Welshmans Reef Bushland Reserve VKFF-4294

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Our first park for Sunday 26th November 2023 was the Welshmans Reef Bushland Reserve VKFF-4294. The park is located about 5 km north of Newstead and about 143 km northwest of Melbourne.

Above:- Map showing the location of the Welshmans Reef Bushland Reserve. Map c/o Google Maps.

Welshmans Reef is a former gold mining town. The name is believed to originate from a Welshman discovering a gold-bearing reef in the area. There were numerous Welsh and Methodist settlers in the nearby townships of Frysterstown and Vaughan. (Victorian Places 2024)

The park is about 14 hectares in size and was established on the 24th day of August 1982. (CAPAD 2022)

Above:- An aerial view of the Welshmans Reef Bushland Reserve. Image c/o Google Earth.

We found a fence around the park, so we climbed over the fence on the Maldon-Newstead Road and activated the park. We ran the Yaesu FT857, 40 watts, and the 20/40/80m linked dipole. I used the special call of VI10VKFF.

We found that the band conditions were terrible and this was reflected by the Hourly Area Prediction Chart (HAP).

The majority of our contacts were on 40m SSB, with a handful on 80m SSB. We tried calling CQ on 20m but had no takers.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK5ST/m
  2. VK2AB
  3. VK2IO/m
  4. VK3PF
  5. VK3KAI
  6. VK3CLD/p
  7. VK7AN/p (Bay of Fires Conservation Area VKFF-1133)

Marija worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

  1. VK3PF
  2. VK3KAI
  3. VK3SQ
  4. VK2BD

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK5ST/m
  2. VK2AB
  3. VK2IO/m
  4. VK3PF
  5. VK3KAI
  6. VK3CLD/p
  7. VK7AN/p (Bay of Fires Conservation Area VKFF-1133)

I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

  1. VK3PF
  2. VK3KAI
  3. VK3SQ
  4. VK2BD

Feeling rather disappointed (but the park qualified for the VKFF program), we packed up and headed off to our next park activation.

References.

  1. Dcceew.gov.au. (2023). Collaborative Australian Protected Areas Database (CAPAD) 2022 – DCCEEW. [online] Available at: https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/land/nrs/science/capad/2022 [Accessed 4 Apr. 2024].‌
  2. http://www.victorianplaces.com.au. (n.d.). Welshmans Reef | Victorian Places. [online] Available at: https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/welshmans-reef [Accessed 4 Apr. 2024].‌

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