It seems the powers in control of spectrum management down under have decided that they need the frequencies between 27.405 and 28.000 for something special because they are out and about visiting radio operators that they have monitored operating in this region of the RF spectrum. Freebanders. Dirty filthy pirate scum! The men in white coats and white vans prickling with antennas like porcupines on wheels are targeting the Australian freebanders. It is war! That 43 division card will soon become a rarity and Italians and French freeband operators will soon be sneaking in to Australia to set up clandestine stations on 27.555 for the rest of the world to enjoy.
I don’t know if there was any warning about this operation but it must have been budgeted and planned for some time. I just wonder what the intention is and what they hope to gain for the money spent. I guess there is a law making it illegal so they can administer some fines and confiscate the out of CB band equipment but we have not heard of too many radios being taken and no court cases yet. Just a lot of warnings and finger waggling. Maybe they just want to force those illegal operators to go sit a test and gain a foundation ham license so they can charge them to keep possession of the ham radio they use on CB? (and get to have all your data on file so they can maintain control.) But Australia is a big place. It is going to cost a fortune in fuel and wages to go visit all those freebander bastards. Seems like a great way to spend tax payers funds. I just can’t work out why the Govt. thinks it is so important to stamp out the illegal radio activity on that tiny spectrum of frequency between 27.500 and 27,600 mhz. What else do they want to use that for? Who really cares about freebanders anymore?…TV is all digital and if the neighbours stereo is making strange noises when you fire up it is because that same department allowed substandard audio equipment to be sold in Australia in the first place! Have they really got nothing better to do?
Forget about the foul language on the Australia’s frequency of choice..27.355 LSB, (channel 35) That is fair dinkum Aussi culture. Those blokes with low 50 IQ’s have to be allowed to express themselves “effen” fluently…its a healthy outlet. If they weren’t mouthing off on CB they would be mouthing off at people on the street so best keep them bailed up at home behind a CB microphone speaking American CB slang..”pedal to tha medal good buddy, youse in ma cherry patch” and so on.
Its a lot more fun for the white jackets to go chasing after smart arse freebanders pretending to be Hams. It actually takes a bit of a brain to get out on “tripple nickel.” It doesn’t really make a lot of sense for the government to spend vast sums of money running around the country to chase down these freeband operators and persuade them to stick to the CB band between 26.965 and 27.405. But somebody obviously thinks it is worthwhile. Freebanders are pretty independent blokes and probably won’t want to restrict their international DXing below ch 40, so the next step will need to be confiscation of equipment, court cases and the inevitable fine to pay for it all. More silly waste of public time and money.
I am not aware of any other countries quite as intent as Australia for going after out of band CB operators. Maybe Pakistan or Iran or Saudi…but over there they might cut your hands off as well; so you can’t use the radio…the gear can stay to remind you why you shouldn’t have, and now can’t, use it. But down under as long as you stay on the designated CB frequencies you can swear and basically say and do whatever you want and you will be left alone. If we were to use ch 35 as a benchmark for learning about Australians and their customs it would not be very pretty. It might be difficult to find dictionaries to explain the meanings of a lot of the dialogue heard. I guess that is what the CB radio spectrum is all about…and if you want to operate a CB then you better conform and get with it….and while you are at it..get a decently large amplifier, an export CB with extra bands and a bunch of beep and echo options and jump right in. You will be made to feel at home…abused, slandered and thoroughly victimized. Aussies love that sort of shit….Play music, burp, fart, and do your damnedest to disrupt everybody else and have a hell of a good time doing it. For a few blokes in NSW the only way they can get people to talk to them is when they are being told to piss off !! I don’t think ACMA want to mess with those sort…some of them might be stupid enough to to beat on those ACMA inspectors with a piece of wood for trying to remove their favourite “Dick Smith Hornet” CB radio. That would put an end to the visits pretty smartly methinks…So don’t sweat it, use what ever sort of radio you want down there and as much power as you can and say what ever you want…just as long as it stays in band. What goes on on CB stays on CB…OK!
And if you want to work out of country get on down to 27255 on the upper side, crank up the linyar, turn the house around, and start making some noise….But don’t forget, it is illegal to knowingly work an “out of country station” so what ever you do, do not call CQ DX …..or we will be coming to visit…..You have been warned!!
COMMENTS WELCOME…have you had a visit? Tell us all about it….
91DD018 
Dave I agree with your statement about NSW. That is the state I live in and it is like banging your head against a wall trying to chat to most locals in this state. I only opperate DX as local short skip on ch35 is utterly moronic to say the least. There are still some old school users on ch16lsb from time to time however most time is spent on ch38 chasing DX from the US. I know of a few operators that have had visits from the ACMA of late for operating free band and this is the reason why I have been quiet on air.
Cb is loosing its fun, sad but true.
Thanks Paul, I heard that the inspectors doing the rounds were federal not state. Don’t know what that means so appreciate some feedback. I note more and more DX going on lower down and the DX stations have started calling on ch35 but the response they get down there is pretty poor and abuse seems to be the preferred way to deal with DX on ch35 from Sydney.
27255 USB will take off as more people use it.
ACMA is a federal department.
I did read that (OSCR) “ocean surface current radar” operating in the free band may be the reason for the acma clenching its fist
just nsw ? trust me when melbourne can be heard in nsw there are some absolute basket cases . Tasmania and western australia are almost idiot free from my experience or at least from people with enough grace to actually have a conversation . South aus and qld are also very good save for 1 or 2 oporaters . Now if it all gets too much i go to 10m or a lower band where 90 % of oporaters are great but there are tools on there as well they just have a more subtle insideous way of showing it rather than be a rubber mallet to the forhead like 888
Perfect ly put..
Well they had better be licensed to operate that shit in the freeband….
Looks like you will see a lot more mobile operators fire up on free band, make it hard for the ACMA to catch you
iv enjoyed reading your comments dave, I will be using 255, not been on 11 since last November, been on radio over thirty years, cant stop now lol
I think the whole system needs an overhaul.. The Kiwis have 26 & 27mhz now..Why do they need 27.500-27.600 all of a sudden ??
I know it’s illegal etc. But maybe they can explain why all of a sudden after many years of doing nothing..They’re so interested in the 27.500-600 Band ?.Bet they don’t. in a perfect world they would give us from 26.205-to 27.665 .Using SSB/AM/FM. 26 Mhz would let us chat to our 41 Div friends ( even though most of them are on 27 now ,lol). I have no interest in sitting on 355 Lsb with the Foulmouth Inbreds. Even 385 has American Idiots similar to our Morons..Excuse the Rant..
73’s
Excused!
Thanks Dave lol.Btw I love the articles. Just had a quick listen on 27.355 Lsb . First thing I hear is that Halfwit Wally flying the chl 35 flag swearing his head off about Wogs or something. I’lk take my chances on 555 lol.
73.
yes indeed..as Bill Tilman wrote ..it’s a brave man who farts in asia…and its a brave Cber who descends into the mayhem on ch 35. Gumboots, rubber gloves and earmuff and let rip!!! Hope it doesn’t spill over to NZ !!!
CS
Charlie Sierra DX Club
P.O.Box 11
33051 Aquilla (UD)
Italy
Monitor:
27.540 MHz USB
E-mail: csdx@bigfoot.com
Web: http://i.am/cshq
After a long discussion with Lionel of the Acma I may be able to clarify some confusion
The Acma does not have any authority to enter your premises without:
A, your permission
B, a warrant accompanied by a Police officer; either Federal or State depending on whether the warrant is state or federal
You can refuse entry or make an appointment to your convenience
The Acma does not have any authority to inspect your equipment without your permission.
The Acma can only inspect equipment which you are using. Its not illegal to own radio equipment unless its designated for the emergency services and is in current use by said authorities
The Acma can not turn equipment on, refuse to turn it on.
They can not confiscate equipment, you have to surrender it. That is why they try to make you sign. Don’t sign anything nor say anything., Ask for legal representation.
If you have an Amateur License the same applies.
The Acma can be told to make an appointment which is convenient to you.
If the Acma visits and leaves a calling card don’t return the call and invite them back like a certain Hunter Valley operator did, he even left his modified radios connected.
Remember this is cb radio, not ham radio. We are licensed for hf voice only. We don’t do nets, fm, irlp, rtty, sstv nor morse. If you wish to do such a mode become a ham. Try to keep competitions above 27.585. REMEMBER; common courtesy goes a long way.
Thanks Michael, and thanks to Lionel of ACMA for his explanations also. Did he, by any chance explain why the sudden interest in out of band CB? Every department has a budget so I hope they use theirs up quickly and go back behind their desks. It does make operating on the freeband a lot more exciting now and with the reduction in Aussi stations fighting for the rare DX in the freeband it means more chance for us mud ducks!!!
Has much equipment been seized that you know of? I s’pose those blokes that lost radios may not have a spare to go tell us all about it!!
I think most of us pirates have been caught big time with what has been giong here in Aussie with ACMA & free Banders. Most of us would have been a lot more carefull on giving too much away o, like our radio gear , antenna , location ect. We all know ther is a law against it , but after all these years we all did think a blind eye was being turned to us & our operation on 27.555, how wrong we were. I think ACMA jobs are on the line, sure of it, so either they want to clean up the show before they go, or otherwise they are trying to make out they are still needed in what they do. They can not clean up 27.355 or UHF CB no way Jose it is too big a job they are a lazy mob & they want the easy way out clean up a handfull of poor priates that do no one any any harm, makes them looks like they are doing a good job to the goverment & they can keep their jobs, great idea, someone in the department with a lot of brains worked this one out that is for sure, He may even get a promotion for this brain wave. Most freebanders are much more like the normal person in real life & do not conform to every stupid law & reg in place in this country, neither do they fit into normal cb channels & do not fit into the ham world so we are a people of our own , we are a out cast on radio no place to lay our head or place to call home. But we do love radio & the passion for it very much & feel free in doing what we do & have made our own band for likes of us to give us a home some where to go. So here we are caught with our pants down , a easy target , a escape goat for ACMA & their jobs . I cannot believe a department of the Australia goverment would waste so much tax payers money & time on a handfull of people that do no harm to no one , when we have much bigger problems at hand here down under , hang on they do this all the time in goverment departments, besides it does not come from there pockets so they do not really care what they do to ther fellow man . I guess after all this activy do ACMA go back to playing cards on Tax payers money & time What a shame & what a waste. Could they not find something better to do with their time . Leave us alone , do something more usefull clean up 27.355 at least .
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HI GUYS ROD .HERE WASTE TAX PAYERS TIME AND MONEY .
SOME GREAT ADVICE GIVEN HERE HOPE ALL TAKE NOTICE AS THE INSPECTORS LIE.
TAKE IT FROM ME LOTS VISITS PHONE CALLS AND PAPER WORK.
THEY FAIL TO TELL PEOPLE THERE LEGAL RIGHTS .
CANT SHOW INTERFERENCE REPORT OR ANY REASON TO BE THERE.EVEN AFTER
THEY SAY 900 MHZ PROBLEM ANOTHER LIE JUST TRYING GET FOOT IN THE DOOR.
FAILURE TO TELL YOU YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND YOU HAVE LET THEM TAKE YOUR GEAR
UNDER THREAT OF FINES AND FURTHER ACTION GET A LAWYER AND REQUEST IT BACK .
THEY HAVE FAILED TO FOLLOW THE LETTER OF THE LAW 😦 INFORM YOU OF YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS ) AND THEY KNOW
It’s jealous advanced amateur radio operators who are behind the crack down on the 27.555 MHz operators in Australia. They are so jealous of DX abilities on this band.
I totally agree with you John. I used to be a freebander years ago and enjoyed the hobby. I hated the 40 channels of crap and it was great to talk DX to professional stations around the world on the freeband. There was no complex techno babble just a simple understanding of radio, antenna’s, propagation and of course the very social atmosphere. Then the crack down by the ACMA began so I got rid of all my radio gear. Then there were the amateurs who believe it would boost amateur numbers by restricting access to good DX on 11 meter freeband and offering a better life on the amateur bands. I was to learn that what was being offered was far worse than freeband. The foundation license is not worth the paper it’s printed on. It is unfair to assume everyone is capable to sit amateur exams to go on to become general license holders. I know of people that enjoy the hobby of HF radio purely for the social scene without all the sophisticated techno babble. To some people radio is a simple form of internet FaceBook without the computer sophistication. People do and want to lead simple uncomplicated lives too. This is what amateur radio fails to address and is one of the reasons why there is prejudice on the amateur bands against foundation license holders who do not upgrade. There are many different types of reasons behind the hobby of radio other than inventive electronic wiz bang theories and some of the advanced license holders with all their wisdom fail to understand this. Another reason the foundation license is not worth it is on all of the HF amateur bands I am surrounded by RF noise generated by electrical and electronic devices making the bands unusable with the pathetic 10 watts for the frequency bands given. This has been the case wherever I have shifted house and i have shifted house a number of times now. Foundation licence holders cannot even access digital modes to at least make some sort of contact on the HF bands over the electrical noise level. 2 meter VHF is also badly affected by RF noise too. I can walk down my street with my 2 meter HT and still have problems as everyone has solar (PV) devices and cheap nasty electronic devices these days. I have tried loop antenna’s, active antenna’s and the MFJ noise devices but nothing works. How about the ACMA protect the public against cheap and nasty solar (PV) devices or those nasty plasma tv’s that cause extreme noise across the RF spectrum?
On a good note I have listened on 11 meters and found that the freeband remains unaffected by electronic and electrical noise however just up the band a bit on the 10 meter band it is still quite unusable.
I do not know where I am going with my radio hobby from here…
Stuck between a rock and a hard place!
Welcome back to the friendly freeband!!!
It is not perfect but its home for a lot of us.
They legalized gay marriage and will probably legalize pot and a bunch of other shit before we will see the freeband legalized!!!
We are destined to remain pirates forever!
So, how many 43 division ops have been targeted/inspected by the ACMA so far? I have seen nothing on their (ACMA) website or in the news about this supposed operation. To me it is all just rumours.
i have been and lost a radio know many others in vic. told to diispose of chinese hand helds and take 27 megs out of amt. radios if they have lic. also know a lot who got flic gave up in disgust taffy [vic]
I’m not from Australia, but we discuss about this issue on 27.555 channel on Zello a lot. If you want to join up, download the zello program from their website on your phone or computer and search for the channel 27.555 .
Myself, I’m setting up a repeater on this program, so Aussies can continue to be active on the freeband. Their voice is transported over the internet into the repeater that is located outside of australia and broadcasted on the freeband. I’m looking for other operators who are interested in firing up more of these repeaters and have all Aussies on their with our repeater antennas pointed to Australia and put our middle finger up to these ACMA bastards.
Greetings to all.
Kurt
Freebanders are not breaking any laws, they are only breaking acts and statutes of a private corporation known as the ACMA, and therefore they have no legal rights over you or anyone. The only card they hold is bluff. http://abr.business.gov.au/SearchByAbn.aspx?abn=55386169386
Same with all local, state and even federal ‘governments’, police http://abr.business.gov.au/SearchByAbn.aspx?abn=63446481493 , etc etc. They are all registered businesses. Search yourself on the ABN lookup. They themselves are all in violation of our real Constitution, not the re-written and amended versions since the Illegal ‘Australia Act’ was passed without referendum in the 80’s. Why are we ruled by corporations?
That is an interesting view point. I hope it means I can now fire up my 5kw monster on ch35 lsb and drown out all of Sydney with my views on which way the cow should eat cabbage. Or is CB governed by laws? I always thought there were quite definite and enforceable rules as to which part of the band spectrum private unlicenced citizens were allowed to use radio equipment on. ie Transmit. The excuse has always been that out of band operation will interfere with other users somewhere else….I wonder if M’s arguments will hold up in a court of law in Australia. ?
Frankly speaking I don’t think it would bother anybody if a country decided to allow it’s citizens to use the band segment between 27.405 and 27.855 mhz. or for that matter part of the 26mhz spectrum. But there are lobbiest out there with powerful connections and loud voices. If you want to talk on the radio over seas become a HAM !! So we can control and tax you. The govt makes no money from CB other than fines and disposal of seized equipment. Does quite well out of ham licencing fees I guess? Probably loses money!! Australian wages being far too high for the work done. For years in the down cycle freebanders were left alone….Now when conditions are back and everybody is having some fun bringing the world together, (some will argue that!) using radio in the purist sense, like radio was when it was just starting..everybody was free to make and do and operate pretty much as they wanted. Regulation ruined the hobby. To my mind the the freebanders represent the true purists of the radio hobby. The true amateurs of the hobby. Working with limited equipment (and frequently limited knowledge) they push the boundaries with basic CB sets on the CB bands and the freeband. Hams should realize they need the freebanders because when 11m goes dead many of those folks will migrate down the band and become regular old licenced ham operators and help keep regulated amateur radio alive. The height of the sun spots is the spawning season for Ham radio. Without the influx of CB operators joining the ham fraternity the hobby would have died years ago. And they know it. !!! That’s why they did away with the morse code requirement. That’s why they made a new entry level requirements a little more than being able to write your name and address on the top of the page….Ham radio is dead and will die with out CB operators to fill the ranks.
So they better fuck off and leave us alone because they are cutting their own throats.
Well said!
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nothing more to add or say,well written.
except us 27mhz operators do a fantastic job with the bandwith we have.
its a shame a few give us a bad rep.
27mhz the best of all bands.
Australia – work until you die and don’t even THINK about stepping out of the ever narrowing line in the meantime.
Australia, Police State.
To be honest I don’t think advanced amateurs really care about the upper part of 27mhz there are plenty of better DX bands for us to use that are more reliable. As CBer I sometimes listen on 35 till one of my friends calls then we generally move to 34 or any other clear channel. I have used 27.555 a few times when the band opens but although it is not allowed for Cbers I consider it more of a CB band than anything else. so far I have had no visits (touch wood) but will definitely ask for an appointment if they ever come a knocking. My Amateur gear is legal but my CB gear not so much. As for the F call license most of the guys(Amateurs) I talk to about it think its great for the hobby and attracts people who might not otherwise bother and is quite a good license giving access to many great bands although I think the power restriction of 10 watts is a bit silly seeing as CB operators are legally allowed 12 but I don’t make the rules I just go along with the ones I agree with.
I got a visit in January . I think it was a Ham that dobbed me in…He let me keep the radio.Just get 11TX taken out.It’s @ the Local Tip now..I emailed the Local Ham radio Club 3 months ago about an F Call.Never Heard a thing.. So that’s that.
Yes I have been visited from Graham Stevenson from the ACMA and he conferscated my radio gear I had an old bushranger UHF rig and a 12 db ldx 450 home base with a Tait microphone and computer power supply Along with a heap of other UHF stuff I collected over the years of him looking for me we had so much fun those were the days now it’s not even worth switching it on to warm up my feet lol 73’s $cary 321 I’m QRT