Over the weekend my wife Marija came across a story re a proposed new National Park for South Australia. South Australian Opposition Leader Steven Marshall has anncounced an election commitment to create a 1500 hectare National Park called Glenthorne, in the southern suburbs of Adelaide.
If Glenthorne was to be established, it would be Adelaide’s second metropolitan National Park. The National Park would include: Glenthorne Farm; O’Halloran Hill Recreation Park; Marino Conservation Park; Hallett Cove Conservation Park; Happy Valley Reservoir and the Field River valley. This is a total area of more than 1,500 hectares, which is bigger than Belair National Park.
Today (Sunday 16th October 2016) was the inaugural VKFF Team Championship. The idea of the Team Championship is to create a team of 2-4 people and head out into a park which qualifies for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program, and make as many contacts as possible between 0000 UTC-0600 UTC.
This year the following teams took part:
‘The Odd Couple‘ – Julie VK3FOWL and Joe VK3YSP
‘The Walkie Talkies‘ – Paul VK5PAS & Marija VK5FMAZ
‘Team Pezo‘ – Peter VK5PET and Steve VK5ZEO
‘The Mad Mix‘ – Mike VK6MB, Nick VK6FSEA and Jarrad VK6FFAR
‘Team Kookaburra‘ – Mick VK3PMG and Tony VK3XV
‘Tassie Devils’ – Jonathan VK6JON/7 and Helen VK7FOLK
‘Special K’s’ – Les VK5KLV and Peter VK5KPR
‘The Irresistibles’ – Gary VK1ZZ and John VK4VHY
I also wish to thank a number of sponsors who offered prizes and money towards the event. They included:
Pages of Cobram
SOTABeams
and a few amateurs who provided money towards trophies who wished to remain anonymous.
The weather in Adelaide on Friday and Saturday had been nice and sunny, but sure enough, the cold front moved in on Saturday night, and by Sunday morning there were persistent showers.
Marija and I were aware that the weather was going to turn nasty, so we had chosen to activate Monarto Conservation Park (CP) VKFF-0828, as it is on the eastern side of the Mount Lofty Ranges (Adelaide Hills), and we suspected there might be less shower activity there. Monarto CP is about 30 km east of our home QTH in the Adelaide Hills, and around 60 km east of Adelaide.
Above:- Map showing the location of the Monarto Conservation Park east of Adelaide. Map courtesy of Protected Planet.
Monarto Conservation Park was established on 15th September 1983 and is 240 hectares in size. Prior to being gazetted as a Conservation Park, Monarto was known as Braendler’s Scrub. The consists of thick mallee woodland and dry heathland and is one of the few pieces of remnant Mallee vegetation close to Adelaide. The park comprises sand ridges forming part of the Murray Plains. The park is home to the endangered Mallee fowl, along with a variety of other wildlife including the Western Grey Kangaroo, and at least two species of Marsupial Mouse. There are also numerous bat species. More than 100 species of birds have been documented in the park.
Above:- Map showing the location of the park with respect to Murray Bridge, the Murray River, the Monarto Zoo, & the Ferries McDonald Conservation Park. Map courtesy of Protected Planet.
The nearby ‘town’ of Monarto was once earmarked as a satellite city to Adelaide, by the then Premier, Don Dunstan, back in the 1970’s. However for a variety of reasons this never eventuated. Today Monarto is a farming district, and it is adjacent to the main Adelaide-Melbourne railway line. You can easily see the silos at Monarto from the park. Bi W also has a large distribution centre at Monarto.
I found the promotional video below for the new city, dating back to the 1970’s. It’s very interesting to watch to see what was planned.
The locality of Monarto was originally a private subdivision of section 210 of the Hundred of Monarto, from which it took its name, the hundred having been gazetted in 1847. The name of the undred was after an aboriginal woman known as ‘Queen Monarto’ who lived in the area at the time of its proclomation. The township was laid out in 1908.
Above:- A view of Monarto from the northern side of the park.
The Monarto Zoological Park is located nearby and this comprised a 1,500 hectare (3,700 acre) open range zoo. It is in fact the largest open plains zoo in the southern hemisphere and features a variety of animals including cheetah, rhinoceros, giraffe, chimpanzee, Meerkat, and Zebra.
We headed to our normal operating spot, the north eastern corner of the park, where this is a carpark. As it was a wet and windy morning we positioned the Toyota Hi Lux so it was facing north-south with the awning facing the west, away from the incoming rain and wind. For the activation we ran the Yaesu FT-857d, 10 watts, and a 40m/20m linked dipole (although we only used 40m).
Above:- Aerial shot of the park showing our operating position in the north eastern corner of the park. Image courtesy of Protected Planet.
This is the only access point to the park. The southern, northern and western sides of the park adjoin cleared farming land. Although there is no sign on the road advising you of the existence of the park, there is a park sign at the entry point.
The entrance to the park
Cleared farming land to the east of the park
The shack for the day
The weather at the start of the activation was terrible, and as a result we could not operate from outside of the vehicle. The rain was just too constant and too heavy. So the first hour was spent in the drivers seat of the Toyota Hi Lux, with the Yaesu FT-857d on the front passenger seat.
I started off the activation and logged 10 contacts, with the first QSO being with Steve VK5ZEO at the Mount Magnificent Conservation Park, VKFF-0916. Steve was with Peter VK5PET and they were taking part in the Team Championship as Team Pezo. My sixth contact was with VK3CUB, taking part in the Jamboree on the Air (JOTA), and I had a good chat with cubs, Byron and Ben.
After logging the first 10 QSOs, Marija then took control of the mic and Marija’s first contact was with Les VK5KLV who was operating portable in the Upper Spencer Gulf Marine Park VKFF-1757. This was followed by Peter VK5KPR who was operating with Les as Team Special K’s. Marija logged a total of 33 stations before we swapped ‘drivers’ again.
Marija’s contacts included 7 Park to Park contacts and one SOTA contact. This included QSOs with Nick VK6FSEA/p and Jarrad VK6FFAR taking part in the championships as The Mad Mix in the Wellington National Park VKFF-0657, and Joe & Julie VK3SRC (VK3YSP & VK3FOWL) operating portable in the Churchill National Park VKFF-0621, as ‘The Odd Couple’. Other portable contacts by Marija included Peter VK3YE who was operating from Chelsea Beach, Ian VK1DI/p at Bullen Range Nature Reserve VKFF-0984 and SOTA peak Bullen Range VK1/ AC-033, and Gerard VK2IO/p in the Tuggerah State Conservation Area VKFF-1383 (the first time this reference has been activated).
The showers cleared and this gave us some time to erect the awning and I then took over the mic. First up was regular park hunter Dennis VK2HHA, followed by Steve VK3FSPG and then Nick VK3ANL. I then logged Jonathan VK7JON and his partner Helen who were in the Narawntapu National Park VKFF-0005 taking part in the Team Championship as the ‘Tassie Devils’. This was followed by a call from VK5SAG, with Patrick VK5MPJ at the mic. I had a chat with Scout Sam, and his sister Rachael.
Next up was Neil VK4HNS/p who was in the Crows Nest National Park VKFF-0121. Although not very strong (5/3), Neil was perfectly readable as there was no man made noise on the band in the park. Half a dozen QSOs later I spoke with Les VK5KLV and Peter VK5KPR in the Upper Spencer Gulf Marine Park VKFF-1757. Before handing over the mic to Marija I also logged Ian VK1DI who was in the Bullen Range Nature Reserve VKFF-0984 & on SOTA peak Bullen Range VK1/ AC-033. I was also called by Mick VK3GGG/VK3PMG and Tony VK3XV operating as ‘Team Kookaburra‘ in the Ararat Hills Regional Park VKFF-0958. And it was also great to be able to speak with Gerard VK2IO in the Tuggerah State Conservation Area VKFF-1383. I had heard Gerard speak with Marija earlier and I had heard this was a unique park, so I was very pleased when Gerard called.
After logging a total of 29 contacts it was time to hand the mic back to Marija, whilst I took the opportunity of having a walk through the park. Marija’s first caller was Andrew VK1AD in Canberra, followed by Mike VK2IF, Col VK3LED, and then Tony VK3XV in the Ararat Hills Regional Park VKFF-0958. A few QSOs later Marija was called by Mick VK3GGG/VK3PMG who was with Tony in the Ararat Hills Regional Park.
Marija logged a total of 23 stations and this included Park to Park contacts with Jonathan and Helen VK7FOLK in the Narawntapu National Park VKFF-0005.
I have been to Monarto CP a number of times previously but I had never walked the trail through the park, so this was a great opportunity of doing so whilst Marija was on air.
The park was alive with colour during our visit with many of the native plants in flower.
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It was now 2.40 p.m. local time (0410 UTC) and we had a little under 2 hours to go before the closing time of 0600 UTC. Marija took a break and I again called CQ on 7.095 and I logged a total of 22 stations from VK1, VK2, VK3, and VK7. We swapped the mic again and Marija logged 9 stations including a SOTA contact with David VK2CDS who was portable on SOTA peak VK2/ HU-080.
It was now 4.00 p.m. local time (0530 UTC) and we now had just 30 minutes left in the championship. I jumped back on the mic and logged 7 stations from VK2 and VK3, with Marija finishing up the last 10 minutes with a further 4 stations logged from VK3 and VK4.
It was the conclusion of a fun but very wet day, with a total of 138 contacts in the log. This included 23 Park to Park contacts. Marija made 70 contacts and I made 68 contacts. So despite band conditions being quite poor at times, we were very happy.
I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
VK5ZEO/p (Mount Magnificent Conservation Park VKFF-0916)
VK3SAY
VK2VU
VK3FLAK
VK3FQSO
VK3CUB
VK3FRSM
VK3FMPB
VK3MCD
VK3FRAB
VK2HHA
VK3FSPG
VK3ANL
VK7JON/p (Narawntapu National Park VKFF-0005)
VK7FOLK/p (Narawntapu National Park VKFF-0005)
VK5SAG
VK4HNS/p (Crows Nest National Park VKFF-0121)
VK7FMPR
VK3PF
VK4AAC/3
VK5KLV/p (Upper Spencer Gulf Marine Park VKFF-1757)
VK5KPR/p (Upper Spencer Gulf Marine Park VKFF-1757)
VK5TT
VK1DI/p (Bullen Range Nature Reserve VKFF-0984 & Bullen Range VK1/ AC-033)
VK5SA
VK3FCMC
VK3PMG/p (Ararat Hills Regional Park VKFF-0958)
VK3GGG/p (Ararat Hills Regional Park VKFF-0958)
VK3AMX
VK7NWT
VK7QP
VK1AT
VK2FENG
VK3XV/p (Ararat Hills Regional Park VKFF-0958)
VK3NBL
VK3SQ
VK3AFW/m
VK3FOTO/m
VK2IO/p (Tuggerah State Conservation Area VKFF-1383)
VK2GQR
VK3QA
VK1WX/2
VK1WI
VK1ACA
VK3IRM
VK3GRW
VK2FJTA
VK3MRH
VK3OY
VK3UH
VK3CAH
VK3FRJD
VK7FRJG
VK2FOUZ
VK3PAT
VK2YK
VK2KYO
VK3SL
VK3ALA
VK2PKT
VK2LEE
VK2GKA/p
VK2GAZ
VK3FADM
VK3YB
VK3CBV
VK3YYR
VK3FT
Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
VK5KLV/p (Upper Spencer Gulf Marine Park VKFF-1757)
VK5KPR/p (Upper Spencer Gulf Marine Park VKFF-1757)
VK3UH
VK3IRM
VK3FRAB
VK3FQSO
VK6FSEA/p (Wellington National Park VKFF-0657)
VK3SRA
VK6FFAR/p (Wellington National Park VKFF-0657)
VK3YE/p
VK5ARC
VK7QP
VK3FLAK
VK3XCO
VK5FANA
VK7FPRN
VK3SQ
VK5KR
VK5YA
VK2FENG
VK4AAC/3
VK1MA
VK2YK
VK7FRJG
VK5MBD
VK3SIM
VK3SRC (Churchill National Park VKFF-0621)
VK3FOWL/p (Churchill National Park VKFF-0621)
VK1DI/p (Bullen Range Nature Reserve VKFF-0984 & Bullen Range VK1/ AC-033)
VK2IO/p (Tuggerah State Conservation Area VKFF-1383)
QRZ.com offer a number of different awards. Each certificate costs around the @20.00 dollar mark for QRZ subscribers and $25.00 for non subscribers. A few weeks ago I applied for the DX World Award which is issued for successfully making contact with at least one hundred different countries.
This afternoon I received my latest Global Activator certificate for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program. It was issued for activating 121 different WWFF reference areas.
Many thanks to Pit YO3JW, the WWFF Global Awards Manager.
Following on from our recent trip around South Australia, fellow WIA Director Andrew VK6AS and I have the following talks planned on current issues surrounding the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA):
Perth, WA.
2.30 p.m. Saturday 22nd October 2016
Bassendean Seniors & Community Centre, 50 Old Perth Road, Bassendean WA
Albury/Wodonga area
Monday 14th November 2016.
venue/time to be announced.
Frankston & Mornington Peninsula Amateur Radio Club (FAMPARC).
2.00 p.m. Tuesday 15th November 2016
FAMPARC clubrooms, located at the south side of the school grounds of Cornish College, Patterson Lakes/Bangholme, VIC
12.30 p.m. BBQ (sponsored by Gippsland Gate Radio Electronics Club) followed by the talk.
Eastern & Mountain Districts Radio Club (EMDRC)
8.00 p.m. Tuesday 15th November 2016
EMDRC clubrooms, located at 13a McCubbin Street, Burwood, VIC
Day three of our trip was Thursday 13th October, 2016, and this involved a 265 km drive back to Adelaide from the Riverland. Andrew and I were very pleased with the way our talks on the WIA were received in Mount Gambier and the Riverland.
Above:- Map showing our route from Barmera in the Riverland, to Adelaide, and then back to Mount Barker for me. Map courtesy of plotaroute.com
Andrew and I had planned to activate the Moorok Game Reserve, but as we drove along the Sturt Highway we saw the sign for the Loch Luna Game Reserve, and decided that Loch Luna would be our park for the morning. Loch Luna Game Reserve VKFF-1723 is situated about 225 km north east of Adelaide and about 3 km west of Barmera.
Above:- Map showing the location of the Loch Luna Game Reserve in the Riverland region of S.A. Map courtesy of Protected Planet.
Loch Luna Game Reserve if about 2,059 hectares in size and comprises a range of water bodies including narrow creeks and shallow swamps. This habitat provides an important habitat for numerous aquatic birds and native mammals. The rare White Bellied Sea Eagle can be located in the park.
The park was proclaimed on the 7th November 1985 with exception to a parcel of land known as Sugarloaf Hill within the boundaries of the game reserve which has been excluded from protection for the purpose of mining activity.
The park is a game reserve and the hunting of waterfowl is allowed in the reserve, but only on declared days.
The main entrance to the reserve is near Nappers Bridge on the western side of Lake Bonney, about 10 kilometres from Barmera. But Andrew and I headed to an area of the park called the Kaiser Strip. It is a small section of the park, over the Kingston Bridge, opposite the town of Cobdogla. We found a small cleared area alongside the Murray River, and it was here that we established the station which consisted of the Yaesu FT857d, 40 watts and the 20/40/80m linked dipole.
Above:- Aerial shot of the park showing our operating spot. Image courtesy of Protected Planet.
I started off on 40m and started calling CQ on 7.144. It was incredibly slow going. Not surprising as we had not advertised on parksnpeaks our intentions. But eventually I had a responder to my CQ calls. My first contact was with Trent VK7HRS, followed by Kevin VK3CKL, and then Peter VK3PF. Once I had my 10 contacts in the log I handed the mic to Andrew.
Directly opposite us on the other side of the river was the nest of a Whistling Kite, high atop a dead gum tree on the edge of the river. Whistling Kites are a medium sized raptor bird of prey. During our activating we were rewarded with the call of the birds which is a clear descending whistle which is often followed by a rapid series of rising notes.
I took the opportunity of photographing some other birds I observed in the park, whislt Andrew was on air. They included Crimson Rosellas, WHite Plumed Honeyeaters, Pelicans, Spoonbills, and Cormorants.
Other than 40m, Andrew put out a number of calls on 80m but we had no takers. During our activation the local ranger arrived and we had a quick chat about amateur radio. He advised that he had found amateurs in parks previously in the Riverland region, and he was aware of the parks program.
It was time to pack up and get back into Adelaide, and drop Andrew off at the airport. I will go back to this park in the near future to pick up the remaining contacts to add towards the 44 required QSOs to qualify the park.
Thanks to Mick VK3GGG, Col VK5HCF, and Peter VK3PF for spotting us on parksnpeaks.
I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
VK7HRS
VK3CKL
VK3PF
VK3GGG
VK3PMG
VK1DI
VK7CW
VK5EE
VK2CPR/m
VK3VEF
References.
Department for Environment and Heritage, 2009, ‘Parks of the Riverland’
Day two of our road trip was Wednesday 12th October 2016 and this involved a 451 km drive from Mount Gambier in the south east of South Australia to Barmera in the Riverland region. This took Andrew and I along the Riddoch Highway through the wine growing region of the Coonawarra to Narracoorte, and then along the Narracoorte Road through Western Flat to Bordertown. From there we took the Ngarkat Road which dissects the extremely large and remote Ngarkat Conservation Park.
Above:- Map showing our route on day two, from Mount Gambier to Barmera, Map courtesy of plotaroute.com
As mentioned this is quite a remote area, and as you travel through the 270,000 hectare Ngarkat Conservation Park, all you can see for miles and miles is the mallee scrub of the park. To put this into perspective, Luxembourg in Europe could fit into the park quite comfortably.
After a brief stop at the Pinnaroo bakery for some lunch we continued north on the Browns Well Highway, following the South Australian/Victorian State border just to our east. Prior to reaching our intended destination of Barmera, Andrew and I agreed we would stop off at the Peebinga Conservation Park 5CP-173 and VKFF-0830 and activate the park.
Above:- Map showing the location of the Peebinga Conservation Park, near the SA/VIC State border. Map courtesy of Protected Planet.
I had activated Peebinga twice previously. The first being in November 2013, and then again in November last year following the park being added to the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program. Sadly on that occasion I had not reached the 44 QSO threshold required to qualify the park for the global WWFF program. So I was keen to pick up a few more QSOs to get over the line.
For information and photos on my previous activations, have a look at the following links…..
Andrew and I set up near the intesection of Browns Well Highway and Kringin Road, in the north eastern corner of the park.
Above:- Aerial shot of the park showing our operating spot in the north eastern corner. Image courtesy of Protected Planet.
Peebinga Conservation Park is about 3,400 hectares in size and is located abut 240 km east of Adelaide and just 10 km west of the South Australian/Victorian State border. The park was originally used for agriculture but was eventually gazetted as a park to preserve the habitat of the rare Western Whipbird which is now believed to be locally extinct. The park has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) as it supports a large population of Malleefowl.
Vegetation within the park varies as some of it has been cleared and remains grassland. The remainder of the park is characterised by low stabalised sand dunes with opern scrub featuring Ridge-fruited and Seldner-leaved Mallee with Warty Cypress over Broom Bush. The higher areas of the park have Square-fruited, Red-fruited, Red and White Mallee. Over 150 different native flora species have been recorded in the park, with 14 of those being of conservation significance.
We set up close to the old railway line which once passed through this area of South Australia. The Peebinga railway line was opened on 28th December 1914 and ran east for a distance of 106km, from Karoonda and terminated at Peebinga, just 2 km from the Victorian State border. The line was closed on 7th December 1990. The cost of construction of the line was £207,000 plus £56,690 for rolling stock
I started off calling CQ on 7.144 and first contact in the log was Col VK5HCF, followed by Dennis VK2HHA and then Mick VK3GGG/VK3PMG. Despite no warning given of the activation, and the fact that it was a workday, we soon had a steady flow of callers from VK1, VK2, VK3, and VK5. I logged a total of 21 stations and then handed the mic over to Andrew. The novel contact of the afternoon for me was with Adrian VK2ALF who was bicycle mobile.
After Andrew had qualified the park I put out a few final 40m calls and logged a further 7 contacts. We then lowered the squid pole and removed the links and headed to 3.610 on 80m. Andrew made a total of contacts there, but conditions were quite difficult. To conclude the activation, we put out a few CQ calls on 20m, but sadly had no callers there.
The flies were certainly out in force during our activation at Peebinga.
Thanks to Mick VK3GGG, Col VK5HCF, and Peter VK3PF for spotting us on parksnpeaks.
I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
VK5HCF
VK2HHA
VK3GGG
VK3PMG
VK3BBB
VK3PAT
VK3SQ
VK3MCK
VK5EE
VK5DK
VK3PF
VK5FMID
VK3MCD
VK3VBI
VK3VM/5
VK2NEO
VK5KLV
VK5NM
VK2IO
VK2FADV
VK2ALF/m (bicycle mobile)
VK2JAZ
VK2GAZ
VK3MRH
VK3FARO
VK1AT
VK5VRB
VK5AKG
References
Department of Environment and Natural Resources, 2011, Reserves of the Billiatt District Management Plan 2011
On Tuesday morning (11th October 2016) Andrew VK6AS and I were on the road by 8.30 a.m. and on our way to Mount Gambier. We had a scheduled talk that evening at the clubrooms of the South East Radio Group (SERG). Our talk the previous night at the Blackwood Community Centre, hosted by AHARS, attracted around 100 amateurs from most of the Adelaide metropolitan clubs.
It was a 404 km trip ahead of us and we had decided to activate a park along the way and introduce Andrew to the wonderful world of park activating. However, the weather was not on our side. It was drizzling with rain.
Above:- Map showing our route for the day, down to the South East of South Australia. Map courtesy of plotaroute.com
As we headed further south east, the weather behind us appeared to be quite clear. But ahead of us, the sky was quite black, and light showers accompanied us for most of the drive. I decided to take Andrew to the Mount Monster Conservation Park 5CP-149 and VKFF-0800. Mount Monster is situated around 13 km south of the town of Keith on the Naracoorte/Keith Road (Riddoch Highway).
Above:- Map showing the location of the Mount Monster Conservation Park. Map courtesy of Protected Planet.
The park is well signposted on the Highway and is just a short drive down Mount Monster Road, which is dirt but in good condition. As we pulled in to the park, the showers eased a little much to our pleasure. We headed for the main parking area, where the track takes you to Mount Monster peak. We set up the fold up table and the deck chair, and ran my Yaesu FT-857d set at 40 watts, and a 20/40/80m linked dipole, supported on a 7m heavy duty telescopic squid pole.
Above:- Aerial shot of the Mount Monster Conservation Park showing our operating spot within the park. Image courtesy of Protected Planet.
Mount Monster Conservation Park is around 95 hectares in size and was dedicated as a Conservation Park in September 1976. The park was originally donated to the South Australian State Government by the Buddle, Ellis and Davis families. The park is noted for the Mount Monster summit, a granite outcrop with rises to a height of 93 metres above sea level. Sadly not a SOTA summit as it does not have the required prominence of 150 metres. Despite it not being the highest summit in the world, Mount Monster offers some terrific views from the trig point. We did not climb to the top on this occasion due to time constraints.
Around 176 different plant species have been recorded in the park, including 30 different types of orchids. One of those, Cradle of Incense is considered to be nationally endangered. The main vegetation located in the park is Blue gum woodland, pink gum/melaleuca woodland, peppermint box/mallee woodland, golden/prickly wattle shrublands, and broombush heath. Sheoaks, banksias and hakeas are also located in the park. The park also protects the endangered monarto mintbush which is found naturally only in two regions of South Australia: at Mount Monster, and also as the name suggests, at Monarto.
The park is home to a wide variety of native wildlife including kangaroos, wallabies, and echidnas. Birdlife here is also plentiful as we found out. Galahs, wrens, and a large number of Red rumped parrots were seen during our visit.
The former Gold Escort route passes through Mount Monster Conservation Park. This is the route that was used to bring gold from the Victorian goldfields into South Australia. Commissioner Alexander Tolmer led the first of 18 police escorts of gold between March 1852 to December 1853. A total of 528,509 ounces of gold were conveyed along this route.
I had been to the park previously, but this was prior to Mount Monster being added to the World Wide Flora & Fauna (WWFF) program, so I was keen to get my 10 contacts to qualify the park for the Australian (VKFF) chapter of the program. But it was unlikely that I would have sufficient time to get the required 44 contacts to qualify the park for the global program. I started off, calling CQ on 7.144 on 40m, and first in the log was Brian VK3BBB. This was followed by Ken VK3UH, Dennis VK2HHA and then Scott VK7NWT. All had 5/9 signals to Mount Monster.
After I had my ten contacts in the log I handed the mic over to Andrew. This was Andrew’s first ever park activation. Andrew had soon reached his required quota of 10 contacts as well, and had qualified the park. I worked a further 5 stations on 40m, before we lowered the squid pole and removed the links in the dipole for 80m.
Andrew worked a total of 8 stations on 80m in the Adelaide Hills, the Murraylands region of SA, western Victoria, and Mount Gambier. On 80m for me I spoke with John VK5BJE, Brian VK5FMID, and Adrian VK5FANA. We also put a few calls out on 14.310 on 20m but sadly had no takers there.
Fortunately the rain had held off during our activation. But time was marching on and we were keen to get to Mount Gambier, so it was away with the gear and back on the road. I had a total of 18 contacts in the log, which means another trip back to this park to pick up the remaining 26 contacts required for the WWFF global program.
Many thanks to Adrian VK5FANA for spotting us on parksnpeaks.
I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
VK3BBB
VK3UH
VK2HHA
VK7NWT
VK5BJE
VK3PF
VK3OHM
VK7LTD
VK3FT
VK7FAMP
VK3GGG
VK3PMG
VK5FANA
VK5FMID
VK5EE
I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-
John VK5BJE
Brian VK5FMID
Adrian VK5FANA
References
Department of Environment and Natural Resources, 1997, Mount Monster Management Plan.
On Monday afternoon (10th October 2016) I headed down to the Adelaide Airport and collected fellow Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) Director Andrew VK6AS. Andrew and I had scheduled 3 talks over the next 3 days across South Australia with regards to matters involving the WIA.
On Monday evening we spoke at the Blackwood Community Centre, Young Street Blackwood, to around 100 amateurs. The evening was hosted by the Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society and was attended by members from most of the Adelaide suburban clubs.
On Tuesday morning (11th October 2016) Andrew and I drove down to Mount Gambier, a journey of around 404 km. On the way down to Mount Gambier I introduced Andrew to park activating. Despite the rather inclement weather, we activated the Mount Monster Conservation Park VKFF-0800. On arrival in Mount Gambier we headed to the home of Col VK5HCF for a coffee and a chat and later that evening we joined Col VK5HCF and the President of the South East Radio Group (SERG) Col VK5DK, at one of the local hotels for dinner. We subsequently spoke with a group of 18 amateurs from VK5 and VK3 at SERG’s clubrooms in Mount Gambier.
On Wednesday morning we were on the road again, and this time headed to the Riverland region of South Australia. This was a 451 km drive. Along the way we briefly activated the Peebinga Conservation Park VKFF-0830. That evening we spoke with around 12 amateurs at the Barmera Scout Hall.
On Thursday morning (12th October 2016) Andrew and I headed back to Adelaide. Along the way we stopped off briefly at the Loch Luna Game Reserve VKFF-1723 and activated this VKFF reference for the very first time. It was then off to the Adelaide airport and a flight back to Perth for Andrew.
It was a great 3 days away, with lots of interest shown by amateurs in our discussion surrounding the WIA. A distance of around 1,100 km covered in the 3 days whilst we were away.
Above:- Map showing our trip around South Australia. Map courtesy of plotaroute.com
Last week in the mail I was very pleased to receive my plaque for the 2015 Oceania DX Contest. The Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society (AHARS) sponsors two plaques in the Oceania DX Contest:-
Top entrant from South Australia (VK5) in PHONE Single-Operator ALL Band LOW
Power category
Top entrant from South Australia (VK5) in CW Single-Operator ALL Band LOW Power
category
Many thanks to the Oceania DX Contest Committee and also thanks to the Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society.
More information on the Oceania DX Contest can be found at….
VK5PAS 