On Thu, 18 Nov 2004 22:43:29 +1000, you wrote: > On Thu, 2004-11-18 at 20:53, Leigh Bunting wrote: >> Now that most of us aircraft owners are wading through the CASA form for >> the re-registration of our aircraft and assembling all the documention >> to prove who we are, comes another 'survey' from ASA on radios. >> >> For those who aren't on their database , go here: >> >> http://www.airservicesaustralia.com/pilotcentre/projects/vhf25khz/ >> >> Not that it will bother most glider pilots, but it seems that radios >> with less than 720 channels will not be acceptable for use in the near >> future, at least in those parts of the airspace where talking on radio >> is a necessary evil. > > I think that going to 720 channels could be of benefit to gliding. At > present, we have only the three 'official' gliding frequencies and this > can cause some problems. > > For example, on the Darling Downs, McCaffrey Field (DDSC) uses 122.5 as > its airfield frequency and Kingaroy uses 122.7. This means that there is > only 122.9 available for cross country. If you are pair flying, it would > be useful to have another couple of usable frequencies. > > I realise that many gliders don't have 720 channel capability, but this > should not prevent us from trying to acquire additional channel space - > an increasing number of gliders will be able to use them.
I am all in favour of gliders using radio, particularly in the approach phase, to assist with "see and avoid", but the cost of upgrading to 720/760 ch radios is hard to justify for the older training aircraft, which don't really cover their keep anyway, unless self insured (dangerous practise IMO). Since gliders do not have to carry radio, I would assume that we will not be compelled to use newer radios if the old ones can cover the local frequencies. Apart from the fact that most older GA radios draw too much current for our battery driven systems, a changeover phase in GA might provide some cheap radios for gliders which currently don't have this facility. Cheers, John G. _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
