Radio boost for LSAR

LABOUR OF LOVE: Volunteers install the repeater. PHOTO: SUPPLIED

Following a major Search and Rescue operation in the Te Urewera Ranges in 2012 the Whakatane Land Search and Rescue Group (LSAR) decided to install a permanent VHF radio communications repeater in the Northern Te Urewera and Waioeka Forest region.

The system would particularly enhance the initial stages of a LSAR operation, by enabling immediate VHF radio communications between LSAR field teams in remote areas and the incident control point, usually located in an easily accessible area near the search.

In the past, there has often been a delay in setting up an adequate VHF radio system while a portable repeater was either flown in by helicopter or carried in by search teams when a helicopter could not be used.

For the project to come to reality there were a few challenges to be met. Firstly the allocation of an appropriate VHF radio frequency within the Emergency Services Band had to be obtained.

The remote location and at times adverse weather conditions at the high-altitude site meant the design of the system had to cater for possible lightning strikes. The remote site also required a relatively maintenance-free solar power system, plus an adequately protected radio communications system that could be turned on or off remotely via a cellphone call system.

A Department of Conservation concession was required to progress the project and this included close liaison with the relative hapu within the Waimana Kaaku with historical connections to the area.

Funding was obtained from local and wider community funding organisations.

Fortunately the local LSAR volunteers collectively possessed the trade skills and technical knowledge to design and build most of the communication and structural equipment, while providing hundreds of hours of their time at no cost to the project.

A recent period of settled weather enabling some challenging helicopter operations to be undertaken saw the project completed last month.

Recent tests show the coverage of the radio repeater system to be greater than initially thought, with further tests due over the coming months.

The repeater system will be very beneficial in both LSAR operations and any local Civil Defence emergencies in future.

The Whakatane Land Search and Rescue Group would like to thank the following for their support: ITM , Horizon Energy Contractors, JA Russell Electrical Wholesalers, NZ Police, Department of Conservation, Alan McDonald, Waimana Kaaku Committee, Whakerae Marae Committee, Te Pa O Tauanui Marae Committee, Nova Energy Community Support Fund, The Southern Trust Funding Group and Whakatane Land Search and Rescue volunteers.