On Tuesday night (2nd December 2014) I arrived home from work to find no internet coverage from my ISP and then no power.  So I packed up the radio gear and headed for the Monarto Conservation Park, which is about 65 km east of Adelaide.

Map courtesy of mapcarta.com

I have activated the Monarto Conservation Park previously (on 2 occasions).  Please have a look at my previous posts for more information on those activations, and also for information on the park itself.

https://vk5pas.wordpress.com/2013/06/01/monarto-conservation-park/

https://vk5pas.wordpress.com/2014/05/18/monarto-conservation-park-2/

I set up in the same spot as the last 2 occasions, which was the carpark on the eastern side of the park.  There is plenty of room here to string out a dipole, and stay out of the bush and of course all of the associated nasties that like living in the bush and come out on hot evenings (which this was).  I set up my fold up table and deck chair, and the Yaesu FT450, 40 watts and the 40m/20m linked dipole.

Map courtesy of mapcarta.com

It was a warm evening, but there were showers coming in from the west and there was lots of storm activity.  So the static crashes on 40m were S9 plus at times.  I placed a CQ call on 7.095 and was immediately greeted by Andrew VK2UH who had a great 5/9 signal coming in from New South Wales.  Andrew was defeating the static crashes without any problems.  After a bit of a chinwag with Andrew I was called by regular park hunter, Tom VK5EE in Mount Gambier, and then Damien VK5FDEC running 10 watts from his new Yaesu FT857.  My fourth contact was Rob VK4FFAB.  It was a struggle to get Rob’s call but we got there in the end.  Rob was a 3/4, simply because of the static crashes.  If they were not there, I would have received Rob perfectly, as there was certainly no man made noise in the park.  Thanks for your perseverance Rob.

I had a steady flow of callers during the 90 minutes that I was set up in the park.  The band was in very good condition and it was a real shame about the static crashes.  I had callers from VK1, VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5, VK6, and VK7.  Almost all of the States and Territories were represented.

And here is where all the noise was coming from…..

Image courtesy of http://www.weatherzone.com.au

Image courtesy of http://www.weatherzone.com.au

Fortunately the rain stayed away.  I had a few light sprinkles, but it remained a very warm evening.  By the time I packed up at about 8.15 p.m. the sun was setting and I was rewarded with a spectacular sunset.  And I was still in a t-shirt.

The signals coming in from VK5 during this activation were outstanding.  Peter VK5NAQ, Charlie VK5KDK, Hans VK5YX, Nev VK5WG, John VK5FMJC, Ian VK5IS, Arno VK5ZAR, and Roger VK5NWE were all 20/9 to 30/9 in signal strength.

A few QRP callers gave me a shout.  They were Kevin VK7HKN running 5 watts from his Yaesu FT-817, and Eric VK3FMSC also running 5 watts.  And Ken VK3TKQ who was mobile at Mount Evelyn, had a beautiful 5/9 signal into Monarto.

But the strongest signal of the activation was reserved for Roger VK4YB near Caboolture in Queensland.  Roger was 40/9 to me, and his 2 element beam was working an absolute treat. What a signal!

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This was a very enjoyable activation despite the QRN.  It is very evident from this activation and other evening activations that I have done, that the 40m band opens up beautifully to all parts of Australia at this time.  So why not try an evening park activation and work all of Australia.

I had a total of 28 contacts during this activation.

The following stations were worked:-

1. Andrew VK2UH
2. Tom VK5EE
3. Damien VK5FDEC
4. Rob VK4FFAB
5. Ken VK3TKQ/m
6. Peter VK5NAQ
7. Lee VK2LEE
8. Kevin VK7HKN
9. Charlie VK5KDK
10. Greg VK7FGGT
11. Hans VK5YX
12. Ian VK3AXF
13. Nick VK2DX
14. Nev VK5WG
15. Andrew VK1NAM
16. Mark VK7MK
17. Ian VK3FIAN
18. John VK5FMJC
19. Ian VK5IS
20. Roger VK4YB
21. Col VK5FCDL
22. Arno VK5ZAR
23. Phil VK3BHR
24. Ian VK5CZ
25. Eric VK3FMSC
26. Jess VK6JES
27. Roger VK5NWE
28. Nick VK3FCCK