Over the past week I have completed the Top VKFF Activator, Top VKFF Hunter, Top VKFF Foundation Activator, and Top VKFF Foundation Hunter certificates for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.

Last year I was very quiet as a Hunter, with other priorities in life. But I did manage to come in at position 6 in the top 10 for the Top VKFF Activator award.

I activated 84 VKFF references in 2025. I don’t tend to head out much nowadays, as my noise floor at home is zero. I am very lucky. Most of my activating now is either for the Activation Weekend, special event days, or when Marija VK5MAZ and I are travelling.

When I do activate, I still thoroughly enjoy the experience. Thank you to all of the WWFF participants. Every call I log is greatly appreciated.

The certificate features a photograph I took of Alum Cliffs State Reserve, VKFF-1790 in Tasmania.

A few days ago I received my latest VKFF Hunter Honour Roll certificate, issued for having hunted 2,525 different VKFF references.

Thank you to all of the VKFF activators and to Adam VK2YK, the VK5 VKFF Awards Manager.

At about 1111 UTC on the 4th day of July 2026, I tuned in to Bay Islands Radio, Queensland, broadcasting on 5045 kHz.

The signal was coming from the transmitter on Russell Island, about 35 km southeast of Brisbane, Queensland. (Home 2026)

The overall reception of Bay Island Radio was fair.

The broadcast consisted of music.

My equipment:-

• Yaesu FTdx101MP
• dipole antenna

Below is a short video showing my reception of Bay Islands Radio.

References.

1. Home. (2026). Bayislandsradio.Com.Au. https://www.bayislandsradio.com.au/ [Accessed 21 Jul. 2026].‌

At about 0849 kHz on the 4th day of July 2026, I tuned in to Radio 4DX, Queensland, AUSTRALIA, broadcasting on 5055 kHz.

The signal was coming from the transmitter site in Johnstone, near Innisfail, Queensland. (Facebook 2026)

Above:- Map showing the location of Johnstone. Image c/o Google Maps.

The overall reception of Radio 4DX was fair.

The broadcast consisted of music.

My equipment:-

• Yaesu FTdx101MP
• dipole antenna

Below is a short video showing my reception of Radio 4DX.

References.

1. Escuchando La Radio. (2026). Facebookapp. https://www.facebook.com/escuchandolaradio/posts/-new-station-radio-4dx-testsal-kirton-is-conducting-technical-tests-on-5055-khz-/1663242955803298/ [Accessed 22nd July 2026]

At about 0835 UTC on the 4th day of July 2026, I tuned in to Alcaravan, COLMBIA, broadcasting on 6910 kHz in the Spanish language.

The signal was coming from the 5kW transmitter in Puerto Lieras. (Short Wave Info 2024) (Short Wave Sched 2024)

Above:- World globe showing the location of Colombia. Image c/o Wikipedia.

The overall reception of Alcaravan was poor.

The broadcast consisted of music.

My equipment:-

• Yaesu FTdx101MP
• dipole antenna

Below is a short video showing my reception of Alcaravan.

References.

1. Short-wave.info. (2023). Short-Wave Radio Frequency Schedule. [online] Available at: http://www.short-wave.info/index.php [Accessed 21 Jul. 2026].‌
2. Shortwaveschedule.com. (2024). ShortwaveSchedule.com. [online] Available at: https://shortwaveschedule.com/‌ [Accessed 21 Jul. 2026].‌

At about 0800 UTC on Saturday, the 4th day of July 2026, I tuned in to Radio Inconfidencia, BRAZIL, broadcasting on 6010 kHz in the Portuguese language.

The station serves Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais and the central portion of the state in Brazil.

This was the first time that I had tuned into Radio Inconfidencia.

The signal was coming from the 5kW transmitter in Belo Horizonte. (Short Wave Info 2024) (Short Wave Sched 2024)

Above:- World globe showing the location of Brazil. Image c/o Wikipedia.

The overall reception of the Radio Inconfidencia was poor. It was very difficult to understand and I could only basically tell when the announcer was speaking and if music was playing.

The broadcast consisted of music and commentary.

My equipment:-

• Yaesu FTdx101MP
• dipole antenna

Below is a short video showing my reception of Radio Inconfidencia.

References.

1. Short-wave.info. (2023). Short-Wave Radio Frequency Schedule. [online] Available at: http://www.short-wave.info/index.php [Accessed 21 Jul. 2026].‌
2. Shortwaveschedule.com. (2024). ShortwaveSchedule.com. [online] Available at: https://shortwaveschedule.com/‌ [Accessed 21 Jul. 2026].‌
3. Wikipedia Contributors. (2019). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. In Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki [Accessed 21 Jul. 2026]

At about 0746 UTC on 2nd July 2026, I tuned in to Tasmanian Maritime Radio transmitting on 4146 kHz.

Below is a short video of my reception.

At about 0751 UTC on the 2nd day of July 2026, I tuned in to Tasmanian Maritime Radio transmitting on 6227 kHz.

Below is a short video of my reception.

At about 0753 UTC on the 2nd day of July 2026, I tuned in to Auckland VOLMET on 6679 kHz.

VOLMET (short for “Vol Météorologique”) is a s continuous or schedule international radio broadcast of vital weather information for aircraft in flight.

Below is a short video of my reception.

Yesterday in the mail, I received the QSL card below from Radio Slovakia International for my reception of their station on 9455 kHz on 8th July 2025.