This was established in 2015 as a joint initiative between the following organisations:
The objective of the project was to provide much needed VHF marine radio services, in particular during the Sydney to Hobart race, which is monitored from Marine Rescue NSW, Eden Communications station. Many yachts come close inshore during the race and, in the absence of reliable communications, many were unable to summon assistance in an emergency in the past.
The project brief was to provide the following radio channels and access them from multiple locations, by multiple users:
Mt Imlay was an established site, which now also hosts Ch 16 services
Timbillica fire tower is a Forestry NSW owned site, who kindly made their site available via a site sharing agreement. Their assistance was much appreciated.
Also, operate multiple radio services within very close proximity and without mutual interference
2.1 Electrical power
This was solved by designing a hybrid system using wind power and solar power, the former powering the site at night
Batteries were installed to store the power when the wind dies and the clouds prevent the solar panels from charging the batteries
2.2 VHF aerials
To reduce the number of these and avoid mutual interference between services, two (2) VHF aerials were installed:
2.3 UHF links
The 900 MHz data link to Mallacoota allows the VHF services to connect to the internet and thus link Timbillica to multiple distant locations
The UHF voice links provide local access from Mallacoota and Eden for Channels 16 and Ch 67
2.4 Installation design
The existing solar array support and site building provided the necessary infrastructure to support the new equipment.
The site has good track access and it survived the terrible 2019 bush fires
2.5 Interference control
The new VHF services would not interfere with any existing radio services on site, in particular those by the fire spotter in the tower.
- Coast Guard Victoria
- Marine Rescue NSW
- Cruising Yacht Club of Australia
The objective of the project was to provide much needed VHF marine radio services, in particular during the Sydney to Hobart race, which is monitored from Marine Rescue NSW, Eden Communications station. Many yachts come close inshore during the race and, in the absence of reliable communications, many were unable to summon assistance in an emergency in the past.
The project brief was to provide the following radio channels and access them from multiple locations, by multiple users:
Mt Imlay was an established site, which now also hosts Ch 16 services
Timbillica fire tower is a Forestry NSW owned site, who kindly made their site available via a site sharing agreement. Their assistance was much appreciated.
- Technical Challenges
Also, operate multiple radio services within very close proximity and without mutual interference
2.1 Electrical power
This was solved by designing a hybrid system using wind power and solar power, the former powering the site at night
Batteries were installed to store the power when the wind dies and the clouds prevent the solar panels from charging the batteries
2.2 VHF aerials
To reduce the number of these and avoid mutual interference between services, two (2) VHF aerials were installed:
2.3 UHF links
The 900 MHz data link to Mallacoota allows the VHF services to connect to the internet and thus link Timbillica to multiple distant locations
The UHF voice links provide local access from Mallacoota and Eden for Channels 16 and Ch 67
2.4 Installation design
The existing solar array support and site building provided the necessary infrastructure to support the new equipment.
The site has good track access and it survived the terrible 2019 bush fires
2.5 Interference control
The new VHF services would not interfere with any existing radio services on site, in particular those by the fire spotter in the tower.
- Radio Coverage with Mt Nowa Nowa
- This site compliments the Coast Guard Mt Nowa-Nowa radio site (near Lakes Entrance and also on Channels 16 and 67), to provide wide area radio services:
- Sydney to Hobart race
- Had Timbillica been in existence in 1998 when the race competitors were hit with severe weather, then it is most likely that less lives and yachts would have been lost.