WA Radio Scanner Users' Group

Something has had me curious for some time and maybe one of our FESA members may have an answer. Not long after the OLD Midland Fire Station on Gt Eastern Hwy was vacated, a new FESA sign appeared out the front saying 'WA E.R.N. Project'. The office often has 4WDs parked in front, and i was wondering what the E.R.N. Project is

Also on a couple of occaisions i have seen the roller doors up, and it looks like the 'truck bays' are full of boxes and crap. Is the old station also being used as a storage unit

auntys_eyes wrote:Something has had me curious for some time and maybe one of our FESA members may have an answer. Not long after the OLD Midland Fire Station on Gt Eastern Hwy was vacated, a new FESA sign appeared out the front saying 'WA E.R.N. Project'. The office often has 4WDs parked in front, and i was wondering what the E.R.N. Project is

The WAERN - Western Australian Emergency Radio Network, is mostly the FESA project to combine existing SES, DEC (CALM), FESA, Dept of fisheries, Shire etc radio resources into a common VHF/UHF system, or at least enable easy communication between all of these.

From what I've heard, Most FESA vehicles will have a dual band VHF high band (161Mhz) and UHF transceiver that can automatically repeat between VHF and UHF. So a firey can enter a building, use his handheld on UHF and be heard by 6AR on the VHF repeater via his truck.

In the country, farmers using their ordinary UHF CBs can talk to firies if need be and be heard on their VHF system and vis-versa.

All very cool from a technical perspective but I think it's now going through the usual bureaucratic government process as it starts to be implemented.

No... it's the base for the new WAERN radio system being developed for W.A. The guys involved use that place for a lot of the work rather than clogging up FESA House.

Stuff they do involves the new VHF High band network, working on the new dual band radios, the new CCS (Country Communications System) and other planning and development.

WAERN is not just firies - with the new radios they can have FESA converse with people from DEC, SJA, WAPOL (maybe, eventually), Dept of Fisheries and marine.

Methinks it is a wise use of the old station.

the old spearwood fire station round the corner from me has some guy living in it has been for a while, i noticed the oconnor was listed for sale via tender too,