Following up on my previous log re contacts I have made from home, this post relates to all of the contacts I have made whilst portable, e.g. on a SOTA summit, in a park, on a HEMA summit, silo, etc.
I have about 38,000 portable QSOs in my log.
I have made contact with 86 different DXCC entities/countries.
The map below shows my QSOs around the world whilst operating portable.
The map below shows my contacts into Europe and the United Kingdom.
The map below shows my contacts into North America, Central America, and South America.
The map below shows my contacts around Australia and New Zealand.
Tonight I decided to upload my home log of about 41,000 QSOs into Log Analyzer 3.2. It plots the QSOs onto a map.
These are contacts made since July 2011 when I obtained my Standard licence.
These are just my contacts I have made from home as VK5PAS. I also made about 2,900 QSOs with my Foundation call of VK5FPAS. I have also made about 38,000 QSOs whilst portable (in a park, on a SOTA summit, at a HEMA summit, Silo, etc). I will place another post about my portable contacts with maps showing those contacts.
All bands – 278 countriesworked and 276 countries confirmed.
10m – 169 countries worked and 164 confirmed.
15m – 180 countries worked and 173 confirmed.
20m – 260 countries worked and 256 confirmed
40m – 120 countries worked and 100 confirmed.
80m – 6 countries worked and 6 countries confirmed.
The two maps below show my contacts from home.
The map below shows my contacts into Europe and the United Kingdom.
The map below shows my contacts around Asia and the sub-continent.
The map below shows my contacts to the USA, Canada, Central & South America.
On Monday 19th, Tuesday 20th, and Wednesday 21st July 2021, Marija VK5MAZ and I had the VK100AF callsign allocated to us once again. This is a special event call to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the Royal Australian Air Force.
Over the 3 day period we made a total of 389 QSOs.
This included contacts into 30 different DXCC entities:-
Asiatic Russia
Australia
Austria
Belarus
Belgium
Bulgaria
Canada
England
European Russia
Federal Republic of Germany
Fiji
Finland
France
Georgia
Hawai
Hungary
Italy
New Zealand
Northern Ireland
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Republic of Korea
Romania
Tajikistan
Thailand
Ukraine
United States of America
Wales
Above:- World map showing our contacts around the world over the 3 days.
We made contacts on 10, 20, 40, & 80m SSB. There was a small opening to VK1, VK2, and VK3 on 10m on Tuesday which I took advantage of. There was no propagation on the 15m band.
10m – 18 QSOs
20m – 137 QSOs
40m – 122 QSOs
80m – 112 QSOs
Above:- Graph showing our QSOs per band.
DX this time around was a little more scarce. I found that there was very little, if any at all, openings on the long path on 20m to Europe during our afternoon. On Wednesday evening there was a small opening to Europe on the short path.
Above:- Map showing our contacts into Europe.
I worked 25 stations in the USA and 4 stations in Canada. This was on 20m SSB and 40m SSB.
Above:- Map showing our contacts into the USA & Canada.
The majority of ur contacts were around Australia and into New Zealand. We made a total of 290 QSOs to VK stations and 14 to New Zealand.
Above:- Map showing our location around Australia and New Zealand.
We had some interesting contacts during the 3 days. This included contact with Dave G4AKC who was bicycle mobile. We spoke with Dave on both Monday and Wednesday on 20m, with band conditions being much better on Wednesday afternoon.
Above:- G4AKC’s bicycle mobile set up. Image co G4AKC
We also spoke with Sam F4GYG/p who was activating FFF- 0364 in France for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.
It was great to speak with Jack W1FDY, on the Southern Cross DX Net. Jack had been running the net for many years and of recent years propagation has not been terrific.
We also spoke with Raul VK2IMP who was mobile. This was Raul’s first ever mobile contact.
We also logged Erwin VK4ERW who was maritime mobile at Fraser Island.
Park activators included Gerard VK2IO and Deryck VK4FDJL/8.
We spoke with Richard N4ICV in Texas, who was a former aircraft mechanic. Also Len KM4WW ho was former Marine Corp.
THANK YOU to everyone who called. We have the callsign again next month in August.
Received these certificates today from Stuie VK8NSB for our participation using the VK100AF and VI100AF callsigns for the 100-year celebration of the Royal Australian Air Force.
It has been a real privilege to use the calls.
Thanks to Stuie for organising the event, and thanks to all of the callers.
I am about to launch into another 3 days with the special event callsign of VK100AF to celebrate 100 years of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). I decided to do a little history on the RAAF. It is not a definitive history, but will give you a bit of an idea on the formation of the RAAF.
I have been asked on air a few times whilst operating as VK100AF or VI100AF, what is th oldest Air Force in the world. It appears that the Finnish Air Force is the oldest, having been founded on the 6th day of March 1918. This was about one month prior to the forming of the Royal Air Force in Britain on the 1st day of April 1918.
What about the United States? The United States Air Force (USAF) was initially formed as part of the United States Army on the 1st day of August 1907. It was established as a separate branch of the U.S. Armed Forces on the 18th day of September 1947.
The South African Air Force was formed on the 1st day of February 1920, while the Royal Australian Air Force formed shortly afterwards on the 31st day of March 1921. The Royal New Zealand Air Force was established in 1923. The Royal Canadian Air Force was proclaimed on the 1st day of April 1924.
The Royal Australian Air Force can trace its roots back to the Imperial Conference which was held in London between the 23rd day of May 1911 and the 20th June 1911. The Imperial Conferences were periodic gatherings of government leaders from the self-governing colonies and dominions of the British Empire. This particular Conference was held to mark the occasion of the Coronation of George V on the 22nd day of June 1911.
At the conference it was decided that aviation should be developed within the armed forces of the British empire. Australia was the first dominion to implement this decision and approved the establishment of the Central Flying School (CFS) in 1912. The initial proposed location of the School was to be at Duntroon in the Australian Capital Territory. In July 1913, Point Cook, Victoria, was announced as the preferred location.
Above:- part of an article from the Age (Melbourne), Tues 23 Sept 1913. Image c/o Trove
The Point Cook Aviation School was established on the 15th day of February 1914, under the supervision of Major E. H. Reynolds, assisted by Captain Henry Petre (an Englishman) and Lieutenant (to become Captain) Eric Harrison (an Australian). It was reported that ‘all of whom received a thorough training in England‘.
Above:- Harrison and Petre in a B.E.2. at the Central Flying School, 1914. Image c/o Wikipedia.
In March 1914, the first flights by CFS aircraft took place at Point Cook. Lieutenant Eric Harrison made the first flight in a Bristol Boxkite. Lieutenant Petre flew a Deperdussin later that day and crashed it after snaring his tailplane in telephone wires.
Above:- A Bristol Boxkite over Point Cook, c. 1916. Image c/o Wikipedia.
Below is a short video on the history of Point Cook.
The Australian Flying Corps (AFC) were subsequently formed.
Above:- Article from the Brisbane Courier, Fri 5 July 1912. Image c/o Trove
World War One broke out in 1914, and shortly afterwards the Australian Flying Corps sent aircraft to what is now north-east New Guinea to assist in capturing German colonies in that region. But before the planes were even unpacked, these colonies surrendered.
The first operational flights of the Flying Corps occurred on the 27th day of May 1915, when the Mesopotamian Half Flight was asked to assist the Anglo-Indian forces in providing air support during the Mesopotamian Campaign against the Ottoman Empire. This is in current day Iraq. The Mesopotamian Half Flight consisted of four Officers, and 41 men
Australian Flying Corps, c. 1918. Image c/o Wikipedia
The Flying Corps subsequently saw action in Egypt, Palestine and on the Western Front for the remainder of the war. It was said at the time that the airman’s life was….
‘one of comparative ease interspersed with moments of intense fear’.
During the First World War, a total of 800 Officers and 2,840 men served in the Australian Flying Corps. A total of 175 lost their lives.
The Australian Flying Corps remained part of the Australian Army until 1919. It was disbanded at this time. The Central Flying School continued to operate at Point Cook. In January 1920, the Australian Flying Corps were replaced by the Australian Air Corps (AAC).
They were succeeded by the Australian Air Force which was formed on the 31st day of March 1921.
In May 1921, King George V approved the prefix of ‘Royal’, and this became effective on the 13th day of August 1921. As a result the Royal Australian Air Force became the second Royal Air Arm to be formed in the British Commonwealth. This was following the British Royal Air Force which was founded on the 1st day of April 1918.
It is interesting to note that then the RAAF was formed, it had more aircraft that it did personnel. The RAAF had a total of 153 aircraft, with 21 Officers and 128 other ranks.
The first Chief of the Royal Australian Air Force was Air Marshall Sir Richard WIlliams KBE, CB, DSE (b. 1890. d. 1980). He was one of the first trainees at Point Cook.
Above:- Air Marshall Sir Richard Williams. Image c/o Wikipedia.
During the Second World War, Australian air and ground personnel from the RAAF saw service in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, over the North Atlantic, the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and the Mediteranian, India, Burma, Malaya, Singapore, Thailand, China, the Netherland East Indies. New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Philippines, and Borneo.
During late 1944, the RAAF had a total of 182,000 personnel and 6.200 aircraft in 61 squadrons. In 1945, the RAAF was the fourth largest Air Force in the world, after the USA, USSR and the United Kingdom.
Over 215,000 men and women served with the RAAF between 1939-1945. A total of 9,870 Air Force personnel lost their lives. About 55% of these deaths occurred in the war against Germany, in the air over Europe.
Following the Second World War, the RAAF has served in the Berlin Airlift, Korean War, Malayan Emergency, Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, Vietnam War, East Timor, Iraq War, Afghanistan and the military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Since 1945, over 60 RAAF personnel have lost their loves in various conflicts or during operational accidents.
Today, the RAAF has about 259 aircraft, of which 110 are combat.
The video below was made by the Commonwealth Film Unit in 1971 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the RAAF.
The video below is the RAAF’s 100 year fly over in Canberra.
Last night (Saturday 17th July 2021) was the 2021 Trans Tasman Low Band Contest. The aim of the contest is……
“to encourage Low Band activity between VK and ZL.”
Only contest bands 160, 80, and 40M are allowed with SSB, CW and Digital (RTTY OR PSK).
The contest ran for a 6 hour period, from 0800 UTC until 1400 UTC.
Participants who take part in the contest receive a participation certificate. From 2018 this contest is an official Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) Contest and will count towards the Peter Brown Contest Champion Awards.
Above:- My 2020 Trans Tasman certificate
I completely forgot about the contest and didn’t get out into the shack until about 40 minutes into the contest.
I made a total of 174 contacts during the contest and a claimed score of 1,715 points.
My first contact was with Alan VK4SN. My final contact was with Rob VK2MT.
Almost all of my contacts were on the 80m band. In fact of the 174 contacts, 159 were on the 80m band. I made just 15 QSOs on 40m into VK2, VK3, VK4, VK6, & VK7.
During the contest I logged just 5 New Zealand stations: ZL1RQ, ZL3VZ, ZL4U, ZL2FE, and ZL4RMF.
The contest was split into 3 x 2 hour blocks. I found the middle block to be extremely difficult, with signals way down compared to usual. I was going to give it away, but decided to persevere, and I am glad I did, as the 80m band really improved dramatically during the last 2 hour block.
Here is the process I use for uploading logs for the Silos On The Air (SiOTA) program.
Complete the SiOTA template
Upload the template to ADIF Master
Upload the log to the SiOTA database
Firstly, I would like to say a big thank you to Adam VK2YK who provided me with advice and the SiOTA template which he created. You can find the template below.
VK5PAS 