1 Introduction Meteorological communications in the SW Pacific AFTN for many years – then it became a charged service in many countries Countries switched to – now a problem in most places Over subscribed for the available capacity Technical problems within ISPs and connections Not timely enough for meteorological communications Huge bills when staff forget to disconnect from dial-up systems Internet surfing means exposure to viruses Anti-virus software not kept up to date Messages dropped We are now moving to RANET HF radio digital Satellite digital Base station established at Melbourne, Australia Woleai, Yap RANET

2 RANET RANET is an Originator to End User System Designed to provide information to remote communities Information received via WorldSpace, HF or commercial satellite receivers Uses small Community FM Radio Stations to rebroadcast (not strictly RANET but included in the concept) Projects include a number of FM solar/hand cranked radios for community Information rebroadcast by local Community FM Radio Station…Liku Village, Niue. Testing at MetService

3 WorldSpace satellite broadcast WorldSpace satellite broadcast (receive only) Latest Satellite Digital Audio Broadcast Technology Uses low-cost radio receivers and antennas Data Interface available for PC or Laptop Able to send HTML and images at 128 Kps Data easily viewed using Internet Browser eg. IE6 Will carry the Pacific component of the EMWIN broadcast in the Asia-Pacific region on AsiaStar satellite Issues AsiaStar broadcast not received east of about 180 degree meridian Typical WorldSpace outdoors antenna and receiver

4 WorldSpace AsiaStar Coverage AsiaStar Footprint and West Pacific Reception Area

5 WorldSpace RANET Product Delivery WorldSpace AsiaStar Product Delivery

6 WorldSpace Equipment Requirements AsiaStar Footprint and Out of Footprint Costs (excluding PC) USD 160 In Footprint Costs USD 160 Out of Footprint Costs USD 500

7 WorldSpace RANET Website Products WorldSpace AsiaStar Product Schedule Current Schedule 5Mb (3-8 min) every hour 11MB (6-12min) every 4 hrs 22Mb (10-15min) every 4 hrs Total approx 1 GB per week Web Uplink Mirror Site

8 Internet Communications to and from Pacific Country ISPs Often no Backup System Available In the event of ISP equipment failure In the event of Satellite failure eg Intelsat 804 In the event that main satellite has to be parked in strong winds; eg tropical cyclones There are cost-effective solutions… Typical ISP satellite coms equipment.

9 HF Radio What is HF ? (two way communications) received and sent via a HF Radio Transceiver Requires a special radio modem Modem interfaces to PC or laptop Software can interface with many applications, e.g. Outlook Express, our mSTAR automatic weather station Niue HF system, quickly installed after TC Heta Funded by Met Office, UK

10 HF Radio Why HF Radio ? Cost effective two-way remote communications system Easy to install and operate Some Pacific NMS already have suitable HF Radios Many staff already have HF radio experience Typical HF radio system set-up

11 Pacific communications projects (Completed or in progress) Vanuatu – Siviri Village RANET project Funding agency: NOAA Vanuatu - HF/VHF radio systems (three locations) Funding agency: Met Office, UK HF/VHF radio system for Vanuatu (under test in NZ)

12 EMWIN and RANET Systems Kiribati Solomon Islands Papua New Guinea Vanuatu Fiji Tonga Samoa Tokelau Is. Cook Is Siviri Village, Port Vila, Bauerfield Efate Liku & Hakupu Villages Hanan Airport Niue Woleai Atoll, Yap Tuvalu EMWIN systems all countries RANET WorldSpace satellite receiver installed or pending RANET HF / FM radio installed RANET HF / FM radio installations in progress Iridium Satellite / HF systems installed or pending Nanumea Vaitupu Funafuti Niulakita Tarawa KEY

13 Pacific RANET Network Design