Yesterday (Friday 10th April 2015), I headed down to the Hampstead Rehabiliation Centre to catch up with my old mate Larry VK5LY.  Larry is very ill, and is recovering from major spinal surgery.

The afternoon was all about getting Larry up on air.  He is sadly missed from the airwaves, and all those that know Larry, know that he was a very active VK5 Parks activator before his very unexpected illness.  And I know that when Larry returns home in a few weeks from hospital, it will be very hard to keep him out of those Riverland parks.

We headed out to a nice little lawned area just a short distance from Larry’s room.  It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, and we had access to a nice shady spot on the lawn.  For this activation we used my Yaesu FT-857d and my 40m/20m linked dipole.  I even had the solar panels out to charge up the 44 amp hour power pack.

Larry’s first call was from Tom VK5EE down at Mount Gambier, followed by Adrian VK5FANA in the Yorke Peninsula, and then Larry’s great mate, Ivan VK5HS in The Riverland.  The first three callers were from various parts of country South Australia.  Larry had a steady flow of callers, including David VK5KC who was mobile in Victoria.  And Larry also scored two park contacts.  The first being with Gordon VK5GY in the Mount George Conservation Park in the Adelaide Hills, and then Mick VK3PMG in the Mount Arapiles State Park.

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Larry ended up with a total of 15 contacts in VK1, VK2, VK3, & VK5.  Not bad at all considering this was a Friday afternoon.

Thanks to everyone that called.  I will be activating with Larry again in the very near future.

Larry worked the following stations:-

1. Tom VK5EE
2. Adrian VK5FANA
3. Ivan VK5HS
4. Gordon VK5GY/p (Mount George Conservation Park)
5. David VK5KC/3
6. John VK5BJE
7. Mick VK3PMG/p (Mt Arapiles State Park)
8. Andrew VK1NAM
9. Arno VK5ZAR
10. Tony VK3CAB
11. Nev VK5WG
12. Fred VK3DAC
13. Paul VK3DBP
14. Rod VK5VRB
15. Andrew VK2UH