Marija and I had one planned park activation for Sunday (23rd April 2017).  That being the Cooltong Conservation Park 5CP-046 & VKFF-0823 which is located about 257 km north east of Adelaide, and just a few km to the west of the town of Renmark.

Marija and I have activated this park previously, for both the VK5 National & Conservation Parks Award and the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.  We visited the park together back in April 2015 when Marija had made 15 contacts, qualifying the park for VKFF, but falling a bit short of the 44 QSOs required for the global WWFF program.  So Marija was hoping to pick up a few more contacts to get over the 44 line.

https://vk5pas.org/2016/04/20/cooltong-conservation-park-5cp-046-and-vkff-0823/

And I had activated the park back in May 2015 and well and truly had qualified the park for both VKFF and WWFF.

https://vk5pas.org/2015/05/12/cooltong-conservation-park-vkff-823/

However, I had been given permission to use the special call of VK5WOW, issued to help celebrate the upcoming 2017 WIA AGM & Convention in Handorf.

We made an early start and had breakfast at the motel and then headed to the home of Ivan VK5HS.  As it turned out my wife Marija and Ivan had secretly arranged to instal a BHI noise eliminating speaker in the Toyota Hi Lux.  Many thanks to both Marija and Ivan.  It is a really welcome addition to the vehicle.  Peter VK5PE also popped around.

Whilst there we all worked Andrew VK1AD who was on SOTA summitBobbara Mountain VK2/ ST-044, and then John VK5BJE/3 who was portable in the Snowy River National Park VKFF-0455.  And we also worked VK5WOW on the callback after the VK5 WIA Broadcast.

Marija and I then headed across the historic Paringa bridge into the little town of Paringa.  The bridge was constructed in 1927 for the railway extension over the River Murray to Renmark.  It is one of South Australia’s significant engineering monuments and is a State Heritage Place protected by the Heritage Places Act 1993.

We then headed out to Lock 5 which was built during the 1920’s to regulate the flow and the levels of the Murray River.  There are a number of information boards here explaining how the lock was installed.  You can also view the 80 ton barge, the Bunyip.  Along the way we workd Nick VK3ANL who was activating SOTA peak Mount Torbreck VK3/ VN-001.

Our next stop was the Black Stump at Paringa, the largest of 11 known black stumps in Australia.

We then visited the Olivewood historic homestead and museum.  This was the home of the Chaffey Bros, founders of Australia’s first irrigation settlement in Renmark in 1887.  The old homestead is open for inspection and is furnished from this period.

The adjacent museum contains numerous early photos and memorabillia, including an amount of old radio gear.

We then called in to the Twenty Third Distillery in Renmark for some lunch….wood fire oven pizzas and a few cold Ciders.

It was now approaching 1.30 p.m. local time and we headed out to the Cooltong Conservation Park.  We accessed the park via Santos Road which runs off the Sturt Highway.  There are no signs on the Highway indicating the park.   But a few km up Santos Road we reached the park which is signposted.

Cooltong Conservation Park was dedicated in 1993 and comprised 3,681 hectares of mallee vegetation.  The name Cooltong is derived from a local aboriginal name meaning ‘lizard place’.  A large number of native birds can be found in the park including the rarely seen Malleefowl.

Marija and I drove a short distance in the park and found a clearing in amongst the scrub off Santos Road.  It was a hot da7, 29 deg C, so we erected the awning on the Toyota Hi Lux and set up the deck chairs and fold up table underneath the awning.  We ran the Yaesu FT-857d for this activation, initially set at 10 watts PEP for Marija, and then at 40 watts for me.  The antenna was the 80/40/20m linked dipole supported on the 7m telescopic squid pole.

Marija started off first, with contact number one on 40m SSB being Mark VK5QI/m who was mobile on his way home from the Riverland.  Mark is an active member of AREG and had taken part in the balloon launch the day previous.  Contact number two for Marija was Jonathon VK7JON, followed by Damien VK3FRAB/p, Bruce VK3FBNG, and then Bill VK5MBD/p who was portable near Overland Corner.  Contact number 7 was a Park to Park contact with Greg VK4VXX/2 who was activating the Mutawintji National Park VKFF-0374.

The band was in good shape and there were a lot of amateurs about due to it being the Easter weekend.  Marija very soon had the required 29 contacts in the log (to add to her previous 15) to qualify the park for WWFF.  The honour of contact 29 goes to Ian VK3VIN in Corio.

Marija worked a total of 66 stations on 40 from VK1, VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5, and VK7.  This included further Park to Park contacts with John VK5BJE/3 who was portable in the Lake Tyers State Park VKFF-0761, David VK5HYZ/p in the Scott Creek Conservation Park VKFF-0788, Peter VK3PF/4 on SOTA peak VK4/ SE-043 in the D’Aguilar National Park VKFF-0129, Bill VK4FW/p in the Nour Nour National Park VKFF-0701, and Bill VK3CWF/p in the Brisbane Ranges National Park VKFF-0055.

Craig VK3CRG streamed Marija’s contacts via VK3RTV, Digital Amateur TV in Melbourne.

Marija swapped the mic with me, allowing me to log the Park activators.

It was my turn to jump on the mic and operate as VK5WOW.  And WOW (sorry for the pun), what a pile up.  I reached contact number 44 in just 30 minutes (Kevin VK2VKB).  In around 1 hour & 20 minutes I had contact number 100 in the log (Ray VK3RW).  I logged a total of 104 contacts on 40m with most contacts around Australia into VK1, VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5, and VK7.  I logged 2 DX stations on 40m: Brian ZL2ASH in Wellington, New Zealand, and Vicente EA3GP in Tarragona, Spain.  I made one Park to Park contact, and that was with Peter VK3PF/4 who was in the D’Aguilar National Park VKFF-0129.

During my time on 40m, Shaun VK5FAKV called me.  Shaun lives very close by to the park and I gave him directions on how to find me.  I have spoken with Shaun many times on air, and it was a pleasure to meet him finally in person.

I then gave the 20m band a crack, but had very little success there.  Long path propagation into Europe was non existant.  I logged just 6 stations on 20m from VK2, VK4, VK6 and Japan.

I then moved back to 40m where I logged a further 20 stations from VK2, VK3, VK4, and VK6.  This included a Park to Park with Bill VK4FW who was in the Nour Nour National Park VKFF-0701.

It was starting to get dark, 5.30 p.m. local time, and I decided to give the 80m band a shot.  I called CQ on 3.610 and this was answered by Bernie VK4KX who had followed me down from 40.  This was followed by Ivan VK5HS at nearby Renmark who was of course 5/9 +++.  I worked a total of 19 stations on 80m from VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5, and VK7.

I decided to give 40m one last try, hoping to get some North American DX in the log.  Sadly, this was not to happen.  But I did log a further 12 stations from VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5, and VK6.

It was now 6.30 p.m. local time and it was time to pack up and head back into Renmark for a bite to eat.  I had a total of 161 contacts in the VK5WOW log.  Thanks to everyone who called, and I apologise to those who missed out in the pile up.  Be patient and persistent and I am sure to work you.

At the end of the activation Marija and I enjoyed a very nice meal at the Renmark Club and it was then back to the motel room, for another early start in the morning.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK5QI/m
2. VK7JON
3. VK3FRAB/p
4. VK3FBNG
5. VK5MBD/p
6. VK3CGB
7. VK4VXX/2 (Mutawintji National Park VKFF-0374)
8. VK3YXC
9. VK1AT/p
10. VK5KLV
11. VK5HS
12. VK5PE
13. VK7FOLK
14. VK3FSPG
15. VK3MPR
16. VK2HPN/m
17. VK5AYD
18. VK7DW
19. VK2NP
20. VK2PDW
21. VK2GAZ
22. VK3FOWL
23. VK3SQ
24. VK2QK
25. VK5WG
26. VK2OD
27. VK3TKK
28. VK3AXF
29. VK7AU
30. VK3VIN
31. VK3HKV
32. VK5BJE/3 (Lake Tyers State Park VKFF-0761)
33. VK3ZLD
34. VK2LX
35. VK5HYZ/p (Scott Creek Conservation Park VKFF-0788)
36. VK3PF/4 (SOTA VK4/ SE-043 & D’Aguilar National Park VKFF-0129)
37. VK3FPSR
38. VK3FAJH
39. VK3FLJD
40. VK3FPHG
41. VK5TR
42. VK5AFZ
43. VK2KYO
44. VK3YSP
45. VK5YL
46. VK3CRG
47. VK3PAT
48. VK5MA/p
49. VK4FW/p (Nour Nour National Park VKFF-0701)
50. VK3CWF/p (Brisbane Ranges National Park VKFF-0055)
51. VK3ZZS/p
52. VK5FANA/m
53. VK7NWT
54. VK5IS
55. VK5CP
56. VK2HI
57. VK5HEL
58. VK3GGG
59. VK3PMG
60. VK5FMJC
61. VK4RF
62. VK4HA
63. VK2GPT/p
64. VK3TL
65. VK3MIC
66. VK3ZL

I worked the following stations (under VK5PAS) on 40m SSB:-

1. VK4VXX/2 (Mutawintji National Park VKFF-0374)
2. VK5BJE/3 (Lake Tyers State Park VKFF-0761)
3. VK5HYZ/p (Scott Creek Conservation Park)
4. VK3PF/4 (SOTA VK4/ SE-043 & D’Aguilar National Park VKFF-0129)
5. VK4FW/p (Nour Nour National Park VKFF-0701)
6. VK3CWF/p (Brisbane Ranges National Park VKFF-0055)

I worked the following stations (under VK5WOW) on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3SQ
2. VK3HSB
3. VK3PF/4
4. VK4RF
5. VK4HA
6. VK5MBD/p
7. VK3FOWL
8. VK5MA/p
9. VK3TKK
10. VK5NE
11. VK3TL
12. VK5WG
13. VK2HOT
14. VK3ZLD
15. VK3PAT
16. VK5HEL
17. VK2LX
18. VK3GYH/p
19. VK5KLV
20. VK2GAZ
21. VK2FRKO
22. VK3CRG
23. VK2VW
24. VK3FRAB/p
25. VK3FPHG
26. VK3YSP
27. VK3SRC
28. VK2EJW
29. VK3YQS
30. Vk5FANA/m
31. VK7JON
32. VK3BL
33. VK7VZ/p
34. VK3GGG
35. VK3PMG
36. VK5JK
37. VK3VLY
38. ZL2ASH
39. VK3JM
40. VK2PDW/m
41. VK2NP
42. VK3MNZ
43. VK4HNS
44. VK2VKB
45. VK2SK
46. VK2EXA
47. VK7FOLK
48. VK3ZPF
49. VK3FADM/2
50. VK2JXA/p
51. VK3YSP/p
52. VK4FFAB
53. VK4BX
54. VK4ARW
55. VK3FAJH
56. VK5DJW
57. VK5ZGY/m
58. VK2NSS
59. VK2VOL
60. VK5FAKV
61. VK4QQ
62. VK3PLP
63. VK5PE
64. VK3VIN
65. VK3BSG
66. VK7DW
67. VK4VXX
68. VK5WF
69. VK3PI
70. VK2IO/m
71. VK4SMA
72. VK1RZ
73. VK7FEAT/m
74. VK7AN
75. VK3RU
76. VK3TJS
77. VK3MCK
78. VK5KFB
79. VK2ZQ
80. VK2BMU
81. VK5BC
82. VK5NJ
83. VK2UCT
84. VK3FSPG
85. VK3MPR
86. VK2NWB
87. VK4ND
88. VK2YW
89. VK3BGE
90. VK5NAW
91. EA3GP
92. VK5HS
93. VK3MAB
94. VK5ZKU
95. VK3FMPC
96. VK7AU
97. VK3ZD
98. VK3MJR
99. VK3ELH
100. VK3RW
101. VK3STU
102. VK3MCD
103. VK5YX
104. VK3HBG
105. VK2QQ
106. VK3TJK
107. VK2HHS
108. VK4FW/p (VKFF-0701)
109. VK2QK
110. VK2HBT
111. VK3UH
112. VK3SOT
113. VK4HHA
114. VK3WAR
115. VK2FSAV
116. VK5FD/p
117. VK6WC
118. VK2SOL
119. VK3SX
120. VK3NLK
121. VK3FMDC
122. VK4DA
123. VK2BTO
124. VK4KX
125. VK4GAZ
126. VK3FEVT
127. VK3AND
128. VK3FLES
129. VK4FSCC
130. VK4FRAL/m
131. VK6NU
132. VK3LBW
133. VK2TMC
134. VK2SVN
135. VK2WWV
136. VK5FDEC

I worked the following stations (under VK5WOW) on 20m SSB:-

1. VK4QQ
2. VK2MI
3. VK5BC
4. JA1VRY
5. VK2CMP
6. VK6GLX

I worked the following stations (under VK5WOW) on 80m SSB:-

1. VK4KX
2. VK5HS
3. VK3NLK
4. VK4VCO/p
5. VK5FANA
6. VK5HYZ
7. VK3STU
8. VK5FD/p
9. VK7JON
10. VK5ATQ
11. VK3GGG
12. VK3PMG
13. VK3VLY
14. VK3SQ
15. VK5MG
16. VK4TJ
17. VK3DQL
18. VK5FMAZ/m
19. VK2MTM

 

References.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources, 2011, ‘Parks of the Riverland’

Discover Murray, 2017, <http://www.murrayriver.com.au/paddleboats/river-boat-trail-renmark/&gt;, viewed 27th April 2017

Renmark Paringa Visitor Information Centre, 2015, ‘Renmark, Paringa & Lyrup Visitor Guide’

Wikipedia, 2017, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooltong,_South_Australia&gt;, viewed 27th April 2017