On the blog page of the global WWFF website, I found an Activity Report for August 2020. I took the top 10 countries and put the data into the graph below.
Australia (VKFF) is doing pretty well considering our population and the number of amateurs. We came in at number four with 84 different VKFF references activated during August 2020. The USA (KFF) was on top with 252, but this was due to the KFF Marathon. Poland (SPFF) was number two with 98, and Sweden (SMFF) was number three with 88.
And this graph shows the number of QSOs made during August 2020. Australia (VKFF) was just outside the Top Ten. We were at number twelve with a total of 3,045 QSOs.
Australia (VKFF) was way down the list with regards to the average number of QSOs during an activation.France (FFF) came in at number one with an average of 247.04 QSOs, followed by Italy (IFF) with 209.61, and in third place was Spain (EAFF) with 194.43. Australia (VKFF) had just 34.21 QSOs per activation on average.
Inspired by something that WG0AT had put together, I have just placed an order through Vistaprint of some A6 postcard sized promotional cards.
The cards explain exactly what I am up to when I am operating from a park and or a summit. I intend to hand these out, along with the promotional brochures I carry for the WWFF program and SOTA.
This is the front…..
And this is the rear…..
Hopefully along with an explanation, these might provide some insight into portable amateur radio activity, to those who often ask me ‘What are you doing?’
I have spoken about Peakery a few times previously here on my site, but thought the Peakery website was well worth another post. It may come in very handy for those amateurs taking part in the Summits On The Air (SOTA) program.
The Peakery website states:
“peakery is your basecamp for the world’s mountains’.
You can explore over 600,000 mountains from around the world. You can log your climb on peakery with your photos and GPS track. You can collect badges, view a map of your climbs, and track your progress on Peak Challenges. Peakery has around 10,000 members around the world.
There are 14,548 peaks in Australia listed on the Peakery website.
Australian Capital Territory – 113 peaks
New South Wales – 3,454 peaks
Northern Territory – 977 peaks
Queensland – 3,164 peaks
South Australia – 1,481 peaks
Tasmania – 1,512 peaks
Victoria – 1,197 peaks
Western Australia – 2,675 peaks
You can narrow your search down to a State/Territory search. That page will show you the total number of peaks for that State/Territory, the highest peak, the most summited peak, the most prominent peak, and Popular Mountains in that particular State/Territory.
You can then narrow down your search to a particular summit. That will show you the elevation (with a ranking in that State/Territory and a ranking in Australia), prominence (with a a ranking in that State/Territory and a ranking in Australia), the Range it is located in, and the Region of that particular summit. Also on this page you can find various other features including photos of the summit, Awards re the summit, and a list of the nearest peaks.
Once you have registered with Peakery, you can log your climbs of a summit, add photos, and even a GPS track. You can collect Peak badges and see a map of your climbs.
There are various awards on offer:-
Peak badges
Earn a special badge for each unique peak you summit. See all of your badges on your Badges page.
First Ascent Award
Only 1 available per peak. Goes to the first peakery member to log a successful summit of a peak. Snag this award and the peak will forever bear your name.
King of the Mountain Award
Only 1 available per peak. Summit a peak more times than any other member. Beware: this award can be lost!
Summit Steward
Summit a peak at least 5 times to become one of its Summit Stewards. As Steward of a peak, you’re encouraged to keep that peak’s info up-to-date on peakery and spread goodwill on your future climbs up the peak.
You can view a map of summits you have climbed.
There are numerous features on the Peakery website and I would encourage you to visit the page and explore everything that Peakery has to offer.
Peakery also has a Facebook page which can be located at…….
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……
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.
Our second park for National Tree Day on Sunday 2nd August 2020, was the Cox Scrub Conservation Park 5CP-048 and VKFF-0824. The park is located about 70 km south-south-east of the city of Adelaide and about 8 km south of the town of Ashbourne where I live.
Above:- Map showing the location of the Cox Scrub Conservation Park south of Adelaide. Map courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.
Cox Scrub Conservation Park is about 563 hectares in size and was established on. A short section of the Finniss River can be found in the park, while in the southeastern corner you can find a spring-fed creek.
Above:- An aerial view of the park looking north. Image courtesy of Google maps
The park includes beautiful stands of stringybark and banksia understorey. Over 350 plant species have been recorded in the park. The Ash Wednesday bushfires of 1983 burnt out all except for a small 5-hectare section in the southwestern corner of the park.
The late Mr V. Cox of Ashbourne previously owned the majority of the park. It was preserved in its natural state for overwintering his honey bees. In 1969 the land was purchased from Mr Cox on the condition that he keep his bees in the park. This agreement was upheld until his passing. The park was dedicated as Cox’s Scrub National Park on the 5th day of March 1970. It was re-proclaimed as the Cox Scrub Conservation Park on the 27th day of April 1972. In 1977, 1982, 1984, 1986, & 2018, further sections of land were added to the park.
There are three walks in the park:
Quarry Hike – 3.5 km loop (1.5 hours)
Stringybark Hike – 4 km loop (1.5 hours)
Emu Wren Hike – 8.5 km loop (3 hours)
Above:- the three walks in the park, courtesy of the Friends of Cox Scrub Conservation Park.
Over 80 species of native birds can be found in the park including the Southern Emu-wren, 15 species of mammals including the Southern Brown Bandicoot, 11 species of reptiles including Rosenberg’s Goanna, and 6 species of frogs.
The Friends of Cox Scrub Conservation Park have an excellent website which can be found at…..
Marija and I took a small clearing in the scrub off the Bull Creek (Meadows-Goolwa Road) which took us to a narrow dirt track which runs parallel to the main road. There is a pedestrian gate here to get into the park. Be aware though that the parking facilities here are poor, and you will need to pull your vehicle well and truly onto the verge to allow other vehicles to get along the track. If you prefer, there is a car-park further to the north, off the Bull Creek Road.
We set up on the side of the walking trail and ran the Yaesu FT-857d, and the 20/40/80m linked dipole for this activation.
Above:- An aerial view of Cox Scrub showing our operating spot. Image courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.
Prior to calling CQ, I tuned across the band hoping to log some other park activators. I found Gerald VK2HBG/p calling CQ on 7.135 from the Worigee Nature Reserve VKFF-2769.
I then moved to 7.130 and started calling CQ. My first taker was Deryck VK4FDJL/p who was activating the Millstream Falls National Park VKFF-0315, followed by Rob VK2VH-VK4AAC/2, and then Peter VK5PET.
I soon had a small pile-up and I logged further Park to Park contacts with Gerard VK2IO/p in the Bungonia National Park VKFF-1163, Ian VK1DI/2 in the Kangaroo River Nature Reserve VKFF-1945, Liz VK2XSE/p in the Pulletop Nature Reserve VKFF-2706, Chris VK1CT/p in the Gungaderra Grassland Nature Reserve VKFF-0843, and Geoff VK3SQ/p in the Wangaratta Common Nature Conservation Reserve VKFF-2223.
Sadly the pile-up came to a sudden grinding halt, as a park ranger arrived on the scene, and I could tell from the body language with Marija that things were not going well. I won’t air any dirty laundry here, only to say that the encounter was not a good one which was a huge disappointment.
Fortunately, after 30 minutes of debate, Marija and I were ‘allowed’ to continue the activation. To be quite honest, I was so upset by the conversation with the ranger, that I almost packed up and headed home.
I pushed on and logged a total of 27 stations on 40m. I apologise to all of those stations who were calling me prior to me going off-air for half an hour.
I then moved to the 20m band where I logged a total of 10 from VK4 and VK5. Signals from Queensland were exceptionally good.
I only had a handful of contacts to go before reaching 44 QSOs to qualify the park, so I moved to the 80m band where I logged 8 stations from VK2, VK3, and VK5, including a Park to Park with Gerard VK2IO/p in the Bungonia National Park VKFF-1163.
Marija then jumped back on the mic to get her remaining 8 contacts to qualify the park for the VKFF program with 10 QSOs. She logged the 8 stations in quick fashion, and we decided to pack up.
Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
VK2HBG/p (Worigee Nature Reserve VKFF-2769)
VK4FDJL/p (Millstream Falls National Park VKFF-0315)
Marija worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-
VK5PET
VK5FANA
VK2VH
VK4AAC/2
VK3UBY
VK3MCL
VK5BJE
VK2IO/p (Bungonia National Park VKFF-1163)
I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
VK2HBG/p (Worigee Nature Reserve VKFF-2769)
VK4FDJL/p (Millstream Falls National Park VKFF-0315)
Yesterday (Sunday 2nd August 2020) was National Tree Day here in Australia. National Tree Day is proudly sponsored by Toyota Australia and was co-founded in 1996 by Planet Ark and Olivia Newton-John. It has now grown into Australia’s largest community tree-planting and nature protection event. To help celebrate this special day, the VKFF Team decided to hold a special activation day for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.
Each VKFF activator who headed out to activate a park on National Tree Day 2020 will be issued with a special activator certificate by the VKFF program.
Above:- the special 2020 National Tree Day certificate.
I had a bit of a sleep in on Sunday and by the time I got up at 8.30 a.m. local time, the weather was not looking good. A glance out of the living room window and it appeared to be raining. Fortunately, it turned out not to be rain, but heavy fog.
Marija VK5FMAZ and I loaded the 4WD and we headed to the Bullock Hill Conservation Park 5CP-265 & VKFF-0873, which is our ‘local park’ being just a few km from home. Bullock Hill is about 60 km south-south-east of Adelaide.
Above:- Map showing the location of the Bullock Hill Conservation Park. Map courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.
The Bullock Hill Conservation Park is an undulating park with tall stands of eucalyptus including pink gum and cup gum. It is about 221 hectares in size and was proclaimed in January 2014. Access to the park is either via Haines Road to the south of the park, or via Wattle Flat Road to the east of the park. At its highest points, the park overlooks Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert.
The park takes its name from the small summit of Bullock Hill which rises to about 188 metres and is located in the park.
Above:- An aerial view of the park looking north. Image courtesy of google maps.
Various native birds call the park home including Brown-headed honeyeater, Red wattle bird, grey shrike-thrush, Rainbow bee-eater, and black-faced cuckoo-shrike. Birds SA have recorded about 95 species of native bird in the park. Numerous Western grey kangaroos can generally be seen in the park.
Since our last visit, thousands of trees have been planted in the eastern section of the park, so it was very appropriate that we were activating this part of the park for National Tre Day.
Marija and I set up on the eastern side of the park off Wattle Flat Road. We ran the Yaesu FT-857d and the 20/40/80m linked dipole for this activation. Marija ran 10 watts PEP while I ran about 40 watts.
Above:- AN aerial view of the Bullock Hill Conservation Park showing our operating spot. Image courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.
We were set up by about 9.25 a.m. which was just before the UTC day rollover. I started calling CQ on 7.144, and this was almost immediately answered by Ron VK3AFW. Unfortunately the Wireless Institute of Australia broadcast commenced on 7.146 and the signal from VK2 as very strong. So I QSYd down the band to 7.110. Ron VK3AFW followed me down and was first in the log for this activation.
This was followed by Peter VK3ZPF and then my first Park to Park contact for the day, a QSO with Marty VK4KC/p who was in the Bribie Island National Park VKFF-0053. Marty has put together a very good video of his activation which can be found below.
I qualified the park for VKFF by getting 10 contacts in the log, and then handed over the microphone to Marija so that she could qualify the park. This would be Marija’s first park activation for 2020.
First in the log for Marija was Sue VK5AYL, followed by Marco VK2FMPC, and then Nick VK3ANL. Marija’s first Park to Park contact was with Marty VK4KC/p in the Bribie Island National Park VKFF-0053.
It didn’t take long and Marija had a mini pile-up happening. Contact number 10 for Marija was a QSO with Murray VK4MWB. Marija ended up logging a total of 26 contacts on 40m, including another Park to Park with Compton VK2HRX/p in the Blue Mountains National Park VKFF-0041.
Whilst Marija was on air she received a message from our 21-year-old daughter asking if she could be picked up from Mount Barker, so Marija headed off on her ‘taxi duties’ leaving me in the park.
I called CQ again and this was answered by Leigh VK3SG, followed by Peter VK5PET, and then Compton VK2HRX in the Blue Mountains National Park VKFF-0041.
I worked a further 18 stations including the following Park to Park contacts:-
Adam VK2YK/5 – Cudlee Creek Conservation Park VKFF-1023
Deryck VK4FDJL/p – Millstream Falls National Park VKFF-0315
Mark VK4SMA/p – Acol Bushland Nature Refuge VKFF-2879
Ian VK1DI/2 – Cecil Hoskins Nature Reserve VKFF-1906
John Vk5BJE/p – Mark Oliphant Conservation Park VKFF-0782.
Tait VK1HAB/p – Mount Taylor Nature Reserve VKFF-0854
As callers had slowed down a bit, I took the opportunity of moving to the 80m band as I had seen a spot on parksnpeaks for Ian VK5CZ/p who was in a park on the Yorke Peninsula.
I logged Ian VK5CZ/p on 3.680 who was activating the Bird Islands Conservation Park VKFF-0871 and had a 5/9 plus signal.
I then moved down to 3.610 where I logged a total of 6 stations, all VK5’s. This included a Park to Park with John VK5BJE/p who was in the Mark Oliphant Conservation Park VKFF-0782, and Adam VK2YK/5 who was in the Cudlee Creek Conservation park VKFF-1023. Despite conditions on 80m being exceptionally good around South Australia, sadly I could only manage the 6 contacts on 3.610.
I then moved to the 20m band and started calling CQ on 14.310. This was answered by park regular John VK4TJ. I logged a total of 9 stations from VK4 and one New Zealand station ZL3RIK.
I then had a tune across the band and found Mark VK4SMA/p calling CQ from Wacol Bushland Nature Refuge VKFF-2879. I then moved back to 14.310 and logged Ralph VK2TRK and Hans VK6XN. Before heading back to 40m I had one final tune across the 20m band and found Di VK4DI operating on 14.263 with the special callsign of VI110WIA.
I lowered the squid pole and reinserted the links for the 40m band, and started calling CQ on 7.144. This was answered by Dennis VK2HHA, followed by Ade VK4SOE/p on his cattle farm, and then Peter VK3PF/p on SOTA summit VK3/ VT-088 in the Alpine National Park VKFF-0619. I logged another 2 stations before Marija arrived back at the park, and jumped back into the operator’s chair.
First in the log on Marija’s second round was Dennis VK2HHA, followed by David VK5PL/p in the Little Mount Crawford Native Forest Reserve VKFF-2884. I also logged David.
Marija logged a further 18 stations and had soon qualified the park for the global WWFF program with 44 contacts. The lucky 44th contact was Deryck VK4FDJL/p who was in the Millstream Falls National Park VKFF-0315. Other Park to Park contacts in this session for Marija was with Tait VK1HAB/p in the Mount Taylor Nature Reserve VKFF-0854, and John VK5BJE/p in the Mark Oliphant Conservation Park VKFF-0782.
During my visit to the park I did my normal little stint of bird watching. I took the photos below of a very active Striated Pardalote who was busy collecting pieces of dried grass.
I also captured this little one, I think a Striated Thornbill.
And there were also quite a few Silvereyes who were active in the park as well.
Marija and I ended up with a total of 105 contacts during this activation. This included 20 Park to Park contacts.
Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
VK5AYL
VK2FMPC
VK3ANL
VK3ZPF
VK4KC/p (Bribie Island National Park VKFF-0053)
VK3ARH
VK3BWM
VK2VH
VK4AAC/2
VK4MWB
VK3JX
VK3FCMC
VK2HRX/p (Blue Mountains National Park VKFF-0041)
VK4TJ
VK4/AC8WN
VK4/VE6XT
VK4SSN
VK5HAA
VK5PET
VK3AFW
VK6MMB
VK3NBL
VK4CZ
VK3SG
VK2ZVG
VK1TX
VK2HHA
VK5PL/p (Little Mount Crawford Native Forest Reserve VKFF-2884)
VK3SG
VK3UH
VK3PI
VK2XSE/m
VK3TOT
VK3SQ
VK1HAB/p (SOTA VK1/ AC-037 & Mount Taylor Nature Reserve VKFF-0854)
VK3AQZ
VK1DA
VK2HEY/p
VK5BJE/p (Mark Oliphant Conservation Park VKFF-0782)
VK7AN
VK3NRB/m
VK3FREB/m
VK3AJA/p
VK4FDJL/p (Millstream Falls National Park -0315)
VK2KJJ
VK4FARR
I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
VK3AFW
VK3ZPF
VK4KC/p (Bribie Island National Park VKFF-0053)
VK3JX
VK6MMB
VK4TJ
VK4/AC8WN
VK4/VE6XT
VK4SSN
VK3NBL
VK3BWM
VK5AYL
VK3SG
VK5PET
VK2HRX/p (Blue Mountains National Park VKFF-0041)
VK2VH
VK4AAC/2
VK3PI
VK2YK/5 (Cudlee Creek Conservation Park VKFF-1023)
VK4FDJL/p (Millstream Falls National Park VKFF-0315)
VK2IO/p (SOTA VK2/ ST-039)
VK4SMA/p (Wacol Bushland Nature Refuge VKFF-2879)
VK3PWG
VK1DI/2 (Cecil Hoskins Nature Reserve VKFF-1906)
VK3FCMC
VK3YV
VK3FRJA
VK2HV
VK3MKE
VK3KRH
VK5BJE/p (Mark Oliphant Conservation Park VKFF-0782)
VK5HAA
VK1HAB/p (SOTA VK1/ AC-037 & Mount Taylor Nature Reserve VKFF-0854)
VK2HHA
VK4SOE/p
VK3PF/p (SOTA VK3/ VT-088 & Alpine National Park VKFF-0619)
VK3YU/m
VK2FBBG/m
VK5PL/p (Little Mount Crawford Native Forest Reserve VKFF-2884)
I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-
VK5CZ/p (Bird Islands Conservation Park VKFF-0871)
VK5GY
VK5BJE/p (Mark Oliphant Conservation Park VKFF-0782)
VK5IS/m
VK5HAA
VK5PET
VK2YK/5 (Cudlee Creek Conservation Park VKFF-1023)
