ACBRO Team Inc (CB Radio)

Australian Association Of Citizens

And Band Radio Operators Inc 1980

Business Use Of UHF

ACBRO Home Page

Introduction

ACBRO has been aware of the many frustrated Operators that have to continually compete with the apparent lack of decorum on the UHF CB Radio by Business Operators. While there are those Business Operators that abide by the rules and regulations, even extending themselves to generally accepted practices of operation, there still exits far too many Business Operators who display a lack of consideration for not only the Class Licence System but generally accepted standards that have become a part of the CBRS by “gentleman’s agreement.” However, it must be stressed that at times, this situation exits as a result of ignorance and not any malicious intent.

 

It is to this end that ACBRO have embarked on a campaign of educating Business Users about UHF CB Radio. ACBRO have prepared the article that follows as an introduction to the issue. ACBRO envisage that eventually this article will be the basis for its campaign. Time will eventually see notification in the form of a letter or brochure being given to the many Business Operators that fail to comply with not only the legal requirements but also the generally accepted standards of operating a UHF CB Radio.

 

Let us understand that it is not possible that ACBRO will be able to reach every Business Operator in Australia that uses UHF CB Radio. This where ACBRO are calling for the support and the co-operation needed, from you – the CB fraternity – in order to accomplish its goal of at least reducing the incidence of abuse on the airwaves by some Business Operators.

 

Please read the following article (updated from a previous archival article) with attention being given to the section titled, “Combating the Problem.”

 

Business Operators Using UHF CB Radio

 

The Australian Association Of Citizens And Band Radio Operators Inc. (ACBRO) has served the Citizens Band Radio Operator and Fraternity by providing a CENTER POINT and a PORTAL to the Citizens Band Radio Service (CBRS) in Australia since the late 1970's. It has established itself as an advocate, advisory service, resource center, a means of educating the "new" CBer and as a liaison between the Fraternity and the Federal Government for the benefit of all Australian Citizens Band Radio Operators.

 

ACBRO continually receives expressions of concern from non-business operators of the UHF CB Radio Service regarding business operators using the service that are not observing accepted UHF CB Radio procedures. This has led to many conflicts, war of words and animosity between the two groups with many complaints being officially lodged with the Australian Communications And Media Authority (ACMA) as a result.

 

Business operators using the allocated frequencies of the service for business purposes have hinted at their desire to retain certain channels for their exclusive use. While it is perfectly legal for businesses to use the service for business traffic, it's clearly not acceptable for any operator of a business organisation to claim sole use of a CB frequency or channel.

 

However, ACBRO, in looking at the concern of many over this issue had to take into account the documented reasons as described in the Citizens Band Radio Class Licence System covering the operation and use of CB Radios. Non-business operators and those occupying a channel for business activity are not discriminated against. In part, the Class Licence states that the service is a two-way short distance voice communications service that can be used by any person in Australia and that the service may be used for virtually any form of personal voice communication activity, whether it be,

• recreational, domestic or
• in connection with work or business.

By the same token, those forming the latter group must know or be educated that they have to share the service with those who fit into the first group.

 

Only tolerance, understanding and education will permit this union to coexist in sharing the one commodity. It is hoped that where there is need for exchanges between parties from either group, that they can be negotiated sensibly and politely to the benefit of all of the users of the service. 

 

Business Operators Using UHF CB Radio Repeaters.

 

UHF Repeaters are special stations that are mostly owned by businesses, farmers and clubs and are situated in cities and rural areas on the highest points available. Their main function is to increase the communications range between sets at great distances. A signal received by it from a UHF set on a repeater output channel, even if it is weak and noisy, is instantly re-transmitted at full strength to another UHF set's input channel.

 

The comprehensive list of UHF CB Radio repeater stations around Australia would probably be much smaller were it not for the busi­ness community's participation, both active and financial in establishing and maintaining such repeaters. Many of the repeaters in some areas are established with a great input from the business community. However, it should be made quite clear that no one business or repeater licensee has any exclusive right of use of such repeaters, as their licensing conditions provide that use shall be for all (including non-business operators) without exclusion.

 

And equally so, no operator may claim the right to dominate use of a repeater to the exclusion of others. Putting this into practice of course requires the sometimes, unknown quantity - common sense - which at times appears to be a rare commodity on the CBRS.

 

Breakers should be heard and acknowledged, and given a fair go, but likewise, breakers should learn to be courteous if given the opportunity to break in. They should state the cause of interrupting a conversation if necessary. By all means accept any courtesy given, but don't take over the channel from others who have extended the courtesy to you.

 

The setting up of a repeater station in accordance with the licensing conditions is an expensive operation, and CBers should at all times be conscious of this commitment by others for their benefit. But the sharing of the facility provided must be paramount in the minds of the users, even if they're the users who supplied the service, sometimes referred to as the proprietor of the repeater.

 

To the business operators using the CBRS, particularly those who have helped and contributed to its establishment, you are acknowledged by ABCRO and the CB fraternity, but you're asked to conform with the simple rules and self-regulation to which all of us, not just non-business operators, have to abide by.

 

And of course, the non-business CBers who may form the majority users of the band should also remember that it is a two-way street. After all, the regulations don't discriminate between the people of this country and neither do the conditions governing the use and operation of the CBRS under the Class Licence system.

 

ACBRO, as a repeater licensee in Adelaide, shares in providing this form of community service, and shows no discrimination of users (despite the selfish operation displayed at times by some).

 

Many UHF non-business operators have consistently fought a battle with businesses using the UHF band for business purposes who claim they have exclusive right to do so. This has led to a war of words on UHF between businesses and other UHF operators. So what is the legality of it all? Do businesses have a right to demand other operators to refrain from using any channel due that business claiming they have a right to conduct their affairs on UHF?

 

At times there is an almost arrogant attitude with which some businesses have regarding their business activities on the band. Suffice to say, that some business operators and their employee's treat any channel on the band as if it were their exclusive right to be on that channel without allowing for the sharing of that channel by other operators. Consider the following scenario as being typical of what exits on a daily basis on the UHF CB Radio Service.

 

“I am on the CBRS's UHF calling channel 11 calling another operator. After that operator acknowledges me, I ask him or her to stand by while I find a clear channel that is not in use by another operator, for us to move to in order to begin a conversation. I then select a channel at random which appears to be clear and not in use and I verify this by calling on the channel to ask if any one is on that particular channel using it. I wait 5 to 10 seconds for a reply after which an operator answers, informing me that the channel is in use. I state to that operator that the channel had appeared to be clear and not in use before I placed a call to determine if it was in use. The operator responds by informing me that the particular channel I have chosen is used by the XYZ company and its employees every day for the purposes of carrying out the company's daily communications activities." 

 

"This operator instructs me, that as a result, if I were to converse on that channel with my operator friend we would be disrupting the company's communications. I ask the operator if there is a conversation currently existing on the channel. The operator informs me that there is no current conversation taking place on the channel and for all intents and purposes, I then consider the channel is currently free from any one conversing on it. He further instructs me that the channel must be left clear and not to be used by any one other than XYZ company employees and continues to reinforce his position that only company employees have exclusive right to use the channel for company communications and that any other operator not of the company, using the channel, would only disrupt the company's communications if or when any company communications begin." 

 

"Furthermore, the operator instructs me to remove my self from the channel and not to enter into a conversation on that channel with another operator on what the operator states the company considers to be "a company channel" for the company's exclusive use on behalf of its business and communication activities.”

 

"Does the XYZ company or its employees have a legal right to instruct me to remove myself from that nominated channel and not to enter into a conversation on it with any other operator?"

 

"And, do I have a legal obligation do comply with that operators request to remove my self from that nominated channel and not to enter into a conversa­tion on it with any other operator?"

 

The answer to both these questions is an emphatic NO!

What does the ACMA say about anyone exclusively using a CB Channel? CLICK HERE

The Citizen Band Radio Stations Class Licence and Citizen Band Radio Stations Information Paper both support this fact and are available for perusal from any branch of the ACMA.

 

If we are to make these business operators aware of the ACMA's stance on the matter then perhaps it might be a step in the right direction to make businesses re-think what they are doing. What business is going to do anything that will cause them to be liable for a penalty by contravening regulations? Of course the real issue here is the confirmation by the ACMA that businesses have no exclusive right to any channel. Putting all of this together in a letter to a business operator should be enough to make them wonder about what they are doing. Drafting a letter to send to businesses outlining the above and including the relevant documents obtainable from the ACMA would be a step in the direction to informing and educating business that their conduct is not condoned by the ACMA or the CB fraternity in general.

 

Business Operators Using Continous Tone Coded Squelch System (CTCSS)

 

Firstly, let us define (basically) what CTCSS is.

 

A radio with a Continuous Tone Coded Squelch System (CTCSS) on UHF, relies on receiving a sub-audible tone to open the radio's mute. When the radio is not in transmit mode it remains muted until it hears a transmission containing the same sub-audible tone and then opens up for communications. A radio fitted with CTCSS will ignore any signal on a frequency that does not contain the correct or same CTCSS tone(s). CTCSS prevents operators from hearing other users on the frequency that have non-CTCSS radios or whose radios having CTCSS, are not aligned on the same tone(s), although users with non-CTCSS radios will hear CTCSS users. Effectively, this provides for CTCSS users to communicate with each other for any length of time and never hear any non-CTCSS users or being aware that they may have intruded on to a channel that is currently being occupied by non-CTCSS users.

 

Since the introduction of CTCSS to the CBRS the animosity has increased between business and non-business operators of the service. This has been largely due to business operators taking advantage of the way CTCSS operates in that they can conduct their business activities on this mode without being interrupted by non-CTCSS users who comprise a large section of the fraternity as non-business operators.

 

The frustration to non-CTCSS and in particular non-business operators is obvious. Consider the first scenario described in this article, introduce CTCSS to the equation and we now have a perpetuation of the issue escalating into a problematic “war.”  

 

Some Business operators are continuing their business activities via CTCSS so as to be able to ignore or deliberately place themselves in a position so as not to be interrupted by non-business and non-CTCSS users. These businesses, for all intents and purposes, hint and at times declare openly to have claimed sole right and usage to any channel they are on and for any length of time they desire. This of course, is in breech of the Class Licence System.

 

Prior to the introduction of CTCCS to the CBRS the ACMA called upon the CBing community to comment on the proposal to introduce it. History has recorded that an overwhelming majority had opposed the introduction of CTCSS to the CBRS for many of the reasons outlined so far. In spite of the objection, the ACMA did gazette its introduction with a proposal to introduce, at some time in the future, an amendment to the Class Licence, which will see the required fitting of a “channel busy light” on all radios to indicate the presence of any signal on the channel concerned and a selective calling facility disabling switch that will create a “listen before transmit” function. The ACMA have stated that these features should alleviate concerns presented to the ACMA by some CB operators with regards to the improper use of any channel with operators not giving consideration as to whether the channel is in use prior to initiating a conversation on it.

 

As to whether this will alleviate the problem with business operators hinting they have exclusive rights to any channel remains to be seen. However, on current trends, it appears that the proposal for the new amendment will have little impact. It is a fact, that regardless of what is documented or legislated by the ACMA, it is a completely different scenario out there in the “real world” on CB Radio, as most operators will testify to. What the ACMA expect radio operators to adhere to by way of the conditions governing the operation of CB Radio and what operators actually do, are at times complete opposites.

 

So how do we as individual CBers and CB Clubs combat this ever-increasing problem of business operators attempting to gain exclusive control of the UHF CB Radio Service?

 

Firstly, explain with reason in an amicable fashion to the offending operator that he or she is contravening the Class Licence Conditions by their actions. You may be surprised to learn that in a lot of cases it is simply an ignorance of the regulations on the part of the offender. If the offence continues you may like to put pen to paper and write a formal letter to the offender (or in the case of writing to the offender’s company, direct it to the Manager), detail the actions of the offence, explain the implications of a breech of regulations and suggest possible alternatives that fall within the guidelines of the Class Licence System.

 

If this fails to resolve the issue, lodge a formal complaint to your local or nearest ACMA office. In doing so, be specific and factual, providing names, dates, times, the nature of the complaint and all the steps you have undertaken to resolve the issue. Be polite and not abusive when you word your complaint.

 

Contrary to popular belief, the ACMA does issue notices of warning to operators that are in breech of the Class Licence System and any continued breeches are investigated. However, every complaint is treated on its merits and due consideration will be given to the weight of evidence. In effect, you need to become your own “lawyer” or “investigator” putting together a convincing case so that the ACMA will not feel that their time and resources are being wasted. It will take some “elbow grease” from you and in part, this is what is meant by the CBRS being a self-regulatory system.

 

We may never completely purge the CBRS of business operators abusing the airwaves but we can reduce or minimize the problem to a manageable level. This begins with you, not the ACMA. We as CBers need to initiate the action needed to have the ACMA act upon it. If we don’t who will? 

 

ACBRO remind you (the CB fraternity) that to curtail this problem requires a concerted effort by many to reach as many Business Operators as possible. ACBRO suggest that we all “put our money where our mouths are” and now DO something about this ever-increasing problem. ACBRO would also like to remind that one voice brings about a thought, but many voices bring about a change. 

 

ACBRO does not discriminate between CTCCS, non-CTCSS, business or non-business groups as every person has the right to use the CBRS under the guidelines of the Class Licence System. However, it must be remembered that regardless of what group one falls into that these guidelines must be observed and that from time to time one or more of the mentioned groups fail to comply, at times through ignorance and not a deliberate attempt to abuse the airwaves. ACBRO also acknowledges that not all individuals in any group fail to observe the guidelines and that for the most part, there are operators in all groups that comply with accepted operational procedures.