From Dick Smith:
The CTAF bit sounds pretty normal and “ international “ to me. That is NAS and great!
An “ area frequency “ for VFR is unknown in international procedures. After all ICAO has no radio requirements for VFR in E or G.
Are you listening on the area frequency so you can answer IFR aircraft and organise “ radio arranged separation “ ? How often have you had to do this?
I do this "with one ear" to increase my situational awareness of what is going on around and above me. That may be surveying, aerobatics, power line survey, drone use or all sorts of airwork. It also regularly includes interrogatory calls to "VFR aircraft at X thousand at ABC?" or calls to IFR traffic "Unverified VFR traffic at ..... And occasionally collision avoidance advice for VFR aircraft.
To put that another way, once in a while ATC makes a call to someone about VFR traffic I realise "oh &*^& that's me!" I call ATC, confirm position and altitude, ATC arranges the separation, not me, unless asked, which has never happened.
No doubt there is a constant barrage of calls on the “ area” frequency. Are your passengers forced to listen to those calls ? Is that relaxing for them?
My new audio panel lets me play them soothing music, or not, depending on what sort of passenger they are.
Or do you just monitor the calls yourself?
How many times on the flight - say from Bankstown- did you have to look down at the panel to change the area frequency? Was it six or seven times or more?
My new radios, I think do it for me, Dynon Skyview pushes frequencies to radios. Otherwise i just look at the box o the chart.
As you flew right on the frequency boundary west of Forbes what frequency did you monitor?
"Dunno" never been there.
Would you be prepared to try the US or Canadian system where there was no such thing as an area frequency and therefore no requirement to listen ?
Judging from what i see on the web, I wouldn't mind BUT the bug smasher guys in the US have TIS, cheap ADSB in and out, and have the freedom to do curved approaches and a whole lot of other things that appear to make collision unlikely