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 the 2m or 70cm Paddington repeater channel when you arrive - there is usually someone listening. The repeater is located within 2 km of the city centre, so is generally accessible using handhelds from hotels in the CBD.
Paddington frequency details are
| Band | Output | Input | CTCSS |
| 2m | 147.025 MHz | 147.625 MHz | 123 Hz |
| 70 cm | 438.575 MHz | 433.575 MHz | 123 Hz |
Repeaters here in VK generally do not require CTCSS or toneburst to access, but those above were suffering so much QRM that a tone had to be introduced. You can find details of these and other useful frequencies in the greater Sydney area, including a 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.
The ACMA has issued a class licence in 2008 allowing visiting amateurs to operate in Australia for up to 90 days using their home call sign followed by the suffix VK followed by "portable" and then the location of the station, without doing anything more. Full details on bands and licence levels should be found on the ACMA web site .
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. The WIA publishes an annual Call Book, costing about $25, which can be obtained by post from the Wireless Institute of Australia.
In general, Australian Amateur band frequencies are similar to those in the USA, but there are some differences. These are
| Band | Differences |
| 160 m | Limited to 1.800 - 1.875 MHz |
| 80 m | Limited to 3.500 - 3.700 MHz plus DX window 3.795 - 3.800 MHz |
| 1.25m | Not available in Australia |
We welcome visitors to any of our meetings, the times of which are shown on our Activities page. Two maps identifying the location of our clubhouse on the waterfront at Rose Bay, about 6 km East of the city centre are available.
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 some countries (e.g. UK or Israel) may be able to operate their digital 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! 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!
Should you want to purchase any electronic parts while in Sydney, there are some useful shops in the city itself. At the south end of York Street opposite the Queen Victoria Building are Dick Smith, Tandy and Jaycar. These also have suburban branches. Jaycar tends to be the cheapest being aimed at the hobbyist, while the other two being owned by Woolworths, our biggest supermarket operator, are more consumer oriented. There are no ham radio dealers in the city centre. A number of computer shops can be found in the same area.
Most goods including, ham gear, generally carry a Goods & Services Tax (GST) of 10% included in the selling price, so unless the exchange rate is favourable, it may not be particularly cheap on an international basis. Ham gear is not stocked by "Duty Free" shops and as far as is known none of the ham dealers supply tax free to visitors. In our experience, the cheapest place for amateur gear has been Hong Kong, provided you buy from specialist communication shops rather than those also selling consumer electronics. The latter shops often sell obsolete gear priced at whatever they can con out of you.
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).
