Operating a UNICOM is so easy!
Thread Starter
Operating a UNICOM is so easy!
A friend has a country airstrip which uses a MULTICOM of 126.7. They want to have a hand-held transceiver in the hangar that the manager can use to give a UNICOM service. Can anyone advise whether a licence is required for this, and how you actually get the licence?
My office got into the Airservices site which states a radio communications apparatus licence is required from the Australian Communications and Media Authority. The Airservices site included links to AMCA apparatus licence form R057 and additional station information form R077. One of the links was to a form for a ‘low power narrowcasting variation, narrowband area service and high frequency broadcasting service’, which appears to be incorrect.
AMCA appears to have an application form for an ‘Aeronautical Assigned System apparatus licence’ which doesn’t seem right for a MULTICOM, and a general ‘Application for apparatus licence’ which seems more likely.
Also, the figures seem to be stupendous. You need to pay $345 to AMCA to issue an assigned licence, plus an aeronautical assignment fee to Airservices of $260.70, and there is an annual tax fee. The AMCA fee schedule document is 59 pages long!
It is clearly the least user-friendly system I have ever seen.
Lots of hand-helds are being sold which are used on the ground as (in effect) UNICOMs. Are they all operating illegally?
What we need to know is if the station has to be licensed, and does the operator need to have a separate licence? What training and qualifications are required for the operator if that is so? Also, at many secondary airports the refueller has a UNICOM. Has this transmitter been licensed, and is each operator separately licensed – or is that something different?
My office got into the Airservices site which states a radio communications apparatus licence is required from the Australian Communications and Media Authority. The Airservices site included links to AMCA apparatus licence form R057 and additional station information form R077. One of the links was to a form for a ‘low power narrowcasting variation, narrowband area service and high frequency broadcasting service’, which appears to be incorrect.
AMCA appears to have an application form for an ‘Aeronautical Assigned System apparatus licence’ which doesn’t seem right for a MULTICOM, and a general ‘Application for apparatus licence’ which seems more likely.
Also, the figures seem to be stupendous. You need to pay $345 to AMCA to issue an assigned licence, plus an aeronautical assignment fee to Airservices of $260.70, and there is an annual tax fee. The AMCA fee schedule document is 59 pages long!
It is clearly the least user-friendly system I have ever seen.
Lots of hand-helds are being sold which are used on the ground as (in effect) UNICOMs. Are they all operating illegally?
What we need to know is if the station has to be licensed, and does the operator need to have a separate licence? What training and qualifications are required for the operator if that is so? Also, at many secondary airports the refueller has a UNICOM. Has this transmitter been licensed, and is each operator separately licensed – or is that something different?
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It is my understanding (with zero reference to any actual rules) that to operate a handheld legally (specifically from the ground) it would need to meet the following 3 criteria:
1. Be an approved radio (in terms of manufacturer and model)
2. Associated with a flying school, charter base or similar such as a skydive HQ
3. Used for operational school/business use only
For airborne ops:
1. Again, an approved model
2. Affixed to the aircraft
As for using a hand held as an emergency backup.... I would be guessing.
A Unicom is an entirely different scenario:
1. Potentially operated by an unlicensed person (ie. no pilots license / radio operators certificate
2. Giving advice / weather info, thus requiring a course or similar approval due to the potential for liability etc
In summary, it would not surprise me at all if all of what you have posted is required, because it doesn't not fit into my aforementioned scenarios where I'm confident that it is legal.
1. Be an approved radio (in terms of manufacturer and model)
2. Associated with a flying school, charter base or similar such as a skydive HQ
3. Used for operational school/business use only
For airborne ops:
1. Again, an approved model
2. Affixed to the aircraft
As for using a hand held as an emergency backup.... I would be guessing.
A Unicom is an entirely different scenario:
1. Potentially operated by an unlicensed person (ie. no pilots license / radio operators certificate
2. Giving advice / weather info, thus requiring a course or similar approval due to the potential for liability etc
In summary, it would not surprise me at all if all of what you have posted is required, because it doesn't not fit into my aforementioned scenarios where I'm confident that it is legal.
SWTT probably has a deeper knowledge than I but from my dealings with ACMA, Airservices and operating UNICOMS/AWIS/AFRUs etc this is what I understand.
1. ACMA does not require a licence for a mobile radio, ie hand held or vehicle fitted. Equipment certification and compliance would have to be met though. THe usual manufacturers such as ICOM would fit the bill.
2. For a fixed installation, you need to apply for a site licence. Airservices will normally assist with this process for a very reasonable cost.
3. Any person using a radio that transmits in the VHF airband 118 - 136 MHz is required to hold a Radio Operator Certificate of Proficiency these days that includes undergoing English Language Proficiency. Most flying schools can conduct this training.
1. ACMA does not require a licence for a mobile radio, ie hand held or vehicle fitted. Equipment certification and compliance would have to be met though. THe usual manufacturers such as ICOM would fit the bill.
2. For a fixed installation, you need to apply for a site licence. Airservices will normally assist with this process for a very reasonable cost.
3. Any person using a radio that transmits in the VHF airband 118 - 136 MHz is required to hold a Radio Operator Certificate of Proficiency these days that includes undergoing English Language Proficiency. Most flying schools can conduct this training.
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I suspect the ACMA site has the wrong document link.
Info here:
https://www.acma.gov.au/theACMA/aero...ces-guidelines
It should probably be this form:
https://www.acma.gov.au/-/media/Lice...ocx.docx?la=en
But check with Radiocommunications Licensing and Assignments Section, ACMA: [email protected]
Info here:
https://www.acma.gov.au/theACMA/aero...ces-guidelines
It should probably be this form:
https://www.acma.gov.au/-/media/Lice...ocx.docx?la=en
But check with Radiocommunications Licensing and Assignments Section, ACMA: [email protected]
Thread Starter
So the refueler at BK on 119.1 must hold a Radio Operators Certificate of Proficiency??
And Rosie at Leigh Creek required one?
Or is the law universally ignored?
And Rosie at Leigh Creek required one?
Or is the law universally ignored?
Dick,
do you know for sure the refueller at BK didn't have one? Maybe he just told you that to wind you up.
Has been largely ignored in the past but a lot of places are now catching up. Probably being noted on audit findings of the non-compliance.
do you know for sure the refueller at BK didn't have one? Maybe he just told you that to wind you up.
Has been largely ignored in the past but a lot of places are now catching up. Probably being noted on audit findings of the non-compliance.
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You're putting words in his mouth... he's indirectly asking if he needs one. The refuellers at my end of town also have a fixed base station, not to mention their own discreet advertised frequency. I would be assuming that there is definitely an approval for the base station.
Man Bilong Balus long PNG
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You're gonna cop it when she reads this shortly. That's why I've quoted you, so you can't delete what you said! Lol. Tick, tick, tick...
Rosie 'don't take no **** from no-one!!!!'
Wonder if she has had any fruitcake lately?
Or is the law universally ignored?
DF.
From an email I received from CASA recently:
Licensing regulations update: using aeronautical radio – transition to new authorisation
New rules for transmitting on aeronautical radio frequencies and taxiing aircraft came into effect on 1 September 2014. The rules are contained in Part 64 of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations.
Under the rules, people who want to transmit on aeronautical radio frequencies are required to hold an Aeronautical Radio Operator Certificate (AROC). This replaces the old Aeronautical Radio Operator Certificate of Proficiency (AROCOP) and the flight radiotelephone operator licence (FROL).
If you held a valid AROCOP or FROL, issued under Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 before 1 September 2014, you are taken to meet the new requirements and are eligible for an AROC. You can continue to use your AROCOP and FROL until 31 August 2018 – beyond this date you need to hold an AROC. Student pilots and holders of flight crew licences don’t need to have an AROC.
To obtain an AROC you need to complete and lodge an application form (CASA Form 64-ROC)—along with a certified true copy of your AROCOP— by 31 August 2018. Before submitting, make sure you include ‘transition’ on the top of your application form. There will be no charge for this service if the application is received by CASA before this date. Please note that if you do not lodge an application to transition your old certificate by this date, you will no longer be able to use your authorisation.
More details on the new rules for operating on aeronautical radio frequencies and taxiing aeroplanes are available on the CASA website.
DF.
Licensing regulations update: using aeronautical radio – transition to new authorisation
New rules for transmitting on aeronautical radio frequencies and taxiing aircraft came into effect on 1 September 2014. The rules are contained in Part 64 of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations.
Under the rules, people who want to transmit on aeronautical radio frequencies are required to hold an Aeronautical Radio Operator Certificate (AROC). This replaces the old Aeronautical Radio Operator Certificate of Proficiency (AROCOP) and the flight radiotelephone operator licence (FROL).
If you held a valid AROCOP or FROL, issued under Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 before 1 September 2014, you are taken to meet the new requirements and are eligible for an AROC. You can continue to use your AROCOP and FROL until 31 August 2018 – beyond this date you need to hold an AROC. Student pilots and holders of flight crew licences don’t need to have an AROC.
To obtain an AROC you need to complete and lodge an application form (CASA Form 64-ROC)—along with a certified true copy of your AROCOP— by 31 August 2018. Before submitting, make sure you include ‘transition’ on the top of your application form. There will be no charge for this service if the application is received by CASA before this date. Please note that if you do not lodge an application to transition your old certificate by this date, you will no longer be able to use your authorisation.
More details on the new rules for operating on aeronautical radio frequencies and taxiing aeroplanes are available on the CASA website.
DF.
This is simply paper shuffling make work by CASA. The sale of hand held air band VHF transceivers is uncontrolled. Therefore the occasional cases of drunken or drug affected misuse will continue will continue.
To put that another way, as a police sergeant said while checking my gun safe: "I don't know why we bother. You licence holders are all so law abiding".
To put that another way, as a police sergeant said while checking my gun safe: "I don't know why we bother. You licence holders are all so law abiding".
These CASA authorisations to transmit on aviation band frequencies are nothing new. Always been the case, as far back as DCA days.
Just to clarify, you have two separate things:
$88 is cheap. A licence to operate for commercial purposes on land mobile frequencies is ... significantly more
Edit to add:
I recall that a few years back a reminder went out via RAPAC that UNICOMs (and AFRU, AAIS etc.) needed to be licensed with the ACMA (in addition to the CASA authorisation to transmit), and that a check had been done between the ACMA's frequency assignment and license register vs ERSA FAC listings for aerodromes with UNICOMs listed, and some discrepancies had been picked up i.e. UNICOMs listed but not licensed.
Dick, I literally had to jump through flaming hoops to get a license for my VHF handheld. The only way I managed to eventually get it was to get a student pilot's license. I am only legally permitted to transmit on two frequencies, 126.7 & 129.9. For the "privilege" of using those two frequencies I have to pay the ACMA a fee, which has steadily gone up every year. My last renewal was $88.00.
- a licence from the ACMA to operate your aviation band transceiver, and
- an authorisation from CASA to transmit on aviation band frequencies.
$88 is cheap. A licence to operate for commercial purposes on land mobile frequencies is ... significantly more
Edit to add:
I recall that a few years back a reminder went out via RAPAC that UNICOMs (and AFRU, AAIS etc.) needed to be licensed with the ACMA (in addition to the CASA authorisation to transmit), and that a check had been done between the ACMA's frequency assignment and license register vs ERSA FAC listings for aerodromes with UNICOMs listed, and some discrepancies had been picked up i.e. UNICOMs listed but not licensed.
Last edited by CaptainMidnight; 16th Jan 2018 at 22:33.
I recall that a few years back a reminder went out via RAPAC that UNICOMs (and AFRU, AAIS etc.) needed to be licensed with the ACMA (in addition to the CASA authorisation to transmit), and that a check had been done between the ACMA's frequency assignment and license register vs ERSA FAC listings for aerodromes with UNICOMs listed, and some discrepancies had been picked up i.e. UNICOMs listed but not licensed.
DF.
If I were you, I'd not renew and take the chance that you'll not end up in Yatala Women's Gaol.
(Those extremely naughty publicans at Marree and William Creek, who were allegedly involved in the new engraving of 'Marree Man' appear to have been let off the hook?