Hello!

Freeview / free to air TV viewers in Melbourne, Australia, you may have seen these or similar images while tuning your TV receiver. No you have not intercepted the terrorist or criminal underworld TV network, nor is it a pirate (well some think we are all three) or a new television service. What you have picked up is Amateur TV, its amateur (ham) radio except with pictures which has been operating since ~1977 by amateur radio enthusiasts, for all enthusiasts interested in the experimentation of transmitting and receiving television.

Ham radio got this nick name back in the 1920's when the technology was only AM radio and catching the imagination of the public in many countries. When commercial AM radio stop broadcasting for the evening (~9-10pm), amateur radio experimenters would put on their own version of live music selections or book readings or soap operas in a true Shakespearian tradition. Back then there was no recording / playback equipment except for the gramo-phone, very expensive in its day, so everything was live an un-editable. Some of the amateur radio operators put on better material than the commercial stations and got bigger audiences in some cases, while others did poorly. It all became known as HAM radio during that time and that tag has stuck.

All these activities were eventually stopped with frequency allocations and licensing regulations but you can still hear amateur radio on AM today [1800-1875Khz] some still do a talk back show and on other amateur radio frequencies but it is all outside of the commercial bands [540-1750Khz AM] and [88-108Mhz FM] so you'll need a "short wave receiver" or "VHF/UHF Radio scanner" to pick up the more popular amateur radio frequencies if you want to listen in.

Amateur TV is a remnant or echo of those pioneer radio days except we have vast amounts of gadgets to play with, more material to use and a legal system (the fun police) that will stop us if we breach the rules. Hence most amateur TV operators are careful what they show, stuff like home movies and photo-slide shows. As a guideline most material is to comply with the "G" type classification as children may be watching... We also do the occasional technical or scientific "show and tell" on gadgets you can make or events we do, hence some think we are terrorists, seeing us set up gear in remote places talking with people from far away lands or to off shore / airborne or orbiting space vessels...

Amateur TV in Australia origins go back to WWII ~1945 but can't be confirmed. 'Fast scan' analogue transmissions as 'point to point' contacts are known to have been experimented with since ~1972 and may be earlier but no records are known to this author.

Amateur Television is mainly used as a "Video Phone" contact / conversation with one or many participants sharing ideas, information and generally having a "chit chat" with other licensed amateur radio operators or members of the public via phone. There are no "programmes" as such as the service is for the benefit of the transmitting station or amateur radio or associated community, not the general TV viewing public.

VK3RTV is a privately owned Standard Definition Digital TV repeater went DiGiTaL in October 2009, and previously was a "fast scan" analogue service since 1977 put together and mainly funded by a small number of individuals (hams) over the decades with some financial assistance from the WIA, Victorian radio clubs and interested public.

Licensed through the Wireless Institute of Australia (Vic) for amateur radio operator use and related activities, the service broadcasts from Mt. Dandenong, Mt. Olinda really on 444.25 Mhz analogue or 446.5 Mhz digital. Sound output is mono but the digital equipment at Mt. Dandenong can receiver stereo audio, the limitation is duplicating the interlinking transmitting equipment which has a low priority. Uplinks are on 1.250 to 1.283Ghz where both analog TVFM and digital DVB-S signals can be received, also an analog only 10Ghz input is available.

The service is maintained by the "Melbourne Amateur TeleVision Group" a loose affiliation of amateur radio operators with some assistance from various radio clubs, related community groups (military) and individuals.

This Amateur Television Network uses UHF TV on 70cm at 446.5Mhz as repeater output, 1.250, 1.283, 2.4 and 10Ghz as inputs or for point to point television contacts around Melbourne. Generally images and sounds are "test" signals from the sending stations investigating some aspect of television or related activity... VK3RTV also has a "beacon mode" which is remotely activated and runs for 20 minutes to help operators and others setup TV receivers.

Slow Scan TV (like a fax transmission) is also experimented with on ATV and lots of other amateur radio frequencies, HF, VHF, UHF and SHF which is shown from time to time by one or more of the operators via VK3RTV along with all sorts of other fun stuff!

Below is a list of amateur radio stations which have been seen on VK3RTV.

All these stations form the Amateur Television Network experimenting with analogue and digital TV.
List of DiGiTaL TV recievers that pick up ATV see VK3KHB's stb_atv devices page...

For general email contact you can use VK3KHB [at] gak [dot] net [dot] au or
contact one of the above operators via their email address or
on the MATVG - LIAISON FREQUENCY - 147.400 MHZ FM Simplex.