On Friday evening (9th January 2015) I attended the North East Radio Club (NERC) at Modbury, to deliver a presentation on the VK5 National and Conservation Parks Award, and the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.  I had attended NERC last year, where I delivered a presentation on the Summits on the Air (SOTA) program.  This time it was to promote the parks programs and hopefully inspire some further activity.

It was a cold and wet night, so a good night to be indoors!  You would never know it was summer.  There were about 30 keen amateurs in attendance, including SOTA diehards Nigel VK5NIG and Stuart VK5STU.  The presentation lasted for about 45 minutes and this was followed by a number of questions from the floor.

Other than delivering the powerpoint presentation, I had a number of VK5 Parks certificates and WWFF certificates on display.  I also brought along my Yaesu FT-817nd and my Yaesu FT-857d to give the attendees an idea on the transceivers I use when out portable in the parks.  I also brought along my 44 amp hour power pack, a 12 volt 4 ah SLAB battery, and one of my new LiFePo4 batteries, to display the different types of power sources available.

Other equipment shown was my hand held GPS device, 7 metre telescopic squid pole, linked dipole, and various books relating to portable & QRP operation.

I hope the presentation may have inspired a few more hams to try the fantastic world of portable operation.

At the end of the presentation, Stuart VK5STU spoke briefly with the group, re offering his services, along with Nigel VK5NIG, for any budding portable operators who may want to accompany them on a parks portable activation.

Thanks to Stuart and Nigel for asking me to come along and speak with the group.