Well, another Oceania DX Contest has been and gone.  This is one of a handful of contests that I always compete in each year.

I ended up making a total of 506 contacts with a claimed score of 311,202 points.  Those contacts were made on 10, 15, 20 & 40m SSB.  This was up quite a bit from last year when I made a total of 276 contacts.

Equipment used during the contest:-

• Yaesu FT-1000
• 100 watts
• TET-Emtron TE-53 5 element yagi @ 16 metres (for 10m, 15m, & 20m)
• home brew dipole inverted vee (for 40m)

Above:- The 5 el yagi and the linked dipole hanging off the side of the tower,

Yesterday (Saturday 7th October 2017), leading up to the contest, the 20m band was in excellent condition on the long path to Europe.  I worked quite a pile up leading up to the contest.  Sadly, half an hour into the contest my noise floor on 20m went from S2 to S7.  This noise seems to come up quite regularly very late in the afternoon here and I have no idea on where it is coming from.  So as a result, it put a huge dent in my DXing on 20m.  In the end I had to give 20m away, with 33 contacts in the log from Europe & New Zealand, and I headed to 40m feeling hugely frustrated.

Unfortunately my 40m antenna is less than ideal for working DX, but I still managed to work French Caledonia, USA, and New Zealand on 40m.  I headed back to 20m at around 0845 UTC to find that the man made noise had gone, but so had the propagation to Europe on the long path.  I decided to beam to the north and as a result I worked numerous JA’s, Asiatic Russia, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Ukraine, USA, VK6, and VK8.

I then moved back to 40m at about 1000 UTC (8.30 p.m.).  It was now dark.  I worked about a dozen stations from Australia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Asiatic Russia, Indonesia, Tonga, and East Kiribati.  I heard a number of other DX stations, but sadly my 100 watts and the dipole were just not cutting though.

It was approaching 1100 UTC so I headed back to 20m and found that the band was starting to open up on the short path to Europe.  The previous few nights I had been on afternoon shift at work, arriving home at around 1300 UTC (11.30 p.m. local time), with conditions short path to Europe being quite good.  Sadly, conditions during the contest were not quite as good as previous nights.  However I did have a good run of Europeans, South East Asia, the Sub Continent, and Middle East stations coming back to my CQ call.

I called it a night at about 1530 UTC (2.00 a.m. local time) with a total of 225 stations in the log.

Above:- Map showing my contacts during the contest.

On Sunday morning I made my way out of bed at about 10.00 a.m. and headed back to the shack.  There wasn’t much happening on 20m or 40m so I had a listen on 15m and found the band open to Japan and South East Asia.  I logged a little over 60 stations.

At about 0200 UTC I tried my luck on the 10m band which was wide open to JA, but sadly there were not a lot of stations to be found.  I logged just 10 stations before heading over to 20m.  It was too early for any propagation to Europe but I did log a little over a dozen stations from VK and ZL.  I then flicked between 20m and 15, working stations  from South East Asia, USA, Australia and the Pacific.

Just before 0400 UTC I headed back to 40m and worked about 26 VK’s with conditions there being very good.  I then head a listen on 10m and 15m again, but stations heard there were quite low, with propagation to South East Asia dropping quite dramatically from earlier in the day.  I did hear VK9XI on Christmas Island and tried in vain to work them.  Almost, but not close enough!

At around 0500 UTC (3.30 p.m.) I moved back to 20m.  The band was just starting to open up on the long path to Europe, with a dozen or so Europeans logged, and also VK and Tonga.  I again moved back to 40m and logged a handful of VK’s, waiting for 20m to open up.

At about 0600 UTC I headed back to 20m and found that the band was really starting to open up now on the long path to Europe.  Sadly conditions were nowhere near as good as the day previous.  I also experienced a lot of QRM making it very difficult to pick up the weaker stations.  Fortunately, the terrible noise I often experience on 20m was not present.  There was at least one blessing.

At around 0700 UTC I decided to have a listen on 15m and I am very pleased that I did.  The band was not only open to JA, but I worked a large number of stations on the short path into Europe.  Although the European signals were not super strong, it was really pleasing to hear Europe coming through.

At 0800 UTC, the end of the contest, I had 506 contacts in the log.

I worked a total of 55 different countries during the contest.  the following countries were logged:-

1. Aland Islands
2. Asiatic Russia
3. Australia
4. Austraia
5. Belarus
6. Belgium
7. Brunei
8. Canada
9. China
10. Cyprus
11. Czech Republic
12. Denmark
13. East Kiribati
14. East Malaysia
15. England
16. Estonia
17. Finland
18. France
19. Germany
20. Greece
21. Hong Kong
22. Hungary
23. India
24. Indonesia
25. Italy
26. Japan
27. Kazakhstan
28. Latvia
29. Lithuania
30. Netherklands
31. New Caledonis
32. New Zealand
33. Northern Ireland
34. Norway
35.  Philippines
36. Poland
37. Portugal
38. Romania
39. Russia
40. Scotland
41. Singapore
42. Slovak Republic
43. Slovenia
44. South Korea
45. Spain
46. Sweden
47. Switzerland
48. Taiwan
49. Thailand
50. Tonga
51. Ukraine
52. United Arab Emirates
53. United States of America
54. Wales
55. West Malaysia

Points to come out of the contest for me:-

• get a dedicated antenna for the 80m band.  I do not have an antenna for that band so I missed out on any contacts on 80m.
• Get my Heil headset fixed so I can use it in conjunction with the foot pedal.  I used the desk mic for the contest and as a result, have a crook neck.
• Arrange for a voice recording.  Calling CQ all day long is not a good thing.
• Get motivated to do my upgrade so I can run some more power.
• Continue to look at a potential QTH move so I can get a more substantial antenna up in the air for 40m.

Thanks to everyone who called and thanks to the Oceania DX Contest Committee for another great contest.

I take my hat off to some of the VK big guns I heard during the contest, including VK5ARG, VK4HH, VK4NM, VK4KW, VK2AU, VK2XZ, VK6NE, and VK4FG.  Good luck to everyone who entered.

Last Monday (2nd October 2017) was a public holiday here in South Australia….Labor Day.  The public holiday  has its origins in the eight hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest.  I had the day off as a grace day, so I headed out to activate the Porter Scrub Conservation Park 5CP-189 and VKFF-0787.

I have activated and qualified this park previously, so it was going to be another activation towards the Boomerang Award for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.

Above:- Map showing the location of the Porter Scrub Conservation Park in the Adelaide Hills.  Map courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.

Porter Scrub Conservation Park is 104 hectares in size and is located at Kenton Valley in the Central Mount Lofty Ranges ‘Adelaide Hills’.  It is situated about 30 km north east of the city of Adelaide.  After purchase from the estate of the late J. J. Porter, the park was proclaimed on 20 October 2005.

Approximately 99 hectares of the park is land that was purchased from the estate of the late J. J. Porter with financial assistance from the National Reserve System Program of the Australian Government’s Natural Heritage Trust and a contribution from the Nature Foundation SA Inc.  The park also consists of a closed road reserve and 3.7 hectares of land that was previously an Adelaide Hills Council reserve.

Above:- Aerial shot showing the park.  Image courtesy of Google maps.

For most of the 1900’s the Porter family were the freehold owners of the land comprising the park.  The land was never cleared, however sheep were grazed until the land was acquired for conservation purrposes.  The park was also used as a source of timber, with large numbers of saw logs being extracted.  The stumps and coppice regrowth can be seen in the park.  Bark was stripped from Golden Wattle trees for the tanning industry.

Early mining exploration occurred along Howard Creek with mines being established for talc extraction.  There are numerous old mine shafts located within the park.  Talc mining ceased in the late 1960’s due to competition in the industry.  The primary mining site in the central part of the park was also a source of soapstone, which was used as “fire bricks” for use in ovens and kilns.

Soapstone

Talc

The park terrain is undulating to hilly, flanking a central valley along Howard Creek which flows into the River Torrens.  It includes areas of messmate Stringybark Woodland and Candlebark Gum open forest, pink gum low woodland and river red gum woodland are found in the park.  Candelbark Gum open forest is considered endangered in South Australia.  The park also supports grassy woodlands of Messmate Stringybark and Manna Gum and South Australian Blue Gum.   Pink Gum and River Red Gum are considered vulnerable at a state level.

During my visit to the park there were a number of the native plants in flower.

A large number of native birds have been recorded in the park including 11 bird species of conservation significance.  Birds recorded in the park include White-throated Treecreeper, Superb Fairywren, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Grey Shrikethrush, Striated Pardalote, White-browed Scrubwren, Brown Thornbill, Australian Golden Whistler, Grey Shrikethrush, Grey Fantail, Common Bronzewing, Sacred Kingfisher, Buff-rumped Thornbill, Black-capped Sittella, and Willie Wagtail.

Various native mammals call the park home including Western Grey Kangaroo, Short beaked Echidna, Koala, Common Brushtail Possum, Common Ringtail Possum, and the nationally endangered Southern Brown Bandicoot.

I have previously activated from the southern side of the park off Maidment Road.  This time I decided to try the northern side.  So I headed out from home through Woodside and on to Lobethal.  I then took Burfords Hill Road heading east and as I approached the park there were some great views of the western boundary of the park.

I parked my vehicle and walked a short distance into the park and started to set up the station.  There was a small area here at the gate where I could pull the vehicle off the road.

As it was a warm 24 deg C day I chose the shade of some gum trees.  I was also on the lookout for snakes.  I ran my normal station for this activation which comprised the Yaesu FT-857d, 40 watts output, and the 20/40/80m linked dipole, inverted vee on the top of the 7 metre heavy duty telescopic squid pole.

Above:- Aerial view of the park, showing my operating spot in the north eastern corner.  Image courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.

I headed to my normal operating frequency on 40m, 7.144, and found Adam VK2YK there, calling CQ from the Medowie State Conservation Area VKFF-1349.  It was a great way to start the activation with a Park to Park contact.  I then moved down to 7.139 and asked if the frequency was in use.  Peter VK3PF came back to advise it was free.  Peter had followed me down from 7.144.  I then logged regular park hunter Rick VK4RF/VK4HA, followed by Geoff VK3SQ and then Mike VK3ZMD.

The band was in quite good condition, with good signals coming in from VK2, VK3 and VK4.  What was evident, was that close in propagation was not great again, with just Andrew VK5 mobile at Roxy Downs in the north of the State, and Greg VK5GJ at Meadows, making my log.  My wife Marija VK5FMAZ had sent me a text to advise that I was unreadable at our home QTH of Mount Barker, about 30 km to the south of the park.

I logged a total of 32 stations on 40m including another Park to Park, with Bill VK4FW/p in the Cherbourg National Park VKFF-0669.  I then lowered the squid pole and inserted the links for 40m, and headed to 3.610.  The first station in the log there was Greg VK5GJ, followed by Mike VK5FMWW and then Marija VK5FMAZ.  It was still bright sunshine, but the 80m band was working well, with 7 stations logged, including Mick VK3GGG/VK3PMG in western Victoria.

I then moved over to the 20m band hoping to log some European stations.  Long path to Europe on 20m has been quite good the past few weeks, so I was hopeful that I might be able to work a little bit of DX, despite the antenna not being ideal.  My first station logged on 20m was Luciano I5FLN in Italy, followed by Hans VK6XN in Western Australia, and then Michele IZ8EFD in Italy.  I ended up logging a total of 13 stations on 20m from Italy, VK6, Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, VK4, and New Zealand.  It was quite difficult at times, with the Over the Horizon Radar belting away in the background.

I had seen Andrew VK1AD spotted, on a SOTA peak on 14.315, so when things slowed down a little, I headed there, but could not hear a peep from Andrew.  So I moved back to the 40m band and called CQ on 7.130.  Peter VK3ZPF responded to my call, followed by Keith VK3FMKE, and then Sergio VK3SFG.  I logged a total of 32 stations from VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5, VK6, and VK7.  This included a difficult Park to Park contact with Nigel Vk5NIG/p who was in the Cobbler Creek Recreation Park VKFF-1699.  I initially could not pull Nigel through, who was running just 2 watts, but eventually we got there.  Many thanks to those who were waiting and also thanks for nobody relaying, which would have made the contact void.  It was also nice to have a bit of a chat with Jim VK2QA, and also Glen VK3GMC who had his 7 year old grandson Kai in the shack.

It was now 7.30 p.m. and I decided to try 80m again.  I started off on 3.610, but unfortunately a Net commenced on 3.609 whilst I was speaking with stations, and they were not going to move for anyone.  So I decided it just wasn’t worth the grief, and QSY’d to 3.600.  I logged 11 stations this time on 80m from VK2, VK3, VK5, and VK7.  The strongest station worked was Nev in the Mid North of South Australia, who was 5/9 plus.

To finish off the activation I moved back to 40m and booked in to the 7130 DX Net.  Sadly there wasn’t much DX around and I logged just 3 stations: Peter VK7PRN, George VK4GSF and Marcus VK2SK.  The temperature had dramatically dropped down to 8 deg C and I decided it was time ‘to pull stumps’ and head home.

It had been a terrific activation, with a total of 98 contacts in the log.  Just 2 short of a century.

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK2YK/p (Medowie State Conservation Area VKFF-1349)
2. VK3PF
3. VK4RF
4. VK4HA
5. VK3SQ
6. VK3ZMD
7. VK2HHA
8. VK3OHM
9. VK2NP
10. VK3UH
11. VK3VGB
12. VK3TKK
13. VK3FCMC
14. VK4TJ
15. VK4HNS
16. VK4XAC
17. VK4VCO/m
18. VK3GGG
19. VK3PMG
20. VK2UH
21. VK3MDH/m
22. VK3CM
23. VK3MJR
24. VK3VIN
25. VK3FRJD
26. VK3NSC
27. VK2PKT
28. VK5MR/m
29. VK3KMA
30. VK2KYO
31. VK4FW/p (Cherbourg National Park VKFF-0669)
32. VK5GJ
33. VK3ZPF
34. VK3FMKE
35. VK3SFG
36. VK4SMA
37. VK2YK
38. VK2IO/m
39. VK6XN
40. VK2NED
41. VK5NIG/p (Cobbler Creek Recreation Park VKFF-1699)
42. VK3HK
43. VK2NP
44. VK3BBB
45. VK3FSPG
46. VK3MPR
47. VK4FDJL
48. VK3MDH
49. VK7KEV
50. VK3NLK
51. VK3FLJD
52. VK3RU
53. VK7JN
54. VK7KW
55. VK4OY
56. VK3FNQS
57. VK2QA
58. VK3EXA
59. VK3GMC
60. VK7FRJG
61. VK2MMM
62. VK6MAC
63. VK6RZ
64. ZL2ASH
65. VK7PRN
66. VK4GSF
67. VK2SK

I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

1. VK5GJ
2. VK5FMWW
3. VK5FMAZ
4. VK3GGG
5. VK3PMG
6. VK5FANA
7. VK5NRG
8. VK2FENG
9. VK3ARH
10. VK2NP
11. VK3PKY
12. VK3KIX
13. VK3BSP
14. VK3FLJD
15. VK2YK
16. VK5WG
17. VK7ALH
18. VK7NWT

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

1. I5FLN
2. VK6XN
3. IZ8EFD
4. IZ8DFO
5. JA1VRY
6. IZ8GNR
7. IW1GGR
8. HB9FBG
9. DK0EE
10. SP2AND
11. VK6MSC
12. VK4MAC
13. ZL2AJ

References.

Birds SA, 2017, <http://www.birdssa.asn.au/location/porter-scrub-conservation-park/&gt;, viewed 4th October 2017

Department for Environment and Heritage, 2007, Porter Scrub Conservation Park Management Plan.

Today (Sunday 1st October 2017) my wife Marija VK5FMAZ/p and I packed the Toyota Hi Lux and headed towards the southern Barossa Valley with a view to activating the Sandy Creek Conservation Park 5CP-204 & VKFF-0933.

This was to be a new park for Marija for the World Wide Flora and Fauna (WWFF) program, and also the VK5 National & Conservation  Parks Award.

Above:- Map showing the location of the Sandy Creek Conservation Park north-east of Adelaide.  Map courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.

The Sandy Creek Conservation Park is 158 hectares in size and is situated between the towns of Sandy Creek and Lyndoch in the southern Barossa Valley, the world famous wine growing region.  Section 72 Hundred of Barossa was proclaimed as a Wildlife-Reserve on the 7th October 1965.  Sections 317 and 319 were added on 25th May 1967 as a National Park.   It was re-proclaimed as Sandy Creek Conservation Park on 27th April 1972.   On 11th April 1991, Allotment 10 was added, with Allotment 50 also added on the 8th September 1994 and Allotment 202 on 19th January 2006.

The following habitats can be found within the park:  

• Peppermint Box and Pink Gum, Dry Sclerophyll Low Woodland over Golden Wattle.
• Peppermint Box and Mallee Box Low Woodland over Common Fringe-myrtle and Flame Heath 
• Pink Gum and Southern Cypress Pine and Drooping Sheoak Low Woodland over Common Fringe-myrtle and Flame Heath  

The park is one of the few remaining tracts of undisturbed and undeveloped native bushland in the Barossa Valley.  It is surrounded by cleared land for farming purposes and vineyards.  A quarry is also located on the eastern side of the park.

Above:- Cleared farming land on the northern side of the park.

During the first half of the 1900’s much of the Sandy Creek Conservation Park was cleared and planted with vines.  The vineyards were subsequently abandoned due to low soil fertility.  Sections of the park were named after life-long ornithologists and conservationists, Cecil Rix and Mark Bonnin who identified many native bird species in the area.  The Sir Keith Wilson section of the park was a gift from the Wilson family and the Nature Foundation of SA Inc.

Above:- Sir Keith Wilson.  c/o Trove

Today, regenerating cleared land and the ruins of a small hut, built in 1918 from locally quarried stone and native pine, remain in the park.  In addition, an abandoned vineyard in the southern section contains grasses that provide important habitat for birds such as the grass-dwelling stubble quail.

During our visit to the park a number of the native plants were in flower.

Over 145 native bird species have been recorded in the park including Peaceful Dove, Common Bronzewing, Superb Fairywren, Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Yellow Thornbill, Black-winged Currawong, Willie Wagtail, Diamond Dove, Brush Bronzewing, Australian Owlet-nightjar, Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, White-winged Triller, and Zebra Finch.

The park is home to a number of native animals including Western Grey kangaroos and Short beaked echidnas.  The Eastern Bearded dragon and Marbled Gecko can be found in the park.

For more information on the park, check out the website of the Friends of Sandy Creek Conservation Park, which can be found at….

http://www.cockatoovalley.com/scfriends/

The park is located a few km from the little town of Sandy Creek which has a population of around 450.  The Sandy Creek Hotel, which was opened in 1867, is best known for the prodigious amounts of alcohol served during World War II to the US soldiers who had a camp close by.  It is believed the pub still holds the South Australian record for the greatest amount of beer served in a single week.   This was set, unsurprisingly, after the announcement of the ceasefire at the end of World War II.

Above:- The Sandy Creek Hotel.  c/o G’day Pubs.

McLeod’s Daughters, an Australian soap opera, was filmed locally and much of the filming was done on location using the local farms and dirt roads as background.

Prior to heading to the park, Marija and I headed to the Birdwood/Cromer area and met up with Chris VK5FR.  Chris is cycling the entire length of the Mawson Trail, which stretches some 900km through the Adelaide Hills and on to the Flinders Ranges.  We tracked Chris’ progress on his GPS tracker and met him on Black Snake Road.  Chris offloaded his amateur radio gear to us, along with his drone.  Chris decided that he was going to concentrate on completing the Trail and the ham gear was a little too heavy to continue to carry.  We both wish Chris all the very best and will be providing further assistance to Chris if and when required.

You can track the progress of Chris via the following (the password is vk5fr)…….

https://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=1Rep6cPUFdfzsmXl0By86ZQZzWXrEA0PQ

Above:- Chris VK5FR (left) and Paul VK5PAS (right).

After meeting up with Chris, Marija and I then travelled to Lyndoch and into the beautiful winegrowing region of the Barossa Valley.  We then travelled along the Barossa Valley Way towards the town of Sandy Creek and then turned down Conservation Park Road and into the northern section of the park.  We set up in the Cecil Rix section of the park.  As it was a warm sunny day we seeked out the shade of some trees.

We ran the Yaesu FT-857d, set at 10 watts PEP for Marija, and 40 watts for me, and the 80/40/20m linked dipole, inverted vee on the top of the 7 metre heavy duty telescopic squid pole.

Above:- Map of the park showing our operating spot in the northern section.  Map courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.

As I had been to the park previously and had qualified the park, Marija kicked off the activation.  We headed to 7.144 and found Mark VK4SMA there, calling CQ from the Mount Perry Conservation Park VKFF-1609.  Mark’s signal was quite low down, but as we had no man made noise on the band from either park, we were able to work each other very comfortably.  I would not have been able to work Mark from home due to my noise floor.  It was a nice way to start the activation, with a Park to Park for each of us in the log.

Marija then went down to 7.139 and called CQ.  This was answered by Geoff VK3SQ, followed by Brendon VK7VIP and then John VK4TJ.  Marija soon had contact number 10 in the log, thus qualifying the park for the VKFF program which requires to contacts for the park to be qualified.  Contact number 10 was with Steve VK3FSPG.

Conditions on the 40m band were average, with quite a bit of fading (QSB) noted on signals from Victoria (VK3).  There were also long periods of calling CQ with no takers.  Marija soldiered on and logged 14 stations on 7.139, including another Park to Park, this time with Peter VK3PF/p, who was in the Sweetwater Creek Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2200.  I also logged Peter, Park to Park. 

I then jumped into the ‘driver’s seat’ and called CQ, with Michael VK3MDH mobile coming back to my call, followed by Michael VK3MHY and then Marc VK3OHM.  I logged 14 stations before callers slowed down, which gave Marija and I the opportunity of tuning across the band to see if we could find some more park activators.  We did, hearing Rob VK4AAC/p calling CQ on 7.150 from the Samford Conservation Park VKFF-1639.  Again, Rob’s signal was very low and we were experiencing some QRM from some New Zealand (ZL) stations on the same frequency, but we comfortably made it.

I then headed back to 7.139 where I logged a further 7 stations whilst Marija had her lunch and also chatted with some bushwalkers in the park, explaining the hobby of amateur radio to them.

I then took a break for lunch, whilst Marija called CQ on 3.615 on the 80m band.  Marija’s first contact on 80m was a Park to Park contact with Peter VK3PF/p in the Sweetwater Creek Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2200.  This was followed by contacts with Ivan VK5HS in the Riverland, Stuart VK5STU in the norther eastern suburbs of Adelaide, Adrian VK5FANA on the Yorke Peninsula, and Tony VK5MRT at Strathalbyn south east of Adelaide.

Marija then went back to 40m and called CQ on 7.144 which was answered by Peter VK3ZPF, followed by Mike VK3KMH and then Rick VK4RF/VK4HA, whilst I took a bit of a walk through the park.  Marija logged a total of 29 stations on 7.144 from VK2, VK3, VK4, and VK7.  This also included a few more Park to Park contacts.  The first being with Norm VK3XCI/2 who was in the Warrumbungle National Park VKFF-0520.  Then Nick VK3ANL/p who was in the Greswell Hill Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2104.  Then Wolfgang who was in the Blue Mountains National Park VKFF-0041 and finally Peter VK3PF/p who had moved parks and was now in the Bull Beef Creek Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2055.

Above:- the moon was out in the beautiful sunny blue sky above Sandy Creek

Marija had successsfully qualified the park for the WWFF global program with a total of 50 stations in her log.  Contact number 44 was with Mike VK3ZMD.

I quickly jumped back on to 40m and logged a handful of stations, before heading to 14.310 on the 20m band.  Anthony VK6MAC was first in the log there, followed by Bill VK4FW and then Brendon VK4MAC.  I was then called by a Ukrainian station, but sadly it was an unsuccessful contact.  But then much to my surprise I was called by Rod YJ8RN/p on Loh Island, Vanuatu in the Pacific.  It was great to log Rod who is a former South Australian.

To complete the activation we erected the 15m dipole and I called CQ on 21.250 for about 10 minutes with no callers, despite self spotting on parksnpeaks.

Marija and I packed up and then went for a short walk through the park, enjoying the afternoon sun and the many kangaroos that call the park home.

Together, Marija and I made a total of 81 QSOs including 12 Park to Park contacts.

We also enjoyed a number of good conversations with bushwalkers during this activation, explaining to them the hobby of amateur radio and the parks programs.  Park activating is often a great way of interacting with the public and an opportunity to promote the hobby.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK4SMA/p (Mount Perry Conservation Park VKFF-1609)
2. VK3SQ
3. VK3VIP
4. VK4TJ
5. VK2HHA
6. VK2QK
7. VK7JON
8. VK3SFG
9. VK7FOLK
10. VK3FSPG
11. VK3MPR
12. VK3OHM
13. VK4HNS
14. VK3PF/p (Sweetwater Creek Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2200)
15. VK7ME
16. VK4AAC/p (Samford Conservation Park VKFF-1639)
17. VK3ZPF
18. VK3KMH
19. VK4RF
20. VK4HA
21. VK3FRAB
22. VK2LL
23. VK3XCI/2 (Warrumbungle National Park VKFF-0520)
24. VK3MRH
25. VK3ANL/p (Greswell Hill Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2104)
26. VK3FMKE
27. VK7NWT
28. VK3FAHJ
29. VK3MDH/m
30. VK2LKW/p (Blue Mountains National Park VKFF-0041)
31. VK3JP
32. VK3PYE
33. VK3FAHS/p
34. VK3PAT
35. VK3PWG
36. VK2VW
37. VK7DX
38. VK3CSL
39. VK3ZMD
40. VK3PF/p (Bull Beef Creek Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2055)
41. VK3FLJD
42. VK3ZTR
43. VK2HEY
44. VK2LEE
45. VK2HHS/4

Marija worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

1. VK3PF/p (Sweetwater Creek Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2200)
2. VK5HS
3. VK5STU
4. VK5FANA
5. VK5MRT

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK4SMA/p (Mount Perry Conservation Park VKFF-1609)
2. VK3PF/p (Sweetwater Creek Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2200)
3. VK3MDH/m
4. VK3MHY
5. VK3OHM
6. VK3FSPG
7. VK3MPR
8. VK5WAT/3
9. VK3MRH
10. VK3BBB
11. VK5LG
12. VK2NP
13. VK3SFG
14. VK4HNS
15. VK4AAC/p (Samford Conservation Park VKFF-1639)
16. VK4TJ
17. VK3BNJ
18. VK3FLJD
19. VK3PWG
20. VK3VGB
21. VK2GKA
22. VK5MR
23. VK3ANL/p (Greswell Hill Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2104)
24. VK3PF/p (Bull Beef Creek Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2055)
25. VK4FDJL
26. VK3ZTR
27. VK5MRE

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

1. VK6MAC
2. VK4FW
3. VK4MAC
4. YJ8RN/p

References.

Birds SA, 2017, <http://www.birdssa.asn.au/location/sandy-creek-conservation-park/&gt;, viewed 1st October 2017

Department of Environment and Natural Resources, 2010, ‘Sandy Creek Conservation Park’

Wikipedia, 2017, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Creek,_South_Australia&gt;, viewed 1st October 2017