Hi Voicey,
Nice to see ya still in 'the land of the living'....
And Mr D-9, YEP still 'ere....LUVLY time at Duxford etc....however, some of this is before my time even.....and the mammary banks are fading...a bit too much 'red' oi reckon...
HLC did have an 'Aeradio' Station in the looong ago, but I'm not sure of the dates of its era. No doubt, consolidated to Derby/Wyndham, and eventually to Kunners as the HF became more 'reliable' and the $'s were measured out...
In my flying time 'up there', 1970, PD had the Twr, and a FSC - Flight Service CENTRE...(Wow), for the surrounding few hundred miles, which were all fairly busy in those halcyon days.
Carnarvon was the next one down along the coast, and Meeka for the inland route.
Wittenoom had closed prior to that time, (as far as I can remember) so we were in HF comms with PD when servicing the railway construction sites down Tom Price and Paraburdoo - then called 'Camp 232' - way...
(232 miles in from the rail head at Dampier)
KA Ad was still called Dampier then, KA Town not yet built - and one called PD FS for service.
I used to fly into Broome, and HLC reasonably frequently on runs from PD, but can't remember who was 'wot - where'.
Worked with Dixie many years later in PH FSC - very nice man.
'Frank W' used to tell the story of the daily DC-3 service thru Wyndham, with the captain saying something like 'your VHF is a bit off freq'.
So Frank would get on the 'station bike' and, in 40Deg C, ride down to the transmitters at the other end of the ad., and with screwdriver, adjust 'the pot', then ride back, and say 'How's that'? NO, that's worse, was the response, and so,.....back on the bike to turn it the 'other' way... True Story!
Progress has been made folks!
I also did the mail run from PD to the Northern stations - that used to be either a DC-3 or a Dove service. I did it in a '206', or sometimes a
'182' when Murchison had the contract,...there's 'economy' for yas...remained on PD HF for all of that, except for the occasional 'sun-spot' activities of late 1970, when the good ole MMA (then) FK.28 at FL280 became a handy VHF relay station...Thanks guys, you know who you are.
'82 - '85, When serving at Derbs as an FSO, also did some 'charters', and KU was also quite busy. Had 2 x FK.28's daily then and the occnl third on a school special for the kids...those were the days...tarmac space was at a premium. HF was the ONLY comms for the Kimberley in those days.
Our VHF's were at DBY and BRM only. For some 'late SARTIMES' the only way to contact some pilots was via the ABC Radio with a broadcast 'item' following the 7 o'clock news! Much embarrasment as the whole of the Kimberley learned that 'so & so' had forgotten to CNL.....
Good ole 'Aunty'....
Not many phones out there even then.
The NW highway from PD had only JUST been sealed as far as Derbs, but from there on, was still bulldust.
BRM was worked as a remote AFIZ from Derbs 'no.2 console', and the 11am arrival FK.28's - one from PH direct, and the other the 'milk run' via PD, BRM used to arrive in the circuit at DBY AT the SAME time quite often - the rivalry was luvly. We used to 'score' the landings by holding up a huge number as they were taxying in - a '9' could very easily turn into a '6' when the CB's were over the top....the 'degree of difficulty' was never a factor.
Derbs FSO's were also the accreditted MET observers for Derby, and we were on a 24/7 roster for this purpose...remember 'that fog' episode with the FK.28?? I was in the Pilbara working 'elsewhere' when that occurred, but heard all about it.
I used to pass thru Forrest FSU around '68 thru '69, on ferry & training flights, and they were great at arranging anything from lunch, to fuel, to lights....that rotating beacon was visible from a 'fair waaaay' out...
And for a fee of 50c, one could park in the hangar!
One Butch D had a 'spot ht' of 4,000ft plus on the local WAC - marked as 'Bull**** Hill'...and demanded the students at the time note it for LSALT...
When at KAL, our FIA extended out to the WA/SA border, so we worked Forrest from there. Never did find that hill.
Albany also had a unit at one time. VHF only, and a 'one man' split shift to handle the morning / evening RPT. A VHF repeater later, and that was worked from Perth. Can't remember the era, it was prior to my working at Perth from SY. Mick W was still carrying out the whalespotting at Albany for the whaling industry in his 337. He was in constant contact with his ships but, due to 'requirements' still had to have a SARTIME with us...
Anyway enuf for now. All very remote comms now - more's the pity - as there ain't ANY 'local knowledge' these days....
Oddly enuf, some things don't change - I personally put in a submission to have a VHF repeater put on the top of Mt Bakewell, near York in WA - probably around '87 - '88, ALL 'other' infrastructure already in place as many other radio / TV stations etc utilise this site, and this would give tremendous coverage to the Wheatbelt and to Cunderdin - a heavily used navaid training ad.
67nm from Perth, and on the ground CUN is still a HF call....
The repeater was costed out at less than $10K...a drop in the ocean....
WA was very well served by FS in those days, as was the rest of AUS...
I can say that, both as a 'user' of the service, and, later as a 'provider' of same...
Best to all.
Happy Landings
