A Guide to Marine Radio Services

Changes to Reception of HF Radio Weather Broadcasts

The Bureau of Meteorology advises users of its HF radio voice and radiofax broadcasts to be aware of changes in the reception of broadcasts following the transition to the new services which commence on 1 July 2002. 

Due to the new transmitter sites for the new network (VMC Australia Weather East located at Charleville, Qld, and VMW Australia Weather West located at Wiluna, WA) reception characteristics will change when existing services cease. Reception of voice services will also change as a result of the introduction of an additional 16MHz channel at VMC, and a new set of frequencies for VMW.

The Bureau advises users to test which frequencies best suit their particular listening requirements for time of day, month and season. Advice concerning the propagation of the Bureau's frequencies will be available on-line from the Ionospheric Prediction Service (IPS).
To see the IPS charts Click here

IPS Recommended Frequency Channels for VMC/VMW Broadcasts

The following map illustrates IPS recommendations of frequency selection for broadcasts made by VMC and VMW. The numbers shown correspond to the frequencies indicated by the legend on the IPS charts and represent the individual frequencies being broadcast. Their placement on the map indicates which frequency should provide best reception at that position for the date and time denoted.

Please note these maps show time designated as Universal Time Corordinate (UTC) where EST = UTC + 10 hrs; CST = UTC + 9.5 hrs; WST = UTC + 8 hrs.

In this sample, frequency 2 should provide best reception over the south west part of the Tasman Sea. Frequency 3 should provide the best reception through the eastern Bight, south of Tasmania and the central Tasman Sea. Frequency 4 should be the best received over the eastern Tasman Sea, the southern Coral sea, the western Bight and most of the coast and offshore areas of Western Australia.

These maps, covering each hour of the day and updated weekly, will be available via the IPS web site. Click here