  be 
used  with a VHF or UHF  link  to  the  final communications point.

AVAILABILITY  - The greatest population of WICEN operators is  in the  capital 
cities with most large country  towns  having  some WICEN capability. For a
major disaster, WICEN operators could  be transported to the scene.

There  is  no permanent stand-by system, but within  40km  it  is possible  to 
establish communications within an hour.  Within  3 hours  WICEN  should  be
able to provide twenty  operators  in  a capital  city area, with back-up
operators available to  reliably operate for many days.

SECURITY  :-   Commonly used scanning receivers cover all of  the frequencies  
that   are  readily   available,   plain   language transmissions by radio
cannot be considered secure.

Some degree of privacy can be provided using Single Side Band  on VHF (no
scanners available at this time) or using Morse Code. The use of  Radio
Teletype, Facsimile, Amtor, and  Packet  Radio will further reduce the
possibility of unauthorized listening.   Where total security is required the
message would have to be encrypted or scrambled by the originator before
transmission.

In some remote parts of the country permission has been  obtained from   the
Department of Transport and Communications   to   link repeaters to ensure that
contact can be maintained to a populated area.  
         
Aside from this Statewide system, WICEN can quickly expand into a National or
International Network through similar groups in other States or Countries.  All
relevant Amateur Frequency  allocations are common around the world.

It   should  be  noted  that  different  States  have   different organizational
 structure  depending  on  Government  and  Agency involvement.


 * Origin: WICEN Victoria Telephone BBS. (3:632/404)
Newsgroups: aus.radio