The Waverley Society and many of its members are located close to the centre of Sydney and are happy to provide a contact point for hams visiting the city from overseas or other parts of Australia. Visitors are welcome to contact us in advance.

Alternatively put out a call on our 2m or 70cm repeaters when you arrive – there is usually someone listening. They are located 2 km east of the city centre, so are generally accessible using handhelds from hotels in the CBD.

Click for details of our repeaters as well as IRLP, Echolink & D-STAR facilities. A map of repeaters in Australia overlaid on Google maps can be found HERE .

Repeaters here in VK generally do not require CTCSS or toneburst to access, but ours were suffering so much QRM that a tone had to be introduced. You can find details of other useful frequencies in the greater Sydney area, including a repeater map, elsewhere on our web pages. Interference from pagers on the 148-149 MHz range can be a nuisance on 2 metres, especially with hand-held rigs.

Here is a useful portable 2m antenna to improve performance of handheld rigs operating from hotel rooms. Just clip the top to the curtain close to the window.

Visiting amateurs are allowed to operate in Australia using their home call sign followed by the suffix “portable” VK(state – 2 for NSW) eg “G0ZZZ portable VK2”, though the VK is sometimes omitted for local QSOs. Full details on bands and licence levels can be found on the ACMA web site. Those staying for longer than 90 days will require a reciprocal VK apparatus licence.

The ACMA web site now carries an up to date index of all VK calls, showing names and addresses of all ham (and commercial) radio licence holders.

In general, Australian amateur band frequencies are similar to those in other countries, but there are some differences, mainly in the VHF and UHF bands.

We welcome visitors to any of our meetings, the times of which are shown on our Activities page (See left sidebar). A map identifying the location of our clubhouse (illustrated) on the waterfront at Rose Bay, about 6 km East of the city centre is available, with details of public transport facilities.

Up to date news on Ham activities is broadcast twice every Sunday at 10:00 and 19:30 local time by Amateur Radio NSW. The broadcast is put out on most amateur bands, but the most convenient frequencies for visitors would be 147.000 MHz and 438.525 MHz. Copies of the broadcast text can also be found on their web site.

Visitors from many countries may be able to operate their mobile phones here, but beware of allowing them to receive incoming calls redirected from home, otherwise you may find yourself up for international charges when your friends call thinking you are still at home! Also consider the cost of phone internet access which can be very high when roaming. Get details from your telco before leaving. Local phone calls, except to/from mobiles, are not timed. The cost of calls to/from mobiles is on a par with the cost of international calls to popular countries!

Australian power supplies are 240 volts AC, 50 Hz, with the (female) sockets wired for Active, Neutral and Earth as shown.

AM broadcast stations have a 9KHz separation (in the US it is 10kHz), so check this setting if you have a digital radio. As a bit of trivia – the digits of all VK AM station frequencies add up to 9 (e.g. 702KHz = 7 + 2 = 9, 1269KHz = 1 + 2 + 6 + 9 = 18 = 1 + 8 = 9).