27-12-2022, 08:58 PM
Hi, nothing like a good mystery to work on.
One thing you could supply that would assist is the dimension leg-to-leg (outside) of the bottom section of the tower. That would give us a dimension to scale the antenna elements against and thus their approximate frequency range.
There is one 'local' side mount dipole which is possibly UHF, the bottom 6 and 3 element yagis are vertically polarised so probably are part of a wide area linking facilty for UHF mobile radio network. There is another yagi further up near the SMD but the element details are not clear enough in the photos to even guess whether UHF or high-band VHF.
It would not be a Telstra facillity from back in the late 1980s, they 'did' their facilities in a much more professional way and (generally) did not do the interlinking that way. It is more likely to be a left-over from one of the mobile two-way radio companies that went bust when new technology (trunking) overtook the style of comm's back then.
I was involved in inspecting some of that style of facilities and comms types back in that time as a part of my job for the Dept of Communications (later SMA and now ACMA) so have some familiarity with how things were done back then. It is unlikely that there would be any records on file available from back (eg ACMA) then so the next best option is any paper records within the building itself - and there should be some minimal licensing paperwork inside as it was mandated at that time.
Hopefully there is no current facilities lease in place that has legal jeopardy attached despite your purchase of the land.
You will need to get professional riggers to drop the tower safely and it looks like it would require significant maintenance to get it useable again.
**** You also need to verify if there is mains power still on the facility before you do anything significant inside the building. **** Safety first.
Doug VK4ADC
Postscript :
A few more thoughts this morning..
Given the number of antennas, there had to be at least 4 and probably 8 frequencies in the RRL and making it a defined base/repeater/linking site. The location would have been defined in Australian Map Grid (AMG) coordinates as Zone, Easting and Northing rather than Lat and Long so a quick site search might fail. Those AMG values are correct usually to 10 metres. You will need to find the exact Lat/Long using Google Earth or simlar, convert to AMG, and then search the RRL again using that data. Once you find the site definition, the attached frequency records point back at the licensee/owner. If there are literally no frequencies still listed, or the defined site is de-listed then the site may have been abandoned and there are no historical links to follow.
Of course, the facility could be operational even now so don't drop towers or cut mains power until you have some answers..
Your solicitors undoubtedly did a encumbrances check but may not have found a leasing arrangement for a small portion of the land. It would pay to ask them.
One thing you could supply that would assist is the dimension leg-to-leg (outside) of the bottom section of the tower. That would give us a dimension to scale the antenna elements against and thus their approximate frequency range.
There is one 'local' side mount dipole which is possibly UHF, the bottom 6 and 3 element yagis are vertically polarised so probably are part of a wide area linking facilty for UHF mobile radio network. There is another yagi further up near the SMD but the element details are not clear enough in the photos to even guess whether UHF or high-band VHF.
It would not be a Telstra facillity from back in the late 1980s, they 'did' their facilities in a much more professional way and (generally) did not do the interlinking that way. It is more likely to be a left-over from one of the mobile two-way radio companies that went bust when new technology (trunking) overtook the style of comm's back then.
I was involved in inspecting some of that style of facilities and comms types back in that time as a part of my job for the Dept of Communications (later SMA and now ACMA) so have some familiarity with how things were done back then. It is unlikely that there would be any records on file available from back (eg ACMA) then so the next best option is any paper records within the building itself - and there should be some minimal licensing paperwork inside as it was mandated at that time.
Hopefully there is no current facilities lease in place that has legal jeopardy attached despite your purchase of the land.
You will need to get professional riggers to drop the tower safely and it looks like it would require significant maintenance to get it useable again.
**** You also need to verify if there is mains power still on the facility before you do anything significant inside the building. **** Safety first.
Doug VK4ADC
Postscript :
A few more thoughts this morning..
Given the number of antennas, there had to be at least 4 and probably 8 frequencies in the RRL and making it a defined base/repeater/linking site. The location would have been defined in Australian Map Grid (AMG) coordinates as Zone, Easting and Northing rather than Lat and Long so a quick site search might fail. Those AMG values are correct usually to 10 metres. You will need to find the exact Lat/Long using Google Earth or simlar, convert to AMG, and then search the RRL again using that data. Once you find the site definition, the attached frequency records point back at the licensee/owner. If there are literally no frequencies still listed, or the defined site is de-listed then the site may have been abandoned and there are no historical links to follow.
Of course, the facility could be operational even now so don't drop towers or cut mains power until you have some answers..
Your solicitors undoubtedly did a encumbrances check but may not have found a leasing arrangement for a small portion of the land. It would pay to ask them.
Doug VK4ADC @ QG62LG51
http://www.vk4adc.com
This Forum is only going to be as interesting as the posts it contains.
If you have a comment or question, post it as it may trigger or answer the query in someone else's mind.
http://www.vk4adc.com
This Forum is only going to be as interesting as the posts it contains.
If you have a comment or question, post it as it may trigger or answer the query in someone else's mind.