Yesterday I received my SINGLE activator award from the Belgian Flora and Fauna (ONFF) program. It was whilst I was in Europe, operating as ON4IPA in Belgium. The call sign ON4IPA belongs to the International Police Association.
More information on the ONFF program can be found at…..
http://on6wl.be/index.php/onff
Yesterday morning I activated Mount Lofty summit, VK5/ SE-005, which is located within the Cleland Conservation Park, in the Mount Lofty Ranges ‘Adelaide Hills’. I have activated the summit and park many times, as it is just a short drive to my west towards Adelaide. But this was a new calendar year so there were 4 new SOTA points & a VK5 park point up for grabs. The night before I had seen a few ‘alerts’ on SOTAWatch for Activators, and that was my inspiration to head to Mount Lofty.
map courtesy of mapcarta
I was at Mount Lofty by 8.00 a.m. (S.A. local time) and it was already very busy, with lots of tourists. So I set up on the eastern side of the summit, with only a few competing bushwalkers and mountain bikers. For this activation I ran my little Yaesu FT-817nd and 5 watts, into the 40m/20m linked dipole. It was a chilly morning, with light misty drizzle in the air, and the occasional light passing shower from the west.
Image courtesy of mapcarta.com
My first taker for the morning was Col VK5HCF in Mount Gambier. Col was not as strong as normal, although he was still a strong 5/8 signal to Mount Lofty from the South East of South Australia. And Col reported the same with my signal, giving me a 5/4. This was followed by Nev VK5WG at Crystal Brook who was his normal 5/9 signal. Peter VK3TKK then called in, running QRP, just 5 watts. Peter had a surprisingly, very good 5/8 signal. And my fourth and qualifying contact was with Andrew VK2UH who was also 5/8 and gave me a 5/7 signal report from Yass.
My fifth contact was with Andrew VK1MBE/p. I heard the ‘summit to summit’ call amongst the other callers, and picked up Andrew who was a good 5/4 signal. The noise floor on the summit was negligible, so I was able to receive Andrew extremely well. Andrew was on top of Tuggeranong Hill, VK1/ AC-038, in Canberra, at a height ASL of 855 metres. Andrew was one of the SOTA activators who had ‘alerted’ the night before on SOTAWatch. So I was very happy….one Summit to Summit down. Two more to go.
It was pleasing to get Mike VK6MB in the log on 40m, a few contacts later. Mike was only 5/3, but very readable. And Mike gave me a 5/1 signal report back from Manjimup in Western Australia. I went on to work a total of 21 stations on 40m ssb, until I had to QSY. Unfortunately a VK6 mobile station came up on 7.093 and was ‘bleeding over’ onto my frequency. It was making contacts very difficult. So I lowered the squid pole and removed the links in the antenna and headed to 14.310.
I managed just 2 contacts on 20m before the UTC rollover. Those QSOs were with Peter VK4JD in Jimboomba in Queensland, who had an extremely strong signal. And Paul VK2KTT in Bonville in New South Wales. I put out numerous CQ calls, but despite conditions being apparently very good, I had no takers. So I lowered the squid pole again, put back in the links, and headed back to 40m.
My first contact on returning to 40m was another Summit to Summit contact. This time, with Russ VK2BJP/3 who was on Mount Benambra, VK3/ VE-041, north east of Bright. Russ was very low down, but again, due to the non existent man made noise floor, I was able to work Russ very comfortably.
I returned to 7.095 and worked a few more stations in VK3 and VK5. Whilst doing so, I received an SMS message from Andrew VK1NAM to advise that he and Al VK1RX, were on the ridge line of their summit, and they had a further 400 metres to go before reaching the summit. So I patiently waited for them both to appear. Fortunately the weather had cleared at Mount Lofty. About 30 minutes later, I heard the ‘Summit to Summit’ call. It was Al VK1RX. They had reached the top of Wyanbene Caves, VK2/ ST-022. Al and Andrew were only 5/1, but very readable. I received a reciprocal 5/1 signal back from the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales.
I was very pleased now. I had worked the four stations Summit to Summit, that I was hoping to get in the log. I worked another 2 stations on 40m, before the UTC rollover, and then got up for a stretch and a walk. My operating spot was alive with birdlife. Of the feathered variety! There were dozens of Superb fairywrens. Mostly females, and not the males. Maybe the ‘blokes’ were having a sleep in. The females are plain fawn colour. Whereas the males have a brilliant iridescent blue contrasting with black and grey brown. I also saw a number of Yellow tailed black cockatoos, and Adelaide Rosellas. And there were some noisy Australian Ravens who decided to perch just above my operating spot.
image courtesy of wikipedia.
I returned to the radio, just after the UTC rollover and worked a total of 8 stations on 40m and 20m ssb. Not the large number of stations I expected. But I guess it was a workday. For some anyway! I am on 6 weeks holidays.
I worked a total of 40 stations in VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5, & VK6 on 40m ssb and 20m ssb.
The following stations were worked:-
In November, 2014, I commenced a newsletter called ‘Out and about in VK5’. The newsletter is released at the end of each month, and is related to amateur radio activity in South Australia (VK5), centred around the following:-
I welcome any news and photographs relating to the subject material. Without your constributions, the newsletter will not survive.
I have an email list and distribute the newsletter to those amateurs interested. If you would like to go on the mailing list, please drop me an email at….
vk5pas@wia.org.au
Or alternatively, I upload the newsletter to the Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Scoiety (AHARS) website at….
And it can also be found on the VK5 Parks award website at…..
See below, the first 3 Issues…..
Out and About Issue 3 Out and About Issue 2 Out and about in VK5 Issue 1
I am on holidays at the moment, which means I can stay up a little bit later when I choose to. And I did that over the weekend, working a few European SOTA activators on both the long path and the short path.
On Saturday evening (10th January 2015) I spoke with Pablo EA1QL, on 20m on the long path. Pablo was on the top of SOTA summit, Monxagre, EA1/ AT-204. Pablo was kind enough to send me an email with some photos from the activation (see below).
The Monxagre summit is 662 metres ASL and is worth 2 SOTA points. It is located in the Spain (North West) Association, and the Asturias Region.
Map courtesy of google maps.
Image courtesy of http://www.wikiloc.com/
Pablo was running a Kenwood TS-840, about 50 watts, and a home brew monoband Delta loop antenna. Pablo was powering the radio with a 12v 8 ah battery.
It was a challenge to get through to Pablo, as breaking through the European ‘wall’ of SOTA chasers was quite difficult. But once I did, Pablo and I were able to hear each other ver well. I know that Andrew VK1NAM has mentioned previously, the issue of many European SOTA activators not listening for further afield. I have felt the same frustration, but I have found that perserverance generally pays off. Not always though!
Yesterday (Sunday 11th January 2015), my wife Marija and I decide we had enough of being indoors doing paperwork, including Marija’s mum’s tax. So we headed out to the Charleston Conservation Park, which is located not far from our home. To get to the park we travelled out via the little town of Nairne, and then just before reaching Woodside, we turned right onto Pfeiffer Road and headed north. This took us passed the Country Fire Service Aircraft Operations Centre. This is where a number of Fixed Wing Air Tractors are based, along with a number of helicopters.
We continued along Pfeiffer Road and then turned into Lewis Road, and then right into Bell Springs Road and headed east. This is a very beautiful part of the Adelaide Hills. The park is a few km up Bell Springs Road on the southern side of the road.
map courtesy of mapcarta.com
I have activated the park twice before. Once back in 2013 and then again in 2014. For information on the park and those activations, please have a look at my previous posts…..
https://vk5pas.wordpress.com/2013/07/24/charleston-conservation-park/
https://vk5pas.wordpress.com/2014/04/28/charleston-conservation-park-2/
Charleston Conservation Park preserves a pristine remnant representative of the transition between the wetter stringy bark forests on the western side of the Mount Lofty Ranges and the drier mallee woodlands to the east. A large diversity of flora and fauna are represented in the Park including at least seventy-six bird species.
I set up in the same spot as previous activations, which was the south eastern corner of the park off Bell Springs Road. There is a track here which allows enough space to set up the dipole. It is very hard in other parts of the park, because the scrub is so thick.
With the help of Marija we set up the fold up table and deck chair, and the 40m/20m linked dipole, supported on the 7 metre telescopic squid pole.
image courtesy of http://au.geoview.info
I called CQ on 7.095 and this was answered by Greg VK5GJ who was running QRP again, with just 5 watts. Greg was a good 5/8 signal, however he was not as strong as I have heard him previously. I was then called by Roy VK5NRG with a nice strong 5/9 signal, and then Peter VK5KPR at Port Augusta with his normal strong 5/9 signal.
I had just 1 other QRP caller during this activation, and that was Norm VK5GI, who was running his little home brew transceiver and 5 watts. I also spoke with parks stalwart Peter VK3TKK who was mobile. I had one more mobile contact and that was with Bill VK5MBD who was mobile on the Port Wakefield Road, about 5 km north of Dublin. Bill was on his way home to Red Hill in the Mid North, after shopping in Adelaide. I was also called by Giles VK5FFAA who was trying out a new antenna. I explained the VK5 Parks award to Giles, and don’t be surprised if you hear Giles calling CQ from a park soon.
After the callers slowed down on 30m I lowered the squid pole and removed the links in the antenna for 20m. I went to 14.310 and put out about 6 CQ calls with no takers.
So after about 90 minutes in the park, it was time to pack up and head home for a roast and a nice red. I had a total of 24 contacts in the log on 40m ssb from VK2, VK3, VK5, & VK7.
The following stations were worked:-
References.
Australian Heritage Places Register, <http://www.heritage.gov.au/cgi-bin/ahpi/record.pl?RNE7606>, viewed 11th January 2015
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.
Thanks to Margaret, from the Yankalilla and District Historical Society, I have found out the origins of the name of Black Bullock Hill, VK5/ SE-016, on the Fleurie Peninsula. See my previous post from a few days ago…..
https://vk5pas.wordpress.com/2015/01/04/black-bullock-hill-vk5-se-016/
The summit’s name actually comes from a plant, not an animal, as some of us presumed. And that plant is ‘bull-oak’ Allocasuarina Luchnannii, which is part of the Casuarinaceae family. The plant is also sometimes referred to as ‘buloke’. It is reputed to the the hardest wood in the world, with a Janka Hardness of 5,060 lbf. The Janka hardness test measures the resistance of a sample of wood to denting and wear.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janka_hardness_test
Image courtesy of wikipedia.org
It is a medium sized tree up to 15m high with a straight trunk, typically 30-70 cm in diameter. Male and female flowers occur separately on different plants. Male flowers form in spikes up to 4.5 cm long , in September and October. The cones are short (5-12 mm long), cylindrical and broader than long, hairy when young and supported on a very short stalk. The winged seed is about 5 mm long and red-brown in colour.
Apparently, these trees flourished on the Fleurieu Peninsula, until farming. There is a stand of these in the Wimmera region of western Victoria, however they are also endangered there as well by farming practices. The tree is integral to the survival of the southeastern subspecies of the Red-Tailed Black Cockatoos. The tree offers food and nesting for the cockatoos.
Image courtesy of wikipedia.org
The Shire of Buloke in western Victoria is named after this species of plant.
I always find it interesting to learn how many of these places got their names. One would have assumed that Black Bullock hill was named after a black bullock seen in a paddock. But it was not.
References.
Australian Government, Department of the Environment, <http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/species-bank/sbank-treatment.pl?id=20188>, viewed 9th January 2015.
Wikipedia, ‘Allocasuarina luehmannii’, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allocasuarina_luehmannii>, viewed 9th January 2015
Wikipedia, ‘Janka hardness test, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janka_hardness_test>, viewed 9th January 2015
Late yesterday afternoon (Wednesday 7th January 2015), I ventured out to the Ferries McDonald Conservation Park, near Monarto, about 70 km south east of Adelaide, and about 30 km south east from my home in the Adelaide Hills. We have been experiencing some very hot weather here, but yesterday a stormfront moved through with some very heavy rain and thunderstorms. So it was after the weather had settled a little, that I drove up to Monarto.
Map courtesy of mapcarta.com
I headed along the South Eastern Freeway until I got to the Monarto turn off and took the exit. I then travelled south along Ferries McDonald Road, and then east along Chaunceys Line Road, until I reached the carpark at the south eastern corner of the park.
I have activated this park twice before. Once in 2013, and once in 2014. So, as this was a new calendar year, another VK5 Parks activator point was up for grabs. Please have a look at my previous posts for more information on previous activations and information re the park.
https://vk5pas.wordpress.com/2014/05/18/ferries-mcdonald-conservation-park-2/
https://vk5pas.wordpress.com/2013/05/26/ferries-mcdonald-conservation-park/
map courtesy of mapcarta.com
I ran the Yaesu FT-857d for this oepration, 40 watts, and the 40m/20m linked dipole supported on the 7m squid pole. Because of the rain, I was able to drive the squid pole holder into the ground, which held the squid pole in place, with the assistance of an octopus strap.
When I first turned on the radio, I had grave concerns that I wouldn’t even get a contact. The static crashes from all the storm activity were S9 +. But after a single CQ call I was called by Mick VK3FAFK in Stawell in western Victoria. Mick has become a regular park hunter, and had a beautiful 5/9 signal to Ferries McDonald. This was followed by a QSO with Matt VK5ZX on the West Coast of South Australia, and then Peter VK3TKK in the mobile. Peter’s signal was probably the best I have ever heard him. So despite the static crashes, the band seemed to be in very good condition.
I sat back in the deck chair, avoiding the occasional sprinkle of rain, and went on to work a total of 34 stations in VK1, VK2, VK3. VK4, VK5, VK6, & VK7. All had excellent signals. I did experience some ‘bleed over’ from some VK6 stations who came up hald way through the activation on 7.093, and who were very strong.
I then went up to 7.130 and joined the 7130 DX Net where I worked a further 7 stations in VK2, VK3, French Polynesia, and New Zealand, before packing up and heading home. The DX Net was affected again by one of the stations operating AM on 7.125.
Some of the highlights of this activation were the contacts to Western Australia. It is often a challenge to make it all the way over there with a good signal report, but tonight there were no problems. I spoke with Gavin VK3MLU who advised that I was his first contact in the past 15 years. Gavin has been licenced for about 29 years, but had lost interest in the hobby, and had been absent from the bands for about 14 years. So it was a pleasure to have a chat with Gavin and be his first contact in such a long period of time.
It was nice as always to get a few QRP contacts in the log. That included Brenton VK3CM/p, Cameron VK4FAAJ/p, and Ian VK5IS, all running just 5 watts.
The following stations were worked:-
Recently Larry VK5LY did some research on his mapping system re VK5/ SE-016, the summit down on the Fleurieu Peninsula, near Delaware. The summit is un-named on the Summits on the Air (SOTA) database. However, the actual name of the summit is Black Bullock Hill.
map courtesy of mapcarta.com
This morning I contacted the Delamere General Store who put me in contact with the land owner that the summit is located on. In turn I contacted Mr. Peter Filsell. He confirmed that the summit was called Black Bullock Hill, but he was not aware as to why it was called this. Peter stated that his family had owned the land for about 60-70 years, but he had never been told the origins of the name. There is a road just to the south of the summit called Black Bullock Road and there is also Black Bullock Creek.
map courtesy of mapcarta.com
Peter was very friendly. Next time I am down that way I am going to call in to say g’day to Peter. There is no need to access Peter’s property, as the trig point is just a short distance from the road, and the roadway is well and truly within the activation zone. However, should you wish to operate from the trig point, you can contact Peter. Please do not enter the land unless you have Peter’s permission. I have placed Peter’s contact details on the SOTA page for this summit.
I have also advised Ian VK5CZ, the VK5 SOTA Association Manager, with a view to advising the SOTA moderators of the name of this summit, so that the records can be ammended.
There is also a Geocache at this site. Peter was unaware of this.
http://geocaching.com.au/cache/tp5097
The Sampson Flat fire has now burnt about 11,500 hectares (28,750 acres) of area. A watch and act warning is now in place. According to the CFS website, the fire continues to burn out of control on all flanks.
Below is a map of the fireground as of 9.30 p.m. last night.
I have left a message for Noel, the owner of the land that Mount Gawler is located on. I have offered any assistance that he may need. I am sure there are some other SOTA activators who would be prepared to offer their assistance. Noel has been very supportive of SOTA, so I think any help we can provide him would be a good thing.
There are also a number of amateurs who are located in the fire affected area, including my good mate Greg VK5LG, who fortunately to date has not suffered any property damage. My thoughts are with you Greg.
More information on the fire can be located on the Country Fire Service website at…..
http://www.cfs.sa.gov.au/site/home.jsp
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