Last night (18th August 2020) I dusted off my Tecsun S-2000 and my Tecsun AN-100 antenna, and decided to have a listen on the medium wave band.

Below is a list of the stations I heard between 1000 kHz and 1400 kHz……..

• 4TAB – 1008 kHz – Brisbane, QUEENSLAND
  • horse racing.
  • very difficult copy
• 2KY – 1017 kHz – Sydney, NEW SOUTH WALES
  • horse racing
  • Good signal with very minimal fading
• 3PB – 1026 kHz – Melbourne, VICTORIA
  • news
  • Good signal with very minimal fading
• 2EA – 1035 kHz – Wollongong, NEW SOUTH WALES
  • foreign language program
  • Fair signal.
• 2CA – 1053 kHz – Canberra, ACT
  • Reception was quite good, some fading on the signal.
• 5MV – 1062 kHz – Berri, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
  • Poor reception, low signal, lots of fading.
• 3EL – 1071 kHz – Maryborough, Victoria
  • Good signal with very minimal fading
• 3WM – 1089 kHz – Horsham
  • Fair reception
  • interference from other stations on freq, possibly 2EL.
• 2EA – 1107 kHz – Sydney, NEW SOUTH WALES
  • foreign language program
  • Fair signal with lots of fading.
• 3AK – 1116 kHz – Melbourne, VICTORIA
  • Good signal
  • Lots of interference from 5MU on 1125
• 5MU – 1125 kHz – based in Murray Bridge.
  • SUPER STRONG as you would expect as this is my local radio station.
• 3CS – 1134 kHz – Colac, Victoria
  • Fair signal
  • Lots of interference from 5MU on 1125
• 2HD -1143 kHz – Newcastle, NEW SOUTH WALES
  • talkback program
  • Fair signal with minimal fading.
• 2WG – 1152 kHz – Wagga Wagga, NEW SOUTH WALES
  • Fair signal
  • quite a bit of fading on the signal at times.
• 5PA – 1161 kHz – Naracoorte, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
  • Nightlife program.
  • Fair signal.
• 2CH – 1170 kHz – Sydney, NEW SOUTH WALES
  • Music
  • Fair signal.
• 3EA – 1224 kHz – Melbourne, VICTORIA
  • Japanese language program
  • Fair signal
  • Lots of fading
• 2NC – 1233 kHz – Newcastle, NEW SOUTH WALES
  • Nightlife program
  • Poor signal
  • Lots of fading
• 3GV – 1242 kHz – Sale, VICTORIA.
  • Music program
  • Fair signal
  • Lots of interference on freq from 5AU in Port Augusta
• 5AU – 1242 kHz – Port Augusta, SOUTH AUSTRALIA.
  • music program
  • Fair signal.
  • Lots of interference from 3GV on frequency
• 2DU – 1251 kHz – Dubbo, NEW SOUTH WALES
  • Fair signal
• 3EE – 1278 kHz – (Magic 1278) Melbourne, Victoria
  • Music
  • Good signal
• 2TM – 1287 kHz – Tamworth, New South Wales
  • Fair signal
  • Lots of fading
• 3BT – 1314 kHz – Ballarat, VICTORIA.
  • Music
  • Good signal
• Cruise – 1323 kHz – Adelaide, SOUTH AUSTRALIA.
  • Good signal
• 3SH – 1332 KHz  – based in Swan Hill, VICTORIA.
  • Nights program with Denis Walter
  • Good signal
• 2GN – 1368 kHz – Goulburn, NEW SOUTH WALES.
  • Music program & news
  • Fair signal
• 3MP – 1377 kHz – Rowville, VICTORIA.
  • Good signal
• 5AA  – 1395 kHz – Adelaide, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
  • Poor signal.

The weekend just gone (Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th) saw the running of the 2020 Remembrance Day (RD) Contest here in Australia.

This contest commemorates those amateur radio operators who died during World War Two, and is designed to encourage friendly participation and help improve the operating skills of participants.  The RD Contest is held on the weekend closest to the 15th August, the date on which hostilities ceased in the southwest Pacific area.

The aim of the RD Contest is for amateurs to endeavour to contact amateurs in VK call areas, ZL and P29 on all bands except WARC bands.  Modes allowed are voice, CW and RTTY as per the era remembered.

More information can be found on the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) website at……

https://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/rdcontest/

The surrender of Imperial Japan was announced by Japanese Emperor Hirohito on August 15 and formally signed on September 2, 1945, bringing the hostilities of World War II to a close.

Above:- Japanese foreign affairs minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signs the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard the USS Missouri as General Richard K. Sutherland watches, September 2, 1945.  Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

I ran my Yaesu FT-857d, 30 watts, and the 20/40/80m linked dipole for the Contest.  I was operating from my back verandah overlooking the paddocks.  The antenna was inverted vee configuration, just 7 metres at the apex, with the ends tied off low to the ground.

Above:- “My shack” for the RD Contest

The contest commenced at 0300 UTC on Saturday (12.30 p.m. South Australian local time).  First in the log was Mark VK3MDH.  I remained on 40m until about 0517 UTC, logging 112 stations.

I then moved to the 20m band where I logged just 5 stations from VK4 and VK6.  Conditions appeared to be quite poor on this band.

I moved back to the 40m band and logged about 58 stations.  I remained on 40m until about 0732 UTC when I moved to the 80m band.

I logged about 87 stations on 80m until I decided to call it quits for the evening at about 0955 UTC (7.130 p.m. local time).  I headed off inside for a glass or two of red and to watch the AFL.  I had logged a total of 263 contacts on day one of the RD.

I had a bit of a sleep in on Sunday morning but was back on the radio by about 2322 UTC (8.52 a.m. local time).  I started off on 40m, with VK2TTL first in the log for day two.

I logged 88 stations on 40m, before trying the 20m band.  Band conditions on 20m didn’t seem to be much better than Saturday, with just 10 stations logged from VK2, VK4, and VK6.  I cannot wait to get my 5 element bean back up in the air.  It was hard going with just 30 watts and a piece of wire.

I logged a further 41 stations on 40m until the end of the contest at 0300 UTC.   My final contact was with John VK7FJFD.

I ended up logging a total of 402 contacts, which I was quite happy with, considering my operating conditions and that I had not burnt the midnight oil.

Above:- Map showing my contacts during the Contest.  Courtesy of QSOmap.org

The vast majority of my contacts were in to VK3 (Victoria), followed by VK2 (New South Wales).  I didn’t log a single New Zealand station during the Contest, and only heard one ZL station working another VK.

Above:- Graph showing my contacts per State/Territory.

The vast majority of my contacts were on the 40m band – 299 QSOs.  This was followed by 80m with 88 QSOs, and 20m with just 15 QSOs.

MANY THANKS to everyone who called and GOOD LUCK to everyone who took part in the 2020 RD Contest.

References.

Wireless Institute of Australia, 2010, <https://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/rdcontest/>, viewed 19th August 2020.

Wikipedia, 2020, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrender_of_Japan>, viewed 19th August 2020.