Yesterday (28/3/2022) Marija VK5MAZ and I had the use of the VK80LAN callsign again for the afternoon and the evening.

The special event callsign VK80LAN is celebrating 80 years of the Avro Lancaster aircraft.

From about 2.30 in the afternoon, we made a total of 320 QSOs into 39 different DXCC entities on 20, 40 & 80m SSB.

The map below shows our contacts.

The long path into Europe was once again very good. The map below shows our contacts into Europe and the UK.

The short path into the USA, Canada, the Caribbean, and Central America was very good during the evening. We worked 29 of the 50 USA States. The map below shows our contacts into that part of the world.

We did not get a huge chance to do anything on 40m for the VKs this time around due to a late start in the shack and then the 20m pile-up, but did work a handful of VKs, and a few dozen VKs on 80m.

We would like to thank everyone who called, and we would like to thank the WA VHF Group for allowing us to use the callsign again, to celebrate 80 years of the Avro Lancaster aircraft.

Over the weekend of Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th March 2022, the 2022 CQ WW WPX Contest was held.

I worked a total of 815 QSOs on 10, 15, 20, & 40m SSB.

This included 83 different countries.

The map below shows my contacts during the contest.

Countries worked:-

• Alaska
• Argentina
• Australia
• Austria
• Azores
• Bahamas
• Balearic Islands
• Belgium
• Belize
• Bonaire
• Bosnia-Herzegovina
• Brazil
• Brunei Darussalam
• Bulgaria
• Canada
• Cape Verde
• Cayman Islands
• China
• Corsica
• Costa Rica
• Croatia
• Cuba
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea
• Denmark
• East Malaysia
• England
• Estonia
• European Russia
• Federal Republic of Germany
• Finland
• France
• Greece
• Hawaii
• Hungary
• India
• Indonesia
• Ireland
• Isle of Man
• Israel
• Italy
• Japan
• Kazakhstan
• Kuwait
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Mauritius
• Mexico
• Montenegro
• Nepal
• Netherlands
• New Caledonia
• New Zealand
• Norfolk Island
• North Macedonia
• Northern Ireland
• Norway
• Oman
• Peru
• Philippines
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Saudi Arabia
• Scotland
• Serbia
• Slovak Republic
• Slovenia
• South Africa
• Spain
• Svalbard
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Taiwan
• Thailand
• United Arab Emirates
• United States
• Virgin Islands
• Wales
• West Malaysia

The majority of my contacts were on the 20m band. Below is a graph showing my contacts per band. The long path on 20m each day was very good, whilst I found the short path to be quite average. The 10m band was average, with just a few European stations logged.

My best DX worked on 10m was D4Z at Cape Verde. The majority of my contacts on 10m were into Japan (90 QSOs)

The map below shows my contacts into Europe, both on the long path and the short path.

The map below shows my contacts into the USA and Canada and the Carribean.

The map below shows my contacts into Asia.

I did not hear a huge amount of VKs or Kiwis calling CQ Contest. The map below shows my contacts around VK and ZL.

THANK YOU to everyone who called. Although I am a long long way off the leaders, I had a lot of fun.

On 22nd March 2022, I was very fortunate to use the special event callsign of VK80LAN, celebrating 80 years of the Avro Lancaster aircraft.

The Lancaster was manufactured by British aircraft manufacturer Avro. It is a four-engined heavy bomber adopted by UK’s Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War.

Lancaster aircraft first saw war service 80 years ago in 1942 for the Royal Air Force (RAF) and squadrons from other Commonwealth nations, such as Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and European countries serving with the RAF.

The special event callsign was organised by the West Australian VHF Group.

Today, 17 Lancasters survive around the world, but only two are in flying condition. We are lucky enough to have only two in Australia. One in the National War Memorial in Canberra, and one in the RAAF Museum in Perth.

“G for George” is the Lancaster in Canberra which I have had the privilege to see.

I made a total of 431 QSOs during the day and this included 43 different DXCC entities. The map below shows my contacts around the world.

I operated on 10, 15, 20, 40, & 80m SSB. The vast majority of my contacts were on the 20m band.

The long path in the afternoon to Europe and UK was brilliant. The short path in the evening to Europe/UK was not so good.

But short path across the Pacific to North America that night was very good.

Countries worked:-

• Asiatic Russia
• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Brunei Darussalam
• Canada
• China
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• England
• Estonia
• European Russia
• Federal Republic of Germany
• Finland
• France
• Greece
• Hungary
• Iceland
• India
• Indonesia
• Ireland
• Isle of Man
• Italy
• Japan
• Latvia
• Netherlands
• New Caledonia
• New Zealand
• Northern Ireland
• Norway
• Panama
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Scotland
• Serbia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• United States
• Wales

I was lucky enough to work the Canadian Lancaster special call of VE80LAN on 20m. But did not hear the GB80LAN callsign.

Below is a short video of me operating on 20m.

Below are some videos of this amazing aircraft.

THANK YOU to everyone who called and thanks to the WA VHF Group for the opportunity of using the call.

As of today (15th March 2022), I have had 203,030 hits on this WordPress page since I started it in 2013. I am truly amazed.

A few years ago I had considered shutting it down.

THANK YOU to everyone who takes the time to have a read, both amateur radio operators and non-amateurs.

I received these electronic QSLs via email yesterday for my contact with Sam F4GYM in FFF-1314 in France, on 20m on 13th March 2022.

Some more QSL cards arrived here in the past few days for Marija and me.

13th March 2022.

Sam F4GYG

• WWFF FFF-1314 Les bos Poret
• 20m

Fabien F4GYM

• WWFF FFF-3160 and WCA F07221 (Castles Award)
• 20m

Danny OT4V

• WWFF ONFF-0776
• 20m

12th March 2022.

Danny OT4V

• WWFF ONFF-0828
• 20m

Lukasz SQ9JTR

• SOTA SP/ BZ-026
• 20m

At about 1453 UTC on 13th March 2022, I tuned in to the Radio New Zealand International broadcasting in the English language on 7390 kHz.

The broadcast was coming from the Rangitaiki 50 kW transmitter in New Zealand.

The overall reception of Radio New Zealand International was good – excellent. There was bleed over interference from CNR5 China on 7385 kHz and China Radio International on 7395 kHz.

Below is a short video showing my reception of Radio New Zealand International.

References.

1. Short Wave Info, 2022, <https://www.short-wave.info/>, viewed 13th March 2022.
2. Short Wave Schedule, 2022, <https://shortwaveschedule.com/>, viewed 13th March 2022.

At about 1355 UTC on 13th March 2022, I tuned in to the Radyo Denge Welat broadcasting in the Kurdish language on 11540 kHz.

The overall reception of Radyo Denge Welat was fair. The signal strength was good, but there was an another station broadcasting on the same frequency causing interference.

Below is a short video showing my reception of Radyo Denge Welat.

References.

1. Short Wave Info, 2022, <https://www.short-wave.info/>, viewed 13th March 2022.
2. Short Wave Schedule, 2022, <https://shortwaveschedule.com/>, viewed 13th March 2022.

At about 1044 UTC on 13th March 2022, I tuned in to the Radio Taiwan International broadcasting in the Korean language on 7200 kHz.

The broadcast was coming from the Tamsui District 100 kW transmitter in Taiwan.

The overall reception of Radio Taiwan International was good. The signal strength was very strong, but there was an apparent jamming signal on the frequency, and also static crashes.

Below is a short video showing my reception of Radio Taiwan International.

References.

1. Short Wave Info, 2022, <https://www.short-wave.info/>, viewed 13th March 2022.
2. Short Wave Schedule, 2022, <https://shortwaveschedule.com/>, viewed 13th March 2022.