Recent Events 29-31 Jan-2012 - The CSU was activated Sunday afternoon, 29-Jan, to assist with communications. Our brief was that the fire was growing in size and a mobile repeater was required to complement the exisiting fixed repeater to allow the operation to be split into multiple divisions. The first crew arrived on site at 1900hrs on Sunday and the last crew left on the Tuesday afternoon. In total we installed 3 portable repeaters on mid and high band VHF over the course of the operation. Have a look in our photo gallery for some photos from the operation. 7-Dec - Tonight was the last official training night for 2011. A big thank you from the unit management team to all unit members for the hard work over the year. Enjoy your time off, have a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year and see you all again in 2012. 15-20 Nov - Members from CSU joined with members from metro and country SES units, plus police in searching for 45 year old Paul York at Petrudor Rocks after his vehicle was found in the area on Monday. Over the duration of the search the CSU had three crew changes, each lasting two days. Unfortunately Mr York was not found during this time and the search has been scaled back. Any information should be passed on to Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000. We have a range of antennas, coaxial cable, Nokia phone accessories, connectors, and miscellaneous bits and pieces available for sale as a result of cleaning out Henry's stash. The items and prices are listed here; please contact Judy Edwards for purchases or any queries. 9-Nov - Tonight we held our annual combined photo competition awards and quiz night. We had quite a selection of photo entries over the various categories, and once again our judges John and Nita Capes were very impressed with the quality. A very special thanks to John and Nita for being our judges for the second year in a row and we hope you will be back next year. Congratulations to the various catergory winners and to Vanessa O'Connor for taking out the Judge's Choice award and Ben Crawford for the Geoff Merrey People's Choice award. Well done to all the entrants and a reminder to get those cameras out and start snapping for next year. Well done also to everyone who participated in the quiz night and we hope you had a good night. 22 & 23 Oct - Six CSU instructors travelled to Northam SES unit to run a country field equipment course. Participants came from Merredin, Moora, Cockburn and CSU. Congratulations to all participants and don't forget to keep up the practise!! Congrats also to new CSU team mascot Charlie Camel (back row, white shirt) for completing his first FE course. 4-Oct - A few CSU members visited Cockburn SES unit on one of their training nights. We gave their members a tour of the OKA, then showed them how to erect a Clark Mast, including installing the halyard and hoisting an HF long wire antenna. We had a great night and thanks to Cockburn for the invite. Special thanks to Stuart (Hoppy) Hopwood from Newman SES for being our distant station. Back to top 6-April - Eight volunteer members of the Comms Support Unit and the Regional Operations Support Section (ROSS) received service awards for between 10 and 25 years. Congratulations to Lyn Bryant (10 years) and Darryl Beer (national medal, 15 years) on their awards, and also to the ROSS members for their achievments. 6 - 7-Feb - CSU resources were challenged recently when we were requested to support DEC and FESA fire services at the Red Hill and Rolyestone bushfires simultaneously. Luckily the operations had slightly different communications requirements and we able to complete our tasks at both fires. A couple of our members were able to take some photos in between tasks and a few of these are in our photo gallery. 1-Feb - Rob and Steve Crawford, as well as Rob's father Terry, feature in an article in the lastest edition of FESA's 24seven magazine. The article, "Three Generations Linked to Communications" covers interviews with the trio on their individual involvement with the State Emergency Service dating back to 1965. Terry remembers running exercises at the local high school in Kalgoorlie which "...included explosions in the laboratories and...pink smoke bombs.". One of Rob's recollections was a exercise where "...they used carrier pigeons to send messages...". With a father and grandfather in the SES, particularly in communications, Steve had a good knowledge of the SES and the radio equipment used by the time he was old enough to join. Article reprinted with permission. 19-Jan-2011 - The CSU has recommenced weekly training after a well earned break over the Christmas-New Year period and following a tough year for the unit.We hope everyone had a safe and relaxing break and are ready to take on the new year. 13-Nov - Good luck to Rob and Steve Crawford at tonight's SES Awards night. Rob is a finalist in the Peter Keillor award and Steve is a finalist in the Youth Achievement award. Back to top 10-Nov - Tonight we held our third annual photography competition awards night, which also included a quiz night. Congratulations to Vanessa O'Connor who took out the Judge's Choice and Bronwyn Crawford who won the People's Choice award. Congratulations also to the category winners and runners-up, and the quiz night winners. A very special thanks to John and Nita Capes for being our independent judges. 17-Oct - It is with great shock and sadness that we announce the sudden passing of our unit manager Henry Edwards. Henry was recently presented with recognition of his 30 years of service to the SES, all of it spent with the CSU and its predecessor the State Communications Section. Henry's passing has left an immense void in our unit and our lives, and he will be greatly missed. Our love and thoughts are also with Henry's wife Judy and kids Andrew and Lindsay. 2-May - A senior first aid course was held at the CSU to reaccredit members. A good time was had by all who attended and we happy to report 'Annie' is recovering well. 10 & 11 April - Two OSCE courses were run simultaneously at FESA Belmont. Both courses were very successful, and the CSU would like to thank the members from various metro units who assisted in presenting lessons and conducting the base operator assessments which were done in early May. Congratulations to all participants and don't forget to keep up the practise!! 5 March-2010 - We are saddened to announce our most popular member, Geoff Merrey, has passed away. He was forever supporting SES volunteers, both locally and interstate, and was a member of the WA SES Volunteers Association. His wit and charm was well known through-out FESA, and the turnout to his memorial was a testament to his popularity. Our thoughts and prayers are with Geoff's wife Ros and family. Back to top