Amateur Radio

      Australasia's No.1 and largest amateur radio dealer! We stock and sell far more amateur radio equipment than anyone else in Australasia!

   
Factory direct importing from dozens and dozens of factories world-wide.

*** NEW! TYT TH-9800 QUAD-BAND (10m-6m-2m-70cm) SUPER-DELUXE high power amateur radio mobile transceiver due early June!! *** NEW 2m/70cm 5W/4W dualband amateur radio handheld transceivers with DTMF keypad entry from only A$99, yes A$99 !! *** FREE mailing Australia-wide and bonus digital clock with ALL new amateur radio transceivers we sell!! ***

     ANNOUNCING ANDREWS COMMUNICATIONS IS THE ONLY YAESU FACTORY-AUTHORISED AMATEUR RADIO AND AIRBAND RADIO
SALES AND SERVICE DEALER FOR AUSTRALIA AND N.Z.

Please order by phone; 02 9688 4301/9636 9060/9896 8972,
by fax; 02 96881995, by email; radioandrews@hotmail.com
or by mail; P.O. Box 240, Pendle Hill, NSW, 2145.

WE WILL BE ON HOLIDAY FROM 4:45pm, 16th MAY, 2013
WE WILL RETURN AT 10:00am, 27th MAY, 2013

Prices are subject to change due to exchange rate variations, etc.
Trading hours are from 10am to 4:45pm Monday to Friday.
Updated 13-05-13.

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Permitted equipment for amateur radio use

We have received numerous enquiries lately re permitted equipment for amateur radio use. The W.I.A. has information on this subject on their website at www.wia.org.au/licenses/licensing/amateurequipment/

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***NEW WOUXUN KG-UV950P QUADBANDER***

WOUXUN KG-UV950P QUADBAND MOBILE TRANSCEIVER
Covers 10m - 6m - 2m - 70cm amateur bands

 

TYT's all-new TH-9800 QUADBAND mobile high power transceiver covers the 10m, 6m, 2m and 70cm bands!!
 



Wouxun's new KG-UV920P 2m/70cm TWINBAND 50W mobile transceiver. 


Cameron at the antenna section of our huge
Wyong 2013 field day stand
 


Lee and Cameron at our huge stand at the Wyong 2013 CCARC field day


Lee with Vicky of Anytone at the October, 2011, Hong Kong electronics fair. Photographed against Anytone's new AT-588UV twinband mobile, which we will be importing very soon
 


Carol Lee of Manson, along with Lee, Cameron and Luke of Andrews Communications and another
Manson
salesperson, at the October, 2011, Hong Kong electronics fair.

We believe Manson produces the world's best power supplies at most reasonable prices!
 

Lee with Baojie sales staff at the April 2013, Hong Kong electronics fair.
Baojie is releasing several new dual band mobile & handheld transceivers
 

Lee at the October 2011, Hong Kong electronics fair with RM Italy's outstanding BLA-1000 160m-6m 1000W output linear amplifier
 

Lee, selling antennas at the CCARC field day at Wyong, 2012. We had
the largest display of stock, ever!

 

Lee, selling to a very happy customer at the CCARC field day at Wyong, 2012. We blitzed all competitors with our lowest prices and the most stock!
 

                           
WARRANTY SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

ALL NEW ICOM, *YAESU, ALINCO AND KENWOOD PRODUCTS SOLD BY US  INCLUDE OUR PIONEERING 3-YEAR PARTS AND LABOUR WARRANTIES!!!

ALL NEW ICOM AMATEUR RADIO TRANSCEIVERS SOLD BY US FROM
11-11-09 INCLUDE OUR PIONEERING 6-YEAR PARTS/LABOUR WARRANTY


YES, OUR THREE-YEAR PARTS AND LABOUR WARRANTIES APPLY TO ALL THE RESPECTIVE BRANDS' PRODUCTS WE SELL AND IS NOT LIMITED OR RESTRICTED ONLY TO RADIOS. * ACCESSORIES ARE INCLUDED, TOO! 


All new Icom, Yaesu, Alinco and Kenwood equipment sold by us (Andrews Communications Systems) is warranted against faults or defects in material or workmanship for a period of three years - 6 years for Icom amateur radio transceivers - (*One year warranty for most Yaesu accessories) from the original purchase date. This warranty is limited to repairing or replacing only the defective part/s and will be void if the equipment has been modified, misused, substituted, damaged or operated outside the specified operating parameters, conditions and duty cycle - and excludes consequential damage.
Warranties are not transferable and we don't offer replacement warranties.
Customer-caused damage is not covered by warranty, of course. Beware of non-servicing dealers who cannot repair any high-tech amateur transceivers.
 
Please do NOT write <fragile> on anything you send to us as doing so greatly increases the risk of damage. Please try to "double-box" all items sent to us.
Beware of "backyard" dealers (i.e. dealers with no store-front) who may not offer any warranty, as they claim "private sale". Many of those dealers cannot or will not guarantee in writing that any product they sell is genuinely new. 

NOTE: Warranty repairs are completed by us at no cost to our customers - of course! Simply include a copy of your receipt and a note describing the fault condition and your contact details, such as your name, address, phone number and email address (if available) when sending the product to us. We retain two of Australia's best amateur radio technicians. We have excellent service information, including service information which is dealer-restricted. Our numerous worldwide suppliers support us to the absolute maximum.

Proudly supporting amateur radio by providing the lowest prices, stocking the widest range of products and introducing the longest warranties - since 1976.

Please choose products carefully as we do not refund if you incorrectly choose. We do not sell products on a trial, test, evaluation or approval basis. Approved product returns will incur a restocking fee of 20% plus all other relevant costs. We import specially ordered products only after full payment is received. Please ensure you order the correct and appropriate product/s in order to avoid additional costs and delays in supplying you the correct and appropriate product. When ordering software please ensure you order the software that is applicable to your radio or telescope. When ordering plugs please tell us to which coaxial cable type/model/size you intend fitting them.

We require 100% payment "up-front" for accessories and parts which we must specially import for you - once we confirm we can supply those products.

We do not accept any communication from anyone regarding any competitors' repair issues. Such issues can be managed on a fully chargeable basis at A$99/hr inc. GST by our highly qualified technician. Please contact our technician direct at service@rfrepairs.com.au re competitors' repair issues. 

A sales receipt copy must accompany each warranty claim
Include your name, address, email and phone number
Service centre website; www.rfrepairs.com.au
Service email; service@rfrepairs.com.au
Service technician; 02 4305 2301
 
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CHARGEABLE SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Contrary to those competitors who seem to have draconian chargeable service policies, we offer the following policies regarding chargeable service;

1. We accept faulty products without regard to their original selling source!

2. A repair form is not required. Simply tell us your name, address, phone number and state the fault with the product prior to sending us the product.

3. We normally do not charge a fee for those repairs not completed.

4. Our service warranty is for a period of three months from the date of completion of repairs and applies only to those part/s of products we repair.

5. Our service warranty applies to all products, regardless of their age!

6. Our labour charge is only A$99.00 per hour inc. GST and is charged in 1/2 hour increments. Our minimum charge is A$49.50 inc. GST, i.e. 1/2 an hour.
Why pay A$220.00 per hour for repair service elsewhere?? Yes, A$220/hr.!!

8. We do not provide quotes. We work to pre-agreed limits or estimates.

9. We normally do not charge an inspection fee, but there are exceptions.

10. We reserve the right to limit the quantity and type of products accepted.

11. Our repair success rate is around 98-99%. It is not 100% because some parts can be impossible to obtain or the product is uneconomical to repair.

12. We repair to original factory specifications, or better!

13. We recommend you don't send your radios or amplifiers to major importers for repair or testing without first checking with us. You may pay far too much.

14. We no longer repair AM CB radios.

15. Our technicians have now caught up with their back-log, so they can handle more repairs. Contact us with your details and details of your repair... 

Don't you be fooled into paying greedy factory subsidiaries far too much for chargeable repair service - just because you didn't buy the product from them or one of their dealers - or because you think other radio technicians might not be able to repair the product. Actually, there are many good radio technicians in Australia who will repair radios at a reasonable cost and who rarely refuse to repair radios! Factory subsidiaries are often the "odd man out" in this regard, hi! No-one complains about our chargeable service costs, hi!

LEE'S BASIC RADIO NOTES


    4-pin 20A DC lead       6-pin 20A DC lead       3-pin AC IEC lead             

Please ensure your DC-operated transceiver is connected properly and in the correct polarity to an appropriate DC output power supply (i.e. of correct voltage, of sufficient current capacity, is well-regulated and is adequately and properly filtered), otherwise your transceiver may be damaged or not switch on! Customer-caused damage due to customers connecting an inappropriate power supply to any product is not covered by any warranty. Rectifying such customer-caused damage will be on a fully chargeable basis!

Please note that your AC-operated transceiver will be severely damaged if you try powering it from a DC power source. Conversely, your DC-operated transceiver will be severely damaged if you try powering it from an AC source.

If your AC-only transceiver has a very low DC current output socket fitted for powering that transceiver's optional accessories, then do NOT try powering your transceiver by connecting its low DC current output socket to an external DC output power supply! Doing so will cause severe damage, which is not covered by any warranty, of course! Linear amplifiers do NOT normally have a DC or AC  power output socket fitted for powering a transceiver, etc.

When adding an accessory in-line with your transceiver's coaxial cable, such as an swr/rf meter or linear amplifier, please ensure you use a short length of coaxial cable lead (with plugs fitted) to connect that accessory in-line.

Remember, customer-caused damage is not covered by any warranty! Please ask us questions if in doubt. Please ensure you notify us well in advance of any change of address - and confirm those details with us.

Please do not transmit when you discover your coaxial cable is full of water or your antenna's balun is open circuit or your antenna's beta match is not connected - resulting in an swr > 6:1 and very poor receiving performance!!!
An antenna tuner reduces apparent swr. It cannot rectify antenna problems.

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                            INSURANCE AND SHIPPING NOTES

Insurance cover for goods in transit is available from us for only $2 per $100 value of goods. Please advise us if you require this option when ordering.

Please consider insurance because we are not responsible for loss of parcels or damage sustained by parcels - the carrier is responsible! We do pack well!
Please do NOT write <fragile> on anything you send to us as doing so greatly increases the risk of damage. Please try to "double-box" all items sent to us.

We will normally post warranty-repaired products from us back to you in Australia at our expense. It is your responsibility and expense to send/bring faulty products to us. In Australia, it is normally the purchaser's responsibility and expense under warranty conditions to pay for freight/postage both ways.

Please note that we will charge you for the cost of sending your radio and/or accessories back to you - if they are found not to be faulty under warranty conditions. We are receiving an increasing number of radios and accessories being sent to us under warranty claim which actually prove to be faultless.

Please ensure the product you purchase will actually fit into, or onto, your vehicle. Some long and/or bulky products cannot be carried by some cars. Again, this is only a suggestion, not a directive. We do not sell products on a trial, evaluation, test or approval basis. We are not responsible for your change of mind, such as if you purchased a product that you now don't want.

We provide what is most probably the fastest and best mail order service for amateur radio, telescope and binocular products in Australia...

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 ***ATTENTION NEW ZEALAND AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS***

WE ARE THE ONLY YAESU FACTORY-AUTHORISED AMATEUR RADIO AND AIRBAND RADIO SALES AND SERVICE DEALER FOR NEW ZEALAND!!

We have regularly attended New Zealand amateur radio field days and have often air-freighted stock in for those field days. We greatly appreciate the response we receive from our valued New Zealand customers, every time!

We attended the 2009 Wellington Radio Expo in Upper Hutt, which was held on Saturday, 28th March, 2009 and thank all those who purchased from us!

Most new amateur radios purchased from us include our 3 year warranty!
We have airmailed, air-freighted and sea-freighted thousands of amateur radios, receivers, accessories, etc., to New Zealand over the past 34 years!

Please tell us by which transport method you want your shipment sent to you. Do not assume we will send it by any particular method. We mostly airmail shipments to NZ. We can sent shipments by virtually any transport method you nominate. We are happy to send you freight quotes - just ask us.

Why wait weeks or months for delivery and pay high prices in New Zealand for your new transceiver, then be forced to settle for only a one year warranty?
NZ GST is normally payable on shipments of NZ$400 and up in declared value.
We do not undervalue any goods or shipments, so please don't ask to do so!

Orders over A$200 in value receive priority processing.
Please remember to add A$25 for our bank's handling fee when sending funds to our bank (Westpac), such as by T/T, by bank draft, etc.
Our minimum charge for airmailing products to New Zealand is A$26.   
 
Airmailed parcels average one week delivery time to New Zealand. Strangely, Icom NZ won't accept NZ amateurs importing Icom amateur radios, even though NZ is a western country which pioneered parallel imports!  Is that why they sell under 1/10th the amount of Icom amateur radios compared to us?

We accept payments only in Australian dollars - including by credit card, etc.
Please ensure you have sufficient funds or credit when ordering by credit card as we no longer phone overseas to advise customers of failed transactions.
Also, please double-check your credit card details, etc., before ordering!
Please read them to us correctly and don't tell us your EFTPOS card details.
Please ensure your fax machine is operating when requesting us to fax you.
You are responsible for freight both ways when sending us warranty repairs.
Please ensure you quote your correct name, etc., when placing orders.

Please check with your local freight and customs agent to determine all the costs involved in importing the product/s you may want into New Zealand before placing an order with us, in order to save us both time and trouble...

Please do some research re which products you may be interested in purchasing, as that often saves a lot of time and effort for both of us. This advice also applies to Australian customers, too! We accept only Australian currency. We do not accept NZD currency or other currencies, sorry.
Please try not to change your mind re the product, payment or delivery, etc.
Doing so may cause problems, e.g. delaying the shipment, higher costs, etc.

Australia Post offers three services beyond airmailing; signature upon delivery, tracking and "extra cover" (insurance). These services are; Express Courier International Merchandise,  Express Courier International Documents and simply Express Post International. These services cost more than the basic airmailing cost. See www.auspost.com.au for more detailed information.

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SYDNEY 23CM REPEATER NEWS

A new and well-located high power 23cm repeater was recently installed on the Optus/Citadel Tower, 799 Pacific Highway, Chatswood, NSW. Its output frequency is 1273.2MHz and its input frequency is 1293.2MHz. Power output is 30W! Its 4.5dB gain antenna comprises four "in-line" vertically stacked  dipoles. Compton, VK2HRX, Stuart, VK2ZX and WICEN made this happen!!

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Compliments (unsolicited) recently received...

We receive many compliments annually and publish them from time to time.

Beth, VK2AO, said she is very happy with our service, super-wide range of products, super-competitiveness, service back-up and advice. 02/12/11.

Gary, VK2ZKT, said by email on 26-03-12; "I just wanted to say what fantastic, friendly and swift service I received from your staff for the purchase of the coaxial switch and swr meter. The goods arrived overnight to my address in country NSW. Well done. The swr meter is fantastic and the coaxial switch from Avair is well built. Andrews has excelled yet again".

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Lee's blog continues ad infinitum...

NEW QUAD-BAND (10m/6m/2m/70cm), TWIN-BAND AND DUAL-BAND  HIGH POWER MOBILE AMATEUR RADIO TRANSCEIVERS COMING SOON!!!
Outstanding cross-mod. and inter-mod. performance! Inc. DTMF mic. 

Andrews Communications was indeed instrumental in creating increased benefits for Australian and New Zealand amateurs! Amateur radio factory subsidiaries are here to make a profit. They are not here for a holiday or for their health. Many would love to force parallel importers out of the market so they can maximise their profits and market control. Many wouldn't sell to big discounters. Therefore, many big discounters became big parallel importers!!
We import factory-direct most products and parallel import other products... 

We were instrumental in persuading numerous Chinese radio manufacturers to produce amateur radio transceivers - for the benefit of amateurs worldwide! In fact, some are now directing all of their research and development efforts into the field of amateur radio. Most will promote their own brand worldwide!!

We work closely with Wouxun, TYT and many other Chinese amateur radio manufacturers to assist them in developing new amateur radio transceivers.
We travel overseas many times each year to our existing suppliers - and to seek new products and suppliers at shows/fairs. Do other dealers do this? 
 
We introduced ALL of the longer warranty periods on ALL the major brands of amateur radios - and we hold more stock than any amateur radio competitor!!
ALL our competitors were forced to follow us - re extending warranty periods.
Almost all of our product upgrade suggestions are adopted by manufacturers!
Feel free to ask our competitors if they have made any effort in these areas.

Andrews Communications is Australia's ONLY fully factory-authorised sales AND service importer/dealer for numerous world-class manufacturers, such as Yaesu, Alinco, Alpha, Tokyo Hy-Power, etc. We are also a fully authorised sales AND service importer/dealer for many more amateur radio product manufacturers! Shop with absolute confidence at Andrews Communications!

Beware of those competitors who happily advertise they are fully factory-authorised to SELL products but NEVER advertise their own fully factory-authorised in-house repair service. The simple reason is they have ZERO in-house factory-authorised repair service! Yes, those "one-man" competitors seem to be totally disinterested in providing any in-house repair service...

Andrews Communications is Australia's ONLY fully factory authorised sales AND service importer/dealer for numerous optical manufacturers, too!

We are the reason why radio amateurs enjoy low prices on radios and more.
Thank goodness for parallel importers. Without them, we'd all pay far more!!
E.g. Icom's IC-706MkIIG was over A$3600 RRP when it was introduced. Nice parallel importers slashed its price to around A$1200. That's one third of RRP!!
Why support any greedy and super-sneaky dealers and factory subsidiaries?

We are the reason why radio amateurs also enjoy a 6 year warranty on Icom amateur radios sold by us and (only) a 5 year warranty from Icom Australia - along with relatively low prices. In fact, most amateur radio importers are too scared to increase prices - because they know we'll then sell even more, hi!

Why wait 2-3 months for competitors to supply radios - and pay more, too??
Beware of small dealers who keep offloading obsolete and old-firmware radios.
We will never, ever, accept being treated poorly due to our super discounting.
We report to the ACCC competitors who practice resale price maintenance.
Why support greedy dealers and factory subsidiaries who try to charge more?

It might be old news for some, but did you know that Strictly Ross has been badly caught out parallel importing Yaesu from the USA, even though he continues to criticise parallel importers. Is he a hypocritical parallel importer??

After watching several Anzac Day features on TV yesterday I started thinking about life expectancies. I went to some websites, typed in what I know about a southern amateur radio dealer's numerous health issues and, soberingly, came up with 5.6 years!!! He can't match our 6 year warranty on Icom... 

Factory subsidiary imported and parallel imported amateur radios are made in the very same factories. Those radios are then sent off to different countries.
We've been waiting over 36 years for anyone to tell us of any differences.
We provide full factory authorised repair service on most products we sell!

We can repair amateur transceivers which factory subsidiaries can't, or won't, repair. We have access to dealer-restricted service information, as well!
Our fully qualified RF technicians possess well beyond the required highly technically sophisticated expertise and test equipment to maintain, repair and service amateur radios. They also use genuine original manufacturers' parts.
In fact, our RF technicians are amongst the very, very best in Australia!!!
 
We firmly believe we have provided the best amateur radio repair service in Australia since 1976 - and we continue to do so! We repair about 1,000 radios and related amateur radio products annually, to about a 99% success rate.

Yaesu owners are absolutely delighted with our Yaesu warranty service - especially when we repair most Yaesu products under warranty within days.
We have already received many congratulations re our Yaesu appointment!!!
In fact, ALL of our customers are absolutely delighted with our appointment.
Yaesu welcomed me with "open arms", much like an old friend returning to the fold, when I contacted them after hearing more and more stories re service...

Yes, you may purchase new Yaesu amateur radio products from any Yaesu factory-authorised sales dealers in Australia or New Zealand, of course.
Keep in mind that non-servicing Yaesu dealers are not authorised by Yaesu to repair any Yaesu products which have Yaesu authorised warranty applying. 

We are a fully authorised Yaesu service centre, along with RF Repairs and JNB Electronics. Yes, you are welcome to send your warranty and non-warranty Yaesu repairs to any of these three fully authorised Yaesu service centres.
We are more than happy to repair radios under applicable warranty...for free!

Fortunately, parallel importers don't need approval from factory subsidiaries to import and sell products - so you pay less and enjoy true competition!
All of our major competitors are at the mercy of factory subsidiaries regarding pricing and warranty servicing of Icom and Kenwood amateur radios, etc.
Therefore, you must accept whatever pricing and warranty service they offer - no matter how uncompetitive! This includes repair service costs, of course.

Lee has been a licensed amateur radio operator since 1967. He has successfully repaired thousands of radios (99% success rate), built scores of antennas and made dozens of high power linear amplifiers (to 4kW o/p), etc.


Andrews Communications Systems
Shop 8, 41-51 Bathurst St, Greystanes, NSW 2145
Telephone: (02) 9636 9060, (02) 9688 4301, (02) 9896 8972