On Friday 3rd February 2017, Marija, Olivia and I spent the entire day at Sovereign Hill in Ballarat, and then the Gold Museum.  We had a fantastic time and had not been here for around 10 years, when Olivia was just 7.  Set in the Australian 1850s, Sovereign Hill is located on a 25 hectare site which comprises over 60 historically recreated buildings, with costumed staff and volunteers.  We highly recommend a visit here.  You can easily spend a full day or two at Sovereign Hill.

We had a bit of time to spare before attending the Light and Sound show ‘Blood on the Southern Cross’ at Sovereign Hill at 9.00 p.m. local time, so Marija and I headed out to the Creswick Regional Park VKFF-0964 for a quick park activation.  This activation was totally spur of the moment and not originally planned.

Creswick Regional Park is situated about 14 km north of Ballarat near the little town of Creswick, and covers an area of about 930 hectares.

Above:- Map showing the location of the Creswick Regional Park, north of Ballarat.  Map courtesy of Forest Explorer.

The Common Heath, which is Victoria’s floral emblem is one of the plants frequently found growing in the park under eucalypts. The park is home to numerous bird species including Grey Currawongs, Crimson Rosellas, White-throated Tree-creepers, Grey Fantails, thornbills, robins and honeyeaters.  Two migratory species found in the gullies are the Rufous Fantail and Satin Flycatcher.  Numerous native mammals call the park home including  Koalas and Black wallabies.

During the 1850’s and 1860’s, much of thie forest in this are was heavily logged to supply timber to the gold mines in Ballarat and Creswick.  Sadly, by the end of the 1890s, the forests had mostly been cleared to support the mining industry.  Numerous gold mining sites can be found in the forest.

We soon reached the little town of Creswick, which was established during the Victorian gold rushes of the 1850’s.  The town was named after the Creswick family who were the pioneers settlers of the region.  Three brothers, Henry, Charles and John Creswick, started a large sheep station nearby in 1842.   The population of Creswick reached a peak of 25,000 during the gold rush.  Today the population is around 3,500 people.

Town hall & museum

The main street of Creswick

The old gold bank, 1860

Creswick was the site of the New Australasian Gold Mine disaster on 12 December 1882, Australia’s worst mining disaster in which 22 men drowned.  More information can be found at….

http://www.creswick.net/buildings_and_places/australasia_mine

Above: Article from The Telegraph Sat 16 Dec 1882 re the disaster, and the scene at the head of the shaft with the braceman announcind the death of the miners.  Images courtesy of Trove.

On our way to the park Marija telephoned John VK5BJE who was kind enough to place some alerts for us.  We headed through Creswick and then east into the park and found a nice little clearing in amongst the scrub to set up.  We ran the Yaesu FT-857d, 40 watts and the 80/40/20m linked dipole on the 7 m squid pole for this activation.

Above:- Map showing our operating spot in the Creswick Regional Park.  Map courtesy of Forest Explorer.

As we were a little short on for time, Marija decided not to operate from the park, in the hope that I might be able to reach the 44 QSO threshold for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.  The park was alive with cicadas, the loudest insect in the world.   It is believed that the sound produced by some communal species of cicada can act as a defence against predatory birds and some are even loud enough (120 decibels) to be painful to the human ear.  Cicadas also often sing in chorus, which makes it more difficult for a predator to locate an individual.

I headed to 7.144 but found this to be occupied by Bill W1ZY in Rhode Island USA, who was calling CQ.  I gave Bill a call but unfortunately he was unable to hear me.  So I moved up to 7.150 and called CQ and this was answered by John VK5BJE with a strong 5/9 signal from the Adelaide Hills.  This was followed by Ian VK5ZGG, Charlie VK5KDK and then Herb VK5HK.  The band was quite busy and I started to get a little bleed over from a European station just 2 kc below me.  But fortunately all callers were very strong so I had no problems in receiving the callers.

I worked a total of 24 stations on 40m from VK1, VK2, VK4, VK5, VK7, and New Zealand.  In fact I logged three New Zealand stations: Owen ZL2GLG/ZL4 in Central Otago in his motorhome, Paul ZL2BEF in Masterton near the bottom of the North Island, and Bill ZL2ACA in Mapua near Nelson on the top of the South Island.

The close in propagation around Victoria was not working on 40m, so I lowered the squid pole and inserted the links in the linked dipole and headed to 3.610 on 80m.  There I logged 6 stations from VK3 and VK7.  But despite band conditions on 80m being quite good, I did not have any further callers, despite numerous CQ calls.

I had worked out that I was running out of time and would not accrue m 44 QSOs, so I headed to 14.310 on 20m where I worked Hans VK6XN and finally Yoshi JA3KKE.

It was time to pack up and head back to the motel for a freshen up and then back to Sovereign Hill.  I had a total of 32 contacts in the log in just under 60 minutes.  This is a park which I will need to return to, to pick up my 12 contacts to qualify the park for WWFF.

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK5BJE
2. VK5ZGG
3. VK5KDK
4. VK5HK
5. VK7FRJG
6. VK5FMWW
7. VK5FVSV
8. VK5KLV
9. VK5FANA
10. VK2LEE
11. VK7ZGK
12. VK1DI
13. ZL2GLG/ZL4
14. VK2QV
15. VK4NH
16. VK4HNS
17. VK4DH
18. VK2UH
19. ZL2BEF
20. VK4RF
21. VK4HA
22. VK2NWB
23. VK7VZ
24. ZL2ACA

I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

1. VK3PF
2. VK3KAI
3. VK7VZ
4. VK3ARH
5. VK3GGG
6. VK3PMG

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

1. VK6XN
2. JA3KKE

References.

Parks Victoria, ‘Creswick Regional Park Visitor Guide’

Wikipedia, 2017, <https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creswick_Regional_Park&gt;, viewed 6th February 2017

Wikipedia, 2017, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creswick,_Victoria&gt;, viewed 6th February 2017

On Thursday morning (2nd February 2017), my wife Marija VK5MAZ, our 17 yr old daughter Olivia, and I headed off for a three night holiday in Ballarat, Victoria.  Our main reason for travelling to Ballarat was to go to Sovereign Hill, an open-air museum which depicts Ballarat’s first ten years after the discovery of gold there in 1851.  The site comprises over 60 historically recreated buildings, with costumed staff and volunteers.

But we had also planned on two SOTA activations.  The first was to be Mount Warrenheip VK3/ VC-019 late on Thursday afternoon.

As it was nearly a 600 km drive to Ballarat, we stopped off at Keith in South Australia for a coffee and some morning tea, and then travelled over the South Australian/Victorian border, and stopped off at Ararat.  We paid a visit to J Ward, a gaol which was constructed in 1859 and which was later uses as a maximum security psychiatric ward for the criminally insane.  We had been here before, but around 10 years earlier.  We undertook the guided tour of this absolutely fascinating place.  J Ward is well worth a visit if you are passing through Ararat.

We continued on to Ballarat and booked in to our motel which was directly opposite Sovereign Hill.  Olivia decided she was not at all interested in amateur radio, and was a bit weary after the drive, so she remained in the motel room, whilst Marija and I headed to Mount Warrenheip.

Above:- Map showing the location of Mount Warrenheip, near Ballarat in Victoria.  Map courtesy of openstreetmap.org

Mount Warrenheip is just 10 km east from the Ballarat Central Business District, and with the assistance of the GPS, was an easy drive from the motel.

Above:- Map showing the location of Mount Warrenheip, just to the east of Ballarat.  Map courtesy of openstreetmap.org

Mount Warrenheip is 714 metres above sea level and is worth 4 points for the Summits on the Air program.  The summit is an inactive volcano, with volcanic activity ceasing around 1 million years ago.  Along with the nearby Mount Buninyong (which we planned to activate on Saturday afternoon), it is one of only two forested scoria cones in Victoria.

Above:- View of Mount Warrenheip with Ballarat in the background.  Image courtesy of google maps.

The name Warrenheip originates from the Wathaurong aboriginal word Warrengeep, meaning “emu’s feathers” in reference to the resemblance of the fern like vegetation which once covered the summit.

In spring, forget-me-not flowers appear on the slopes of the summit.   Kangaroos, wallabies and koalas can be found in the area.

Above:- Aerial view of Mount Warrenheip.  Image courtesy of google maps.

There are almost 400 extinct volcanoes in Victoria.  The Newer Volcanic Province, covers an area of 2.3 million hectares, from Melbourne to the Mount Burr Range in South Australia.  They are the third largest volcanic plains in world, after the Deccan Plateau in India and the Snake River Plateau in the USA.  The basalt plains were formed by volcanoes over the last 6 million years, with the most recent eruption being about 5,000 years ago at Mount Gambier and Mount Shank in South Australia.  In Victoria, the most recent eruption was about 7,200 years ago at Mount Napier.

Above:- Map showing the Newer Volcanic Province of south eastern Australia.  Image courtesy of australiangeographic.com.au

It is believed that the local aborigines would have seen some of the eruptions as this is reflected in stories about rocks and fires coming from some mountains.  Stone tools have been found buried in volcanic ash near Warnambool in south western Victoria.  The first European to describe the area was Major Thomas Mitchell who climbed nearby Mount Napier in 1836.  Mitchell wrote that it appeared as if the volcano had been active not that long ago.  The early settlers in this area found the plains very favourable, as they could easily grow crops in the rich, fertile soil, whilst they used the volcanic stones to build dry stone walls around their farms.

This region has been quiet for thousands of years, with no earthquakes, no hot springs or other signs of volcanic activity.  It is not known why volcanic activity here ceased.  Some scientists believe that the volcanos on the plains are not extinct, but rather, dormant, and that one day there will be another eruption.

Above:- What Mount Warrenheip would have looked like.  Image courtesy of thecourier.com.au

As we travelled out of Ballarat, the summit soon came into view.  Marija telephoned our good friend John VK5BJE to advise that we were about 10-15 minutes away from being on air.

We travelled north on Forbes Road and soon reached Mount Warrenheip Road and commenced our ascent up towards the summit.  We passed Kryal Castle on the way to the top.  Kryal Castle is a replica medieval castle which features a moat and drawbridge, a maze, castle towers, stocks, a medical museum and an armoury.

The summit is located within the Mount Warrenheip Nature Conservation Reserve (what the sign says), but some maps refer to it as a Flora Reserve.

I found this nice video of a flyby of Mount Warrenheip.

As it was a beautiful clear and sunny day we enjoyed some very nice views of the surrounding countryside as we headed up towards the top of Mount Warrenheip.  The road to the top is bitumen, but is narrow, so take care when driving to the top as there are continual blind corners.

There is a trig point on the top of Mount Warrenheip, along with four telecommunications towers for Radio 3BA, Voice FM 99.9, ABC News Radio, Telstra mobile and WiMax services, an amateur radio repeater, and police dispatch radio.

Unfortunately once you are at the top there is not much of a view due to the thick vegetation on the summit.  There is the occasional view out through the trees.

We only had a short time on the summit as we had to get back to the motel to pick up Olivia and head out for dinner.  We were all set up and ready to go by our advertised alert time of 0700 UTC.  For this activation Marija and I ran the Yaesu FT-857, 10 watts PEP output, and the 80/40/20m linked dipole on the 7m squid pole.

We headed for 7.090 on 40m and I called CQ and this was answered by John VK5BJE with a strong 5/8-9 signal from the Adelaide Hills.  This was followed by Rick VK4RF/VK4HA, and then Nev VK5WG in the Mid North of South Australia.  I had my four QSOs and I had qualified the summit for SOTA.

I then swapped “driver’s seats” with Marija and it wasn’t long before Marija had also qualified the summit, with QSOs logged with Nev VK5WG, John VK5BJE, and Rick VK4RF/VK4HA.

I worked a total of 18 stations on 40m before we headed over to 80m.  Band conditions on 40m appeared to be quite good, but it was clear that close in propagation was not running, as there were no Victorian stations in the log on 40m.  States worked were VK2, VK4, VK5, and VK7.  I also logged John ZL1BYZ in New Zealand (5/7 sent and 4/2 received).

A number of QRP stations were worked including Glenn VK2GPT/VK2LDN, Bill VK5MBD, and William VK2NWB.  All had nice signals to Mount Warrenheip.

On 80m I logged a total of 7 stations from VK3 and VK5.  The Victorian stations were coming in very well on 80m.  To finish off the activation I tried my luck on 20m, but only logged one station, Sam JA1QVR, before the Over the Horizon Radar took over the band.

It was approaching 7.00 p.m. local time and it was time to pack up.  We had both qualified the summit, with 26 contacts in my log on 20, 40 & 80m, and 6 contacts in Marija’s log on 40 & 80m.

I worked the following stations:-

References.

Australian Geographic, 2017, <http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2016/05/australias-volcanic-history-is-a-lot-more-recent-than-you-think&gt;, viewed 6th February 2017

Wikipedia, 2017, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_Hill&gt;, viewed 6th February 2017

Wikipedia, 2017, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Warrenheip&gt;, viewed 6th February 2017

Wikipedia, 2017, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kryal_Castle&gt;, viewed 6th February 2017

Wikipedia, 2017, <https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Victorian_Volcanic_Plains&gt;, viewed 6th February 2017

After finishing off chatting with Noel and Anne at Mount Gawler, I decided to drive down the road to the Para Wirra Conservation Park 5CP-275 and VKFF-1739.  I had never activated from this park before, so it was to be a unique park to add to my activator list for both the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program and the VK5 National & Conservation Parks Award.  The park is situated about 40 km north east of Adelaide.

Above:- Map showing the location of the Para Wirra Conservation Park, north east of Adelaide.  Map courtesy of Protected Planet.

Para Wirra, which is about 1,507 hectares in size, has only just recently been gazetted as a Conservation Park.  The park was originally established as a National Park in 1962, initially catering to a range of pursuits including tennis and other sporting activities.  Today the park provides a wide range of facilities including gas barbecues, picnic tables, a playground, and various walking trails ranging from 1.3 to 8.4 km in length.

Parra Wirra comes from two Karuna aboriginal words: pari meaning river, creek or gully, and wirra meaning forest.  The district was named by Lieutenant Governor Robe in the mid 1840’s.  The park conserves important native vegetation and with neighbouring lands managed by SA Water and Forestry SA, contains the largest block of remnant vegetation in the entire Mount Lofty Ranges.

The vegetation in the park is mainly open forests of Long-leaf Box, Pink Gum, South Australian Blue Gum, and River Red Gum, with an understorey of Yacca and various heaths.

Above: Aerial shot showing the Para Wirra Conservation Park, with the nearby towns of Williamstown and One Tree Hill.  Image courtesy of Protected Planet.

The trees of Para Wirra provide hollows for possums and parrots to make their homes.  Kangaroos and emus are common throughout the park, as are short-beaked echidnas.  Over 100 species of bird call the park home, including the Scarlet Robin, Blue Wren, and Eastern Spine Bill.

The landscape has been significantly changed by mining and grazing, but has recovered well since grazing has been managed in recent years.  The poor quality of soils in the park is reflected in the local names of Misery Farm and Humbug Scrub.

The park is also home to the Barossa Goldfields, where ruins can be discovered from the once thriving mining operation.  Gold was discovered in the area in 1868 by Job Harris (b. 1840.  d. 1882), the publican of the Sandy Creek Hotel.

Above: Job Harris, and an article from the South Australian Register, Fri 3 Feb 188 re the goldfield.  Courtesy of Wikipedia and Trove.

A total of 50,000 oz of gold was extracted during the rush that followed.  Up until the mid 1930’s, small scale mining continued in the area.  Interpretive signs explain the days of gold mining in the are, with Bowden Cottage acting as a museum run by the Barossa Goldfields Historical Society.  Unfortunately I did not have the time to explore this part of the park, but as Arnie says ‘I will be back!’  More information on the Barossa Goldfields can be found at…..

http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/barossagold.htm

I entered the park via Humbug Scrub Road and paid my $10.00 entry fee.  It just so happened that the local Park Ranger was collecting the money from the deposit point, so I stopped and had a chat for around 10 minutes.  I showed him my radio gear and explained about amateur radio and the parks awards.  It was good to have some positive interaction with National Parks staff.

It was slow going in the park as it was alive with Western Grey kangaroos.

I headed to a little picnic area off Scenic Drive in the centre of the park.  As it was quite a warm and humid day, I was very pleased to find a shelter shed which afforded some very welcome shade from the sun.  I ran the Yaesu FT-857d, 40 watts output, and the 80/40/20m linked dipole and a 15m dipole for this activation.  Both supported on a 7 metre heavy duty telescopic squid pole.

Above:- Map showing my operating spot within the park.  Map courtesy of National Parks SA.

As I drove into the park I telephoned John VK5BJE and asked if he would mind placing an alert for me, which he kindly did.  So it was pleasing that John was my first station logged at Para Wirra after I asked if the frequency was in use on 7.144.  I didn’t even get the opportunity of calling CQ.  Following on from John, Rob VK4AAC/2 called in, and then Dennis VK2HHA, followed by park hunter extraordinaire Rick VK4RF/VK4HA.  I think Rick appears in the log of most of my Parks and SOTA activations.

The band conditions on 40m seemed to be down a little, but I was pleased that at least there was some short propagation with a handful of South Australian stations being logged.  But it was very slow going.  Average band conditions and a weekday were not contributing to filling up my log.  I worked a total of 14 stations on 40m from VK1, VK2, VK3, VK4, and VK5, before I decided to have a listen on 80m.

My first taker on 80m was Adrian VK5FANA on the Yorke Peninusla with a nice 5/7 signal (5/6 received).  Next up was Alan VK5FD, followed by Damien VK5FDEC running QRP (5/5 sent and 5/6 received).  Damien dropped his power down to 500 milliwatts and was 5/3 to me.  Finally I logged John VK5BJE who was a little lighter on 80m compared to the 40m band.

I then moved to 20m where a large number of CQ calls went unanswered.  However I did manage three contacts and one of those was Eric BD4CZX in Shanghai in China.  It was a bit of a struggle with Eric at times but we made it.  Eric was hearing me better than I was hearing him (4/3 sent and 5/5 received).  I have not worked China very often whilst out portable, so I was really pleased when Eric called me.

I headed back to 40m where I spoke briefly with Mick VK3GGG.  I had worked Mick earlier on 40m, but he called in to let me know my signal had improved a little.  Mick was kind enough to spot me on parksnpeaks which I am sure resulted in a few more callers.  Thanks Mick.  I worked 10 stations from VK2, VK3, and Vk7.

I then decided to try my luck on the 15m band.  I called CQ on 21.244 and this was answered by Kio JA8RJE with a nice 5/7 signal from Japan.  But sadly Kio was my only caller on 15m so I headed back to 40m with a total of 32 stations in the log.  I needed a further 12 to qualify the park for the global WWFF program.

The first station logged after returning to 40m was Owen VK4FADW with a very nice signal (5/7 both ways), followed by Frank VK7BC who was booming in from Tasmania.  I was slowly getting towards the magic number of 44, but the static crashes on the band were also increasing in strength.  Justin VK7TW was my 44th contact, with Don VK3MCK rounding off the activation.

I had a total of 45 contacts in the log and had enjoyed the activation despite it being quite slow at times.  It was just after 5.00 p.m. local time and I needed to pack up and head home, as my wife Marija , my daughter Olivia, I were heading off to Victoria the following morning, for a holiday in Ballarat.

Thanks to everyone who called and many thanks to those who took the time to spot me.

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK5BJE
2. VK4AAC/2
3. VK2HHA
4. VK4RF
5. VK4HA
6. VK5FD
7. VK3GGG
8. VK3PMG
9. VK3FNQS
10. VK1AT
11. VK3ZPF
12. VK3DAC
13. VK2LB
14. VK5FEKH/p
15. VK3FPHG
16. VK3FHCT
17. VK3PF
18. VK3KAI
19. VK2GKA
20. VK3FOTO/m
21. VK3SQ
22. VK2NSS
23. VK3OHM
24. VK7FRJG
25. VK4FADW
26. VK7BC
27. VK2NWB/p
28. VK7FPRN
29. VK3DPG
30. VK4QQ
31. VK2NEO
32. VK3SIM
33. VK3LBW
34. VK2IO
35. VK2VEL
36. VK7TW
37. VK3MCK

I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

1. VK5FANA
2. VK5FD
3. VK5FDEC
4. VK5BJE

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

1. VK2IO
2. BD4CZX
3. VK6XN

I worked the following station on 15m SSB:-

1. JA8RJE

References.

National Parks South AUstralia, 2017, <https://www.environment.sa.gov.au/parks/Find_a_Park/Browse_by_region/Adelaide_Hills/para-wirra-conservation-park&gt;, viewed 5th February 2017

Barossa Goldfields Historical Society, 2017, <http://www.communitywebs.org/BarossaGoldfieldsHistoric/&gt;, viewed 5th February 2017

Flinders Ranges Research, 2017, <http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/barossagold.htm&gt;, viewed 5th February 2017

It had been a little bit over a week since my last portable outing and I was getting an itchy PTT finger.  So on Wednesday morning (1st February 2017) I headed over to the northern side of the Adelaide Hills (Mount Lofty Ranges) for an activation at Mount Gawler VK5/ SE-013 for the Summits on the Air (SOTA) program.  The summit is around a 43 km drive north from my home, and about 37 km north east of Adelaide.

Above:- Map showing the location of Mount Gawler, VK5/ SE-013, north east of Adelaide.  Map courtesy of openstreetmap.org

Mount Gawler is 541 metres in height and is worth 2 SOTA points.  It is the highest activated summit in South Australia.  I highly recommend this summit if you want to ‘cut your teeth’ on SOTA.  This is an easy summit to access.  No walking uphill is required.  You can activate the summit comfortably, from within the SOTA activation zone, from the roadway (Mount Gawler Road.  But I had telephoned the land owners, Noel and Anne, the night before, and as has been the case with previous activations at this summit, they kindly allowed me access to their land.  So I operated from very close to the trig point.

Above:- Map showing the location of the summit, to the west of the little town of Kersbrook.  Map courtesy of openstreetmap.org

I took the Kenton Valley Road from home out through this beautiful part of the Adelaide Hills, to Gummeracha and then on to Kersbrook.  As I travelled down Checker Hill Road, the summit came into view.  The drive down Checker Hill Road towards Kersbrook is very steep, and this hill has featured in the world famous Tour Down Under Cycling event.  The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) categories Checker Hill as a category 2 climb (the second hardest).

Checker Hill is described as short but fierce, boasting an average gradient of 14.2%, with a maximum of around 20%.  It has been described as a challenge even for the pros to conquer.  There are some great views from here down towards Kersbrook.  I must look at some maps to see if Checker Hill itself has the required prominence for SOTA.

Above:- Looking towards the summit from Checker Hill Road.

I travelled out of Kersbrook on the Kersbrook-One Tree Hill Road and then turned into Mount Gawler Road.  This area was ravaged by an extremely devastating bushfire back in early 2015, known as the Sampson Flat fire.  A total of 38 homes and 125 outbuildings were destroyed.  The total cost was estimated to be more than A$13 million.  Fortunately there was no loss of life, although a total of 134 injuries were reported.  The size of the area burnt was more than 12,500 hectares (31,000 acres).

Below is a video showing the scar that the bushfire left on the landscape in this part of the Adelaide Hills.

I have been back here a few times since that terrible fire, and it is always pleasing to see more regrowth each time I visit.  But it is a shadow of its former self.  Much of the beautiful native gum and pine forest is gone.

Noel had kindly unlocked the gate for me so I drove into the property and parked my vehicle near the trig point and started unpacking my gear.  It was just a short walk into a clearing and out with the deck chair and fold up table.  For this activation I ran the Yaesu FT-857d, 40 watts output and the 80/40/20m linked dipole supported on a 7m heavy duty squid pole.

I was all set up and ready to go at around my posted activation time.  I started off on 40m on 7.090 with the first station logged being SOTA die hard Peter VK3PF with a very nice 5/9 signal.  Peter kindly spotted me on SOTAWatch and undoubtedly this resulted in the resulting callers.  Second in the log was Steve VK7CW with a great 5/9 from Tasmania, followed by Ken VK3UH, and then Brett VK2VW.  I had qualified the summit.

Mick VK3GGG/VK3PMG tried calling me from a SOTA summit, but despite a number of attempts we were unable to successfully exchange signal reports.  Thanks for trying Mick.

I hadn’t been on air long when it started to spit with rain, so it was out with the bothy bag to shelter from the showers.  As it was a weekday, callers were a little sparse, but I managed to log a total of 10 stations on 40m from VK2, VK3, VK5, and VK7, before I QSY’d to 3.610 on the 80m band.

Hans VK5YX in the southern suburbs of Adelaide had followed me down from 40m and was the first in the log on 80m.  Hans had an equally strong 5/9 signal on 80m, as he did on 40m.  I then worked three stations from the Mid North of South Australia, about 200 km to my north.  They were Nev VK5WG, Bill VK5MBD, and Ian VK5IS.  All were 5/9 plus, with Bill VK5MBD being particularly strong.  Finally on 80m, I logged Peter VK5PET at Strathalbyn, south of Adelaide.

I then headed over to 14.310 on 20m and logged David VK5PL in the Barossa Valley, on either side of the UTC rollover.  This was followed by Gerard VK2IO, Tim VK5ML, John ZL1BYZ in New Zealand, and finally John VK6NU over in Western Australia.  It just started spitting with rain at this time, so I quickly ducked out from underneath the bothy bag and started to lower the squid pole, when I head Rick VK4RF/VK4HA calling me on 14.310.  The squid pole was down and the antenna was almost lying on the ground, so I decided to continue to insert the links in the linked dipole, and headed back to 40m, hoping that Rick would find me there.  It was now after the UTC rollover so there were a few extra points on offer for the chasers.

Prior to calling CQ I had a tune around the band and found Mick VK3GGG/VK3PMG on 7.090.  Mick was on the top of his second summit for the day, Ben Nevis VK3/ VS-009, and this time I was able to hear Mick quite well.  It’s always nice to get a Summit to Summit contact in the log.

I then headed up to 7.095 and called CQ.  First taker was Rick VK4RF/VK4HA with a nice 5/7 signal from Queensland.  I was pleased to get Rick in the log after not working him on 20m.  I worked a further 6 stations from VK2, VK3, and VK5.  This included William VK2NWB/p operating QRP with 5 watts (5/2 both ways).  Also Perrin VK3XPT who was operating remote from his workplace, and Dominic VK2JNA/5 who was mobile near Coober Pedy heading to Alice Springs.  Dominic was a very nice 5/7 signal to Mount Gawler.

I then headed back for another crack on 80m.  I had received an SMS message from Adrian VK5FANA stating he could not hear me on 40m and would I mind trying 80.  Adrian was a good 5/7 signal on 80m.  I also logged John VK5BJE in the Adelaide Hills, and Steve VK5KSW at Wool Bay on the Yorke Peninsula.

I then packed away the 80/40/20m linked dipole and put up the 15m dipole and put a few calls out on 21.250.  And I’m pleased I did try the 15m band as I logged 7 stations from VK4, VK5, and VK6.

I had a total of 41 stations in the log on 15, 20, 40 and 80m and it was time to pack up and head down to the house to say hi to Noel and Anne.  I spent about an hour, having a chat and enjoying a coffee and biccies with this very lovely couple, whose home was fortunately spared during the bushfire of 2015.

Thanks to everyone who called me during the activation, and many thanks to those who took the time to spot me.  It all certainly helps.

I worked the following stations:-

References.

Summits on the Air (SOTA), 2017, <http://www.sota.org.uk/&gt;, viewed 5th February 2017

Wikipedia, 2017, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Sampson_Flat_bushfires&gt;, viewed 5th February 2017

I have spoken about the Peakery website previously, but thought it was worth mentioning once again.  Peakery is a great site where you can ‘explore and share your mountain experiences.‘

The site features over 330,000 peaks from all around the globe.  In Australia, a total of 4,028 peaks are listed.

• ACT – 87 peaks
• NSW – 701 peaks
• NT – 213 peaks
• QLD – 1566 peaks
• SA – 344 peaks
• TAS – 382 peaks
• VIC – 183 peaks
• WA – 543 peaks

You can view the world’s mountains in 3 different views: List View, Map View, and Photo View.  Or you can browse mountains by location on the Regions page.  The regions are broken into: North America, Europe, Asia, South America Africa, Oceania (including Australia), and Antarctica.

Above:- a Map View of part of South Australia.

Peakery offers photographs, 3D fly-around views, trip reports, peak statistics, route info, and maps.  You can read the Summit Log to get a feel on the experience of other peakery users that have climbed the summit.  Peakery also gives you a sense of the surrounding area by browsing the nearest and highest peaks.

If you happen to find a peak that is not located on Peakery, you simply notify Peakery by clicking on ‘Can’t find a peak? Add it”.  I have found that the peaks are added very quickly.  When adding a peak, you need to specify the name of the peak, its elevation in either feet or metres, its prominence (if known), and its latitude or longitude.

On Peakery you can log all of your summit conquests, adding trip details, route info and photos, and obtain summit badges.

On your very own Peak page you can view a variety of information including the number of peaks that you have climbed, details and photos on those peaks, your summit badges, and a map showing your summitted peaks.

Other stats that are shown are your ranking, the highest peak you have summitted,  the summit you have climbed the most, and a breakdown on summits in Regions that you have climbed.

You can ‘follow’ other people registered with Peakery.

A number of Peakery Challenges are on offer.  They include the Australia 2000m Peaks Challenge, where you need to visit all Australian peaks at least 200m high with a minimum of 60m prominence, and the Australia State 8 Peak Challenge, where you need to climb the highest peaks in each of Australia’s 8 States/Territories.

Peakery can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Peakery is well worth a look.  You may find it of help during your next Summits on the Air (SOTA) adventure.

In the last few days I have received in the post, the BITX40, a little 40m band QRP kit radio, produced by HF Signals in India.

Now to get to work putting it together.

The World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program is currently looking to revise its structure.

WWFF is seeking a new Chairman and Continental representatives from Africa (AF), Asia (AS), Europe (EU), North America (NA), Oceania (OC), and South America (SA) who together will form a WWFF Committee.

You can nominate via the WWFF Forum which can be found at…..

 
http://wwff.co/forums/forum/elections-2017/

 
Nominations close on 31st January 2017.

 
During the first week of February, voting will commence. Voting instructions will be announced on the WWFF website at…..

 
http://wwff.co/

 
I will also post here.

 
I have nominated as the Chairman, and I see that Peter VK3ZPF has nominated as the OC Continental rep.

For yesterday’s Friday afternoon/evening event (Friday 20th January 2016) for the VK5 National and Conservation Parks Award, I headed out to the Warren Conservation Park 5CP-247 and VKFF-0941.  The park is situated about 60 km north east of Adelaide and about 5 km south east of the town of Williamstown, in the Mount Lofty Ranges ‘Adelaide Hills’.

Above:- Map showing the location of the Warren Conservation Park, north east of Adelaide.  Map courtesy of Protected Planet.

I last activated the Warren Conservation Park in August 2015 and on that occasion, due to very poor band conditions, I only managed to work a total of 14 stations.  So I needed a total of 30 more contacts to qualify the park for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.  For WWFF, a total of 44 contacts are required for the park to be qualified for the global WWFF program.  I had also activated the park way back in July 2013 as part of the VK5 Parks Award (prior to the park being added to WWFF).  So this was to be my third time to the park.

Details on my prior activations can be found at…..

Warren Conservation Park, VKFF-941

Warren Conservation Park

Warren Conservation Park is 364 hectares in size and was first proclaimed in 1966.  It was re-proclaimed as Warren Conservation Park on the 27th April 1972.  The park is named after the Hundred of Warren, which in turn was named in honour of John Warren (1830-1914), who was an Australian pastoralist and politician.  More information can be found at: http://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/warren-john-1198

Above:- The Hon. John Warren.  Image courtesy of wikipedia.

The park is characterised by steep country with views over forests, the nearby Warren and South Para Reservoirs, pastures and bushland, above the spectacular Warren Gorge.  The park comprises Messmate stringybark, Pink Gum, Hakeas, Native Currant, Flame Heath, and long-leaved box woodland.  The park contains numerous native orchids, rock ferns, and lilies.

The park is a haven for some of Australia’s rarest animals.  Native animals that call the park home include Western Grey kangaroos, echidnas, and lizards.  Numerous birds can be spotted in the park including Superb Fairywrens, Crescent Honeyeaters, Australian Golden Whistler, White-throated Treecreepers, Bassian Thrush and Grey Currawongs

There are a number of spectacular walks through the park.  This includes the famous Heysen Trail.  On a clear day, the Yorke Peninsula on the other side of Gulf St Vincent can be seen.

I left home after placing an alert on parksnpeaks, and the various Facebook sites and headed north through Nairne, Woodside and on to Lobethal.  I then took the Kenton Valley Road to Gumeracha, the home of the Big Rocking Horse, and then north on the Forreston Road, passing through the little town of Forreston, which is about 9 km south of the park (by road).  The town was named after Alexander Forrest who arrived in South Australia in 1848, and settled in the Forreston area by 1850.  By 1858, the village of Forreston had been laid out, with a post office, store, wine shop (every town has to have one of these), wheelwright, blacksmith (run by Forreston himself), butcher, and school.

In 1884, gold was found by John Watts in nearby Watts Gully, near the current day Warren Conservation Park.  In fact it was Watts Gully Road that I was headed for.  The area yielded gold nuggets as large as 14 ounces.  As a result, Forreston boomed as a little town.  From articles I have read on TROVE, it appears the area’s population swelled, with around 350-400 persons working on the diggings.  Today very little remains, and don’t blink because you may miss the town.

Above: – Article from the ‘Evening News’ dated Sat 20 June 1885.  Courtesy of Trove.

This is a beautiful part of the Adelaide Hills with quite steep terrain and it wasn’t long before I reached the Mount Crawford Forest, a grouping of several forest areas controlled by the South Australian Government.  The largest of those encompasses the area around Mount Crawford.   The forest consists of both pine and native eucalypt plantations.

The Warren Conservation Park can be accessed by walkers from the nearby Hale Conservation Park or from the Tower Track in the nearby Mount Crawford Forest.  Or there is a small parking area off Watts Gully Road in the south western corner of the park, which is where I accessed the park.

Above:- Aerial shot of my operating spot in the south western corner of the Warren Conservation Park.  Image courtesy of Protected Planet.

I parked the Hi Lux just outside the entry to the park, and started unpacking, carrying the gear to a shaded area under a large gum tree.  There is a boardwalk at the entry to the park and this leads to the Heysen Trail.  The area either side of the boardwalk was quite overgrown compared to the last time I was in the park.  And due to the fact it was a warm day I made a point of making a bit of noise to hopefully scare of any snakes that may have been in the area enjoying the afternoon sun.

As I was setting up it was immediately noticeable that the park was absolutely alive with Superb Fairy wrens. They were everywhere.  They are a small insect eating bird, who often come quite close to humans.  The male has rich blue and black plumage on the upper body, whilst the female is mostly brown.

I ran my normal set up for this activation, comprising the Yaesu FT-857, 40 watts output, and the 80/40/20m linked dipole, supported on the 7 metre telescopic heavy duty squid pole.  I headed to my nominated operating frequency of 7.144 on the 40m band and started calling CQ.  This was immediately answered by Peter VK5KPR at Port Augusta in the north of the state, which a beautiful strong 5/9 signal.  This was followed by Les VK5KLV who was operating portable in the Upper Spencer Gulf Marine Park VKFF-1757.  Les was also booming through, and it was nice to get a Park to Park contact in the log.  This was followed by a call from Deryk VK4FDJL/2 who was in the Goulburn River National Park VKFF-0211.  Deryk was not specifically participating in the WWFF from the park, and I explained to him about the WWFF program.  Hopefully I can recruit another park activator.

Band conditions on 40m seemed to be down a little, with signals from Victoria being much lower than usual.  There were strength 6-7 static crashes present, but as is the case in the vast majority of park and SOTA activations, there was absolutely no man made noise, e.g. plasma TV noise, solar inverter, etc

Unfortunately around 10 contacts into the activation I started to experience some interference (QRM) from a net on 7.146.  I have politely asked these gentlemen to move in the past and sadly they have declined to move.  So I grit my teeth and grinned and bared the bleedover, being able to comfortably work most stations that were calling me.

Fortunately the interference held off just long enough for me to work Adrian VK5FANA who was portable in the Eastern Spencer Gulf Marine Park VKFF-1706 on the Yorke Peninsula.  Adrian was very weak, but was perfectly readable due to the non existant man made noise in Warren.  I went on to work a total of 35 stations on 40m from VK1, VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5, and VK7.

I then headed over to 20m where I called CQ on 14.310.  This was answered by John VK6NU in Western Australia who was quite weak, but a successful exchange of signal reports meant that the contact was good.  I only logged a further 3 stations on 20m.  They being Alan VK4ALA, and then park stalwart Rick VK4RF/VK4HA.  Signals from Queensland on the 20m band were noticeably lower than usual.

I then inserted the links in the linked dipole and headed off to the 80m band, hoping to get some South Australian hams in the log.  It was apparent from conditions on 40m, that close in propagation was non existant on that band.  My first contact on 80m was with John VK5BJE in the Adelaide Hills (5/9 both ways).  This was followed by Trevor VK5TW (5/9 both ways) and then Mick VK3GGG/VK3PMG in western Victoria (5/8 sent and 5/7 received).  Adrian VK5FANA called in, with another Park to Park logged from the Eastern Spencer Gulf Marine Park (5/5 both ways).  Despite conditions being quite good on 80m, I only logged 2 further contacts, they being with Mike VK5FMWW/VK5FVSV.

Time was marching on, and it was now 7.30 p.m. local time (0830 UTC).  I hadn’t planned on being in the park this long and I was absolutely starving hungry.  But I put out a few more CQ calls on 40m hoping to pick up some of the park hunters that had missed me on the first go around on 40m.  I logged 7 contacts on 7.144, including Lewis VK6LDX who was portable on SOTA peak Mount Shadforth VK6/ SW-054.  Lewis had an excellent 5/8 signal coming in from south western Western Australia, near Albany.

But callers were few and far between, so I had a quick look across the band and found Robert VK7VZ speaking with Beth MW0VOW in Wales.  I tried giving Beth a call but sadly she was not able to pull me out of the noise.  I was a little disapointed as this would have been a new country for me on 40m whilst operating portable.

John VK6VZZ mobile gave me a shout and we moved a little higher up the band for a quick chat.  As it was just a little before 8.00 p.m. local time I then headed to 7.130 for the 7130- DX Net.  I remained on the net for 2 rounds, logging 6 contacts in VK2, VK4 and VK7, before packing up.  I did try calling on the net, Bill W1OW from Massachusetts USA, who I know is a keen park hunter.  I have worked Bill many times before, but it was not to be tonight, as he was experiencing a very high level of static and also other stations on the frequency.

The sun was just starting to go down, and as a result the Western Grey kangaroo population in the park was quite active with many keeping a watchful eye on me.

I had exceeded the 30 required contacts I needed to qualify the park, with a total of 60 contacts in the log on 40m, 20m, and 80m.  Thankyou to everyone who called me, and many thanks to those who took the time to spot me on parksnpeaks, Facebook, etc.

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK5KPR
2. VK5KLV/p (Upper Spencer Gulf Marine Park VKFF-1757)
3. VK4FDJL/2 (Goulburn River National Park VKFF-0211)
4. VK2HHA
5. VK3GGG
6. VK3PMG
7. VK4RF
8. VK4HA
9. VK3ZPF
10. VK3OHM
11. VK1DI
12. VK7VZ/p
13. VK3VBI
14. VK3NUC
15. VK3SFG
16. VK4HNS/p
17. VK2YW
18. VK1AT
19. VK3HKV/p
20. VK5FANA/p (Eastern Spencer Gulf Marine Park VKFF-1706)
21. VK3VIN
22. VK3UH
23. VK2IO/m
24. VK3KMH
25. VK7AN
26. VK3FLCS
27. VK2NEO
28. VK3FSPG
29. VK3MPR
30. VK3AXF
31. VK3FCMC
32. VK3PF/m
33. VK2QR
34. VK3JK
35. VK3ARH
36. VK3IP
37. VK2FGLB
38. VK3QB
39. VK3BBB
40. VK6LDX/p (SOTA Mount Shadforth VK6 SW-054)
41. VK3KRH
42. VK3PI/p
43. VK6VZZ/m
44. VK7ROY
45. VK4PDX
46. VK2STO
47. VK2FOUZ
48. VK7CC
49. VK1MTS

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

1. VK6NU
2. VK4ALA
3. VK4RF
4. VK4HA

I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

1. VK5BJE
2. VK5TW
3. VK3GGG
4. VK3PMG
5. VK5FANA/p (Eastern Spencer Gulf Marine Park VKFF-1706)
6. VK5FMWW
7. VK5FVSV

References.

Birds SA, 2017, <http://www.birdssa.asn.au/location/warren-conservation-park/&gt;, viewed 20th January 2017

Cockburn, 2002, ‘South Australia. What’s in a Name?’

National Parks South Australia, 2017, <https://www.environment.sa.gov.au/parks/Find_a_Park/Browse_by_region/Adelaide_Hills/warren-conservation-park&gt;, viewed 20th January 2017

Walking SA, 2017, <http://www.walkingtrailssupportgroup.org.au/documents/leaflets/WarrenTowerbrochureNov2009tmsnewrmnsmallerpics.pdf&gt;, viewed 20th January 2017

Wikipedia, 2017, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Warren_(Australian_politician)&gt;, viewed 20th January 2017

Wikipedia, 2017, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forreston,_South_Australia&gt;, viewed 21st January 2017

Wikipedia, 2017, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Crawford_(South_Australia)&gt;, viewed 21st January 2017

The aim of the Trans Tasman Low Band Challenge is to encourage low band activity in Australia and New Zealand.  The applicable bands are 160, 80 and 40m.  Amateurs in VK and ZL contact other amateurs in VK and ZL in three individual 2 hour blocks.  Points are awarded for valid contacts between VK & ZL stations.

The 2016 contest was held on Saturday 16th July 2016.

I called in to the Mowantjie Willauwar Conservation on the way home from the Coorong and spent about 90 minutes on air for this contest.  I made a total of 90 contacts on 40m and 80m.

As it turned out 55 of those were in period one, whilst a further 35 were in period two.  I packed up before the conclusion of period 2.  My total score was 795 points.  I came in at position 11.

For more information on the activation, please see my previous post at…….

https://vk5pas.org/2016/07/17/mowantjie-willauwar-conservation-park-5cp-152-and-vkff-0919/

Each year the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program acknowledges the Top 44 Activators around the world and certificates are issued.  Certificates are issued in the Top Activator (by references) and Top Activator (by number of QSOs).

In 2016 I came in at second place in Oceania in the Top Activator (by references) category.  I was ranked number 12 in the world.  I activated a total of 86 references, but only 74 of those qualified for the WWFF global program due to not reaching the 44 QSO threshold.

A big congratulations to Rob VK4AAC who was in first place in Oceania, and who came in at number 5 in the world.  Rob activated a total of 106 references, with all 106 qualifying for WWFF with 44 QSOs.  A terrific effort Rob.

In the Top Activator (by number of QSOs) I came in first place in Oceania and number 33 in the world, with a total of 6,593 QSOs.  Rob VK4AAC was close on my hells in position 36 with a total of 6,319 QSOs.

Here are the lists showing the Top 44 in each Activator category.