John Harper vk2fcom listens on VHF as David Harvey vk2dmh (that's me with the hat) tests the HF radio net at Lostock base
A dedicated group of Amateur Radio operators from Sydney took part in a multi-agency search and rescue exercise in a remote area of New South Wales to help in the continuing search for VH-MDX, a small plane that crashed some 30 years ago with four persons on board.
The single-engined Cessna aircraft had taken off from Queensland to Sydney’s Bankstown airport when the experienced pilot, Michael Hutchins, radioed that he was experiencing severe turbulence, the plane had been hit by lightning and he could no longer tell up from down. To make matters worse, the wings were icing up and, despite his best efforts, the Cessna was losing altitude.
The airplane disappeared from radar and all communications ceased a few minutes later.
The little Cessna’s four passengers were NSW Police Inspector Ken Price of the Water Police, who was travelling together with Noel Wildash, Phillip Pembroke and Rhett Bosler.
Compton Allen VK2HRX from WICEN explains ham radio tracking with ARPS to Roger Gough (Police Rescue) and John Tonitto (VRA), at right.
Search aircraft sent to the general area could find no sign of wreckage, and there was no smoke or fire to guide them. And New South Wales officers from Maitland, Dungog and Gloucester police stations launched intensive land searches after the crash was reported, but wreckage of the plane and the remains of its five occupants was not found.
For thirty years since the accident, teams of volunteers have returned to the area every year to walk, chop and climb their way through every piece of unsearched landscape in the hope that somebody will trip over a piece of wreckage or spot something that ends the riddle of VH-MDX. The areas that have been searched are marked off on a large map, so further unsearched areas can be checked the following year.
The going is so rough and exhausting that it can take a search team one hour of chopping through dense undergrowth to travel just 100 meters (yards) on the map. Searchers on foot have to hack a path through dense brambles and clinging vines which can trip a walker so they fall flat on their face. The area is also full of other hazards such as the highly-venomous and aptly-named fierce snake, stinging trees, poisonous ticks and annoying leeches.
Bushwalking search and rescue volunteers set out on Sat 15 October 2011 to look for VH-MDX. After 30 years the site of the plane crash has still not been found
For the safety of the volunteer searchers, each of the six teams carried one vhf or uhf handheld radio (a 5-watt type walkie talkie) that was set and locked to a commercial frequency. They also carried a portable 2-way HF radio, a QMAC HF-90 transceiver. These tiny but full-power Australian-made radios cover the full HF radio spectrum, but had been pre-programmed with four fixed HF channels between 2 MHz and 8 Mhz that had the best chance of covering the distances required. Packed in a rainproof canvas box, the HF sets included a short wire antenna that would work using skywave or NVIS signals to connect with any of several radio command posts set up and manned by WICEN New South Wales. (WICEN is a volunteer organization of licensed and qualified amateur radio operators who donate some of their time and expertise to emergency communications to benefit the community.)
Groups helping with the search this year included the Bushwalkers Wilderness Rescue Squad, NSW Police Rescue Squad, NSW Volunteer Rescue Association (the VRA), WICEN, Patonga RFS (Rural Fire Service), Baulkham Hills SES (State Emergency Service), Gosford SES and a team of four-wheel-drive enthusiasts from the Toyota Land Cruiser Club.
Incoming search terms:
- ALE howto with icom ic-f7000
- vh mdx accident
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- qmac hf-90
- mdx aircraft
- manpack radio q mac hf90
- lost aircraft radio talks
- ic7200 crash
- hf handie talkie
- david harvey vh-mdx
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