This afternoon (Sunday 19th October, 2014),as promised I headed down south with the intention of activating the Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park, and then the Moana Sands Conservation Park. First up, was the Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park, which is situated about 46 km south of Adelaide.
The park, which is 300 hectares in size, is home to a diverse range of rare plants and is recognised as a significant area for the conservation and protection of the region’s flora. The park consists of sand dunes, sand blows, mallee scrub, lacy coral lichen, closed heaths, and remnant red gum forests. A variety of wildlife lives in the park including Brush-tailed possums, and Short-beaked echidnas. Over 166 species of birds have been recorded in the park. The park is also home to numerous reptiles including the dangerous Brown snake, and the Red Bellied snake. Fortunately I did not encounter any of these, making as much noise as possible to discourage them from paying me a visit.
Prior to European settlement, the area was part of the territory of the Kaurna Aboriginal people. The scrub provided an abundance of food and materials used for utensils. Shellfish, fish, marsupials, reptiles, birds and plant foods such as nerd, moonrise, yams, and quandongs were abundant in the area.
Aldinga is the final spelling of a word that has masqueraded as Ngalti-ngga, Audlingga and Alinghi. The meaning of which nobody has ever been able to establish with any degree of authority. There are widely differing opinions suggesting that this means ‘tree district’, ‘much water’, ‘battle or burial ground’, and ‘open wide plain’.
Mr. F. Culley was the first European settler in the area, in 1857. Prior to World War One, the scrub was subdivided and several attempts were made to farm the area. However, this did not prove to be viable, due to the sandy soil. During the 1960’s, the local Willing Council became concerned that the subdivision of the area would cause erosion. As a result, between 1965 and 1982, 300 hectares were purchased at Aldinga, to be managed by the State Planning Authority as an Open Space Reserve. It was not until 1985, that the reserve was declared Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park.
To get to the park I travelled south through Echunga, on to Meadows and then Willunga. This is a beautiful drive through the southern Mount Lofty Ranges. I then travelled west along Aldinga Beach Road, towards the ocean, and then along the Esplanade and then left into Quandong Avenue. I parked the car at the corner of Quandong Avenue and Acacia Terrace, and entered the park via Gate 3.
I set up about 50 metres inside the park boundary, under the shade of some gum trees, as it was a warm afternoon. The temperature was about 30 degrees C.
After setting up the linked dipole, I turned the radio on to find that the 40m band was very noisy. Prior to calling CQ, I tuned across the band and did not hear a single station. But what I did hear was a lot of noise. And to make things worse, there was some form of pulsing noise every 10kc. Not sure if it was a nearby electric fence.
So back to 7.095 I went and put out a CQ call. No takers. This was very strange. The park hunters are normally queued up waiting to work the activators. Another CQ call, and no takers. This was the pattern for the next 5 minutes, despite me sending out a few SMS messages to advise that I was on air. No takers. Finally I received a call from Mark, VK5QI, who was operating portable in the Black Hill Conservation Park. So, despite a very slow and not very promising start, it was refreshing to get my first call. And a ‘park to park’ contact to boot! Mark was initially a good 5/6, but then he was GONE! It was as if the band had dropped out.
But I persevered and continued to call CQ. Tony VK5FTVR from Strathalbyn then called in. However, Tony’s signal was well down on what I accustomed to. This was followed by Greg VK5GJ from Meadows, who normally always calls me using just QRP 5 watts. Today he was running 100 watts and was only a 5/3 at very best. And Greg was really struggling with me. Wow, this was not good. Despite a number of further CQ calls I had no takers. I did receive some SMS replies from John VK2AWJ and Larry VK5LY, advising that they had no reception and that the band was ‘dead’.
So I lowered the squid pole, and removed the links in the dipole for 20m, hoping that conditions there would be a little better. I was to be very let down. I called CQ for about 5 minutes on 14.310 and did not have a single caller. So I tuned around the 20m band, and the only signals I could hear were those of Col VK4CC and John VK4LJ, running the ANZA DX Net on 14.183. But their signals were extremely low as well. I was starting to think there was a problem with the antenna. But the VSWR was showing no indication of an issue. Then I heard Col mention that there had been an X class flare. There was the explanation. It was time to pack up the gear and head home. No reason to persevere.
If you want to read a bit more on solar flares, have a look at the following…..
http://spaceweather.com/glossary/flareclasses.html?PHPSESSID=2kq1a2unf15t8rk9ieiaik2no4
The image below shows today’s Class X-1 flare from Behemoth sunspot AR2192.
Image courtesy of http://spaceweather.com
The graph below shows the X class flare. It commenced at 0417 UTC, and it peaked at 0503 UTC. My QSO with Mark was right in between this.
Image courtesy of http://www.tesis.lebedev.ru/en/sun_flares.html
I had a grand total of 4 QSO’s for this activation. This was by far, the most least successful activation I have every undertaken.
The following stations were worked on 40m SSB:-
Mark VK5QI/p (Black Hill CP); Tony VK5FTVR; and Greg VK5GJ.
The following stations were worked on 20m SSB:-
Greg VK5GJ.
References.
Cockburn, R, 2002, ‘South Australia. What’s in a Name?‘
Department for Environment and Natural Resources, 2014, ‘Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park‘.
A number of the regular VK5 Park Hunters called in after this, along with Ron VK3JP who has become a regular park hunter during my recent activations. I also received a call from Bill VK5WCC at Millicent in the South East. I was Bill’s first ever park contact. Welcome to the world of park hunting Bill. It was also good to speak with Ivan VK5HS who was mobile with a very good 5/8 signal.
![IMG_0583[1]](https://vk5pas.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/img_05171.jpg)
I had activated Kyeema CP last year in May, so this was another 1 point for me for the VK5 National and Conservation Parks Award. I set up in exactly the same spot as last year. This is a cleared area on the western side of the carpark which runs off Woodgate Hill Road, which in turn runs off the road between Meadows and Willunga (Brookman Road). There really aren’t too many other options here, as the scrub is very thick. 
For more information and history on the Kyeema Conservation Park, please have a look at my previous post….. 
After operating for about 25 minutes, I was called by Steve VK5AIM, who was portable in the Kaiser Stuhl Conservation Park in the Barossa Valley. Steve was using an Icom IC703 and his ‘slinky squid’ antenna. Although his signal was down a little, I was still able to copy very well, as the noise floor in the park was negligible. It was great to hear someone else out in a park. And then, just 2 QSO’s down the track, I was called by Steve VK5SFA who was also out portable. Steve was operating from the Morialta Conservation Park, and had a very strong 5/9 plus signal. Another ‘park to park’ contact which was very pleasing. A further 2 QSOs on, I was called by Damien VK5FDEC, who was operating with Steve VK5AIM, in the Kaiser Stuhl Conservation Park. Damien’s signal was well over the 5/9 mark. This was Damien’s first every park activation. Welcome to the fold Damien. I am sure you will have a lot of fun. And with a signal like today’s, you will have no problems getting plenty of contacts in the log. 
And to top the day off, a few QSO’s later, I was called by Matt VK5MLB, who also had a very strong signal. Matt was operating from the Onkaparinga River National Park. This was also Matt’s first ever park activation. So welcome to you as well Matt. It was pleasing to get a few calls from QRP operators. This included Greg VK5GJ running just 5 watts from his home brew tx, Peter VK3TKK running just 2.5 watts, Wolf VK5WF running 4 watts into an inverted fee G5RV, Andrew VK3ARR running just 5 watts, Ian VK3VIN running QRP from his Argonaut, Robin VK5TN operating portable from his front yard, Erik VK3FMSC running 4 watts, and Peter VK3YE. Peter was running just 1 watt from a recently completed home brew tx. I was only his 2nd contact using his new home brew equipment. All had great signals.
I then tuned down and found avid park hunter, John VK5BJE talking with Matt VK5MLB. I quickly jumped in to tell John to head up the band after he had finished speaking with Matt. John is a really keen park ‘hunter’ so I didn’t want him to miss out on Kyeema CP. After working John, I was called by Terry VK3ASU who had just completed some antenna repairs, and this was followed by Ian VK5CZ with a huge signal from Clare.
It was starting to get late in the afternoon, and I still wanted to go for a walk through the park, so I quickly tuned across the 20m band and worked Duncan EA5ON who was mobile at the marina at Valencia in Spain. Duncan had a very good signal and we had a very comfortable QSO. However this was my last contact on 20m for the day. I could not find anyone calling CQ. The only stations other than contesters that I heard were VK6IA and VK6ANC working Europe, and Jason ZL3JAS.
The following stations were worked:-
VK5PAS 