After activating the Pooginook Conservation Park, Marija and I headed to the Murray River National Park.  The park is located in the Riverland region of South Australia, and is about 220 km north east of Adelaide.  The park qualifies for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program and is VKFF-372.

Above: Map showing the location of the Murray River NP.  Courtesy of mapcarta.com

On the way we stopped off and had a look at the Lake Bonney Hotel ruins.  This is also known as Napper’s Ruins, and is located on the north side of Lake Bonney.  Napper’s Ruins once stood strong as a hotel built for former workers of Cobdogla Station.  It was originally called Lake Bonney Hotel and consisted of 11 rooms that included a well stocked bar and an eating room that could cater for 12 people.  This room was occasionally used as a dance room.  The hotel is now nothing more than ruins and includes some interpretive information signs.

The ruins are the remains of the accomodation house which was built by William Parnell in 1859 and later sold to William Napper in 1863.  Napper’s first wife is buried in Cobdogla and was the first white woman buried in the Riverland.  The graves of William Napper and his second wife are also in this cicinity.  The cottage behind the ruins is locally known as the Fisherman’s cottage.  During the 1956 flood, this building was inundated with water.

The buidlings belong to the local branch of the National Trust but unfortunately have fallen victim to vandals.  We were saddened to see all the grafitti over the Fishermans cottage.

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We continued on south down through Loveday and into the Katarapko Section of the Murray River National Park.  The park is very well signposted and easy to find.  We headed down to the water’s edge of Katarapko Creek and set up there, right alongside of the creek.

The Murray River National Park is 13,000 hectares in size and consists of three separate areas: Katarapko, Lyrup Flats, and Bulyong Island.  The largest and most popular area of the park is Katarapko.  This area features floodplains and several permanent and semi-permanent wetlands.  The area is a breeding ground for most of southern Australia’s waterfowl and other waterbirds.

Above: Map showing my operating spot.  Map courtesy of National Parks SA.

It was still quite overcast, but fortunately no rain, so ideal for park activating.  And it was a very idealic setting alongside of Katarapko Creek.  I went to my nominated operating frequency of 7.144 and called CQ and this was answered by my old mate Dave VK3VCE in Victoria, followed by Tom VK5FTRG in Millicent, and then Rex VK3OF and then Les VK5KLV in Port Augusta.  This was a good spread for the first 4 callers, all the way from the north of South Australia down to the very south east and across to Victoria.  All had 5/9 signals.

Many thanks to Arno VK5ZAR, who was my fifth contact, for placing me on parksnpeaks.  A steady flow of callers followed from VK1, VK2, VK3, VK4, and VK5.

But only five calls in, I started to receive extremely bad bleed over from somebody nearby.  I tuned down the band and found that it was one of the AM fellas on 7.125.  And boy was he wide.  I thought perhaps it might have been the sensitive front end of the Yaesu FT-857, but Andrew VK1NAM agreed.  The VK2 on 7.125 was 10kc wide.

I worked a total of 21 stations on 40m including a few QRP stations.  This included Peter VK3PF and Cleeve VK2MOR who was running just 2 watts (5/9 sent and 5/8 received).

I then QSY’d up to 20m and started calling CQ.  My first taker there was Cleeve VK2MOR who had followed me up from 40m.  This was followed by Gerard VK2IO and then the first of the DX, Swa ON5SWA and then Albert S58AL.  A very big pile up ensued with so many stations calling it made it very very difficult to pull out callsigns.  So for the first time ever, I operated split.  Because I had not operated split previously using the FT-857d, I had to quickly work out via the menu on how to do this.  I couldn’t find out how to listen up, so I listened down 5 kc.

I worked a total of 43 DX stations in Belgium, Italy, Spain, England, Denmark, Germany, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Hungary, Canary Islands, Czech Republic, France, Japan, Puerto Rico, & USA.  This included my very good mate Marnix OP7M.  And also some VK’s amongst the DX including Greg VK8GM, Adam VK2YK, John VK6NU in the Avon National Park, and Mike VK6MB.

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I then headed back to 40m briefly, on 7.144, for any last desperados who would like Murray River National Park.  First taker there was John VK2YW in Wagga, followed by Adam VK2YK, Ian VK5CZ, Adrian VK5FANA, and then Adrian VK4FBMW who was running QRP 5 watts.

Whilst I was working Adrian, I heard a very pronounced noise coming from behind me.  It sounded like a big gust of wind.  However, it was quite calm up until this point and the sun had just set and it was now almost completely dark.  As I looked over my should downstream along Katarapko Creek, I soon worked out what the noise was.  It wasn’t wind.  It was rain…and heavy rain!  So unfortunately in the middle of the QSO with Adrian I had to shut down in huge hurry and rush back to the 4WD with the FT-857D.  Sorry to cut it short so quickly Adrian.  And I am also sorry to others that I know were waiting to work me including Rob VK4FFAB.

So after 90 minutes in Murray River NP, I had a total of 74 contacts in the log.  We then headed off the the Barmera Hotel for our evening meal and a few beverages.

The following stations were worked on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3VCE
2. VK5FTRG
3. VK3OF
4. VK5KLV
5. VK5ZAR
6. VK4FBMW
7. VK1NAM
8. VK2YW
9. VK5KPR
10. VK1EM
11. VK2UH
12. VK3PF
13. VK3OHM
14. VK1MA
15. VK1ATP
16. VK3ARR
17. VK3DAC
18. VK3DBP
19. VK3HRA
20. VK2MOR
21. VK5NQP
22. VK2YW
23. VK2YK
24. VK5CZ
25. VK5FANA
26. VK4FBMW

The following stations were worked on 20m SSB:-

1. VK2MOR
2. VK2IO
3. ON5SWA
4. S58AL
5. S52KM
6. I5FLN
7. IK1GPG
8. EA4DTV
9. ON4VY
10. ON4BB
11. M0WYZ
12. OZ5HP
13. OP7M
14. VK8GM
15. M0HDX
16. DL5WW
17. DK4RM
18. RA3PCI
19. IK2TTJ
20. CT1IUA
21. VK2YK
22. HB9AFI
23. EA3MP
24. OM7OM
25. DF1YQ
26. VK6NU/p (Avon National Park)
27. ON4GI
28. HA6NF
29. IZ1JMN
30. ON5JE
31. K4MIJ
32. EA8AXT
33. OK7WA
34. EC7DZZ
35. DL2NOM
36. EA1DR
37. JA8RJE
38. F1RUK
39. VK6MB
40. OH6IUDL1EBR
41. DL5JK
42. I3FGX
43. WP3EF
44. EA2DT
45. F4HJO
46. EA1DFP
47. F4FFH
48. DD3SAT

References.

Barmera Visitor Information Centre, Historical Icons

My first park activation for the 2nd year anniversary was the Innes National Park, on Friday 27th March 2015.  Marija and I had a 315 km drive ahead of us from the Adelaide Hills down to the bottom of the Yorke Peninsula.  We initially drove through the bushfire devastated area of the Mount Lofty Ranges ‘Adelaide Hills’.  This is the area around Kersbrook which was severely affected by the bushfires back in January 2015, with 30 homes being destroyed.  We were very pleased to see a lot of regrowth with the scrub, but there is a long, long way to go.

We continued north on to the little town of Ardrossan on the western side of the Yorke Peninsula.  Ardrossan is a beautiful little town of about 1,200 people, which faces the Gulf St Vincent.  Prior to arriving there, Marija and I had arranged to meet Adrian VK5FANA at the local cafe.  Adrian is a very keen park activator and hunter.  I had spoken with Adrian many times on air, but I had never met him in person.  So we headed for the ‘Stump Jump Cafe’ in the main street of Ardrossan.

After having a coffee and a morning hotdog, and a chat with Adrian, we had a quick look around Ardrossan.  I mentioned the ‘Stump Jump Cafe’ above.  I hear you saying now, ‘what a strange name for a cafe’.  Well it was named after the stump jump plough.  Ardrossan was the home of Clarence Smith’s plough factory where he manufactured the stump jump plough between 1880 to 1935,  This South Australian invention was vital in opening mallee country throughout Australia to the plough.  Ploughing was difficult using a single furrow plough.  These were satisfactory where land had been adequately cleared, but were mallee roots and rocks were found, the ploughs would jump off course.  In 1876, Richard Bowyer Smith was ploughing on his farm when one of the bolts on the plough broke.  He discovered that it worked much better as it rode over the stumps.  This accident produced the concept of the stump jump plough.  If you would like some more information on this very unique South Australian invention, have a look at…..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stump-jump_plough

After leaving the town of Ardrossan, we took the quick detour up to the dolomite mine lookout where we enjoyed some great views of Ardrossan and along the coastline.  We then hit the road again and continued south down the Yorke Peninsula.

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Our next stop was the little inland town of Minlaton which is another very interesting little town on the Yorke Peninsula.  Minlaton has a population of about 800 people and is known as the “Barley capital of the world”.  Minlaton was the home town of Harry Butler, a World War flying ace, who also flew an air mail run from Adelaide across Gult St Vincent to Minlaton back in 1919.  His mail run was the first over-water flight in the Southern Hemisphere.  Butler’s Bristol M1C monoplane has been restored and is on display in the town.  There is also a wildlife park here which is worth a look, which is exactly what we did, whilst we had morning tea.  We also called in to the Minlaton Tourist Information Centre which is located in the old Harvest Corner building, which was originally a fuel and fodder store, and a saddlery.  The building later became the district’s main shoe store, and in the 1930’s a cafe and delicatessen.

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We then headed down to Yorketown, a small town of about 685 people, again with a very interesting history.  Yorketown was built on the junction of five roads, and this rather unique junction remains today.  Many of the original buildings exist, including the Yorke Hotel built in 1876, and the Melville Hotel built in 1872.  Here is how the intersection looks today…..

And here is how the intersection looked at the turn of the century…..

Image courtesy of the State Library South Australia.

After leaving Yorketown, we continued south through the town of Warooka and then on to Marion Bay, which is the gateway to the Innes National Park.  Marion Bay is set at the foot of the Yorke Peninsula and has some excellent surf and fishing beaches.  It is a very popular tourist destination and its population swells during the holiday periods.

Above:- the lcoation of Innes National Park.  Image courtesy of mapcarta.com

We drove into the park and after a short photo stop, we headed for the Innes National Park Tourist Centre, where we needed to collect our accomodation key.  Marija and I had visited Innes back in 2013 for the 6 month anniversary of the parks award, and we had fond memories of the park and the visitor centre which had quite a bit to see.  However we were saddened to see that the Visitor Centre was closed ‘Until Further Notice’.  Now, I normally do not like getting political.  But I am going to here.  Innes National Park is one of the most popular park in South Australia, with tens of thousands of visitors each year.  And the Visitor Centre would not have been cheap to construct.  And here it is closed until further notice.  My own personal experience with DEWNR is that they are sadly lacking in funds.  All I can say is that the South Australian State Government should hang their head in shame.

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And further, to enter the park, you are no longer blessed with a friendly ‘ranger’ to provide you with a permit and advice on where to go and what to see.  Now you book on line prior to entry to the park.  Clearly a cost cutting exercise.  Recently whilst up at the Mount Remarkable National Park, we were viewing an information board at the entrance to the park, when a Victorian couple drove in and asked us where they were to pay.  We told them about the on-line booking system, and because there was no internet coverage, they drove off.  Perhaps our friends in Parliament are trying to disuade visitors to our parks?  See the interesting story below about visitors to Innes.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/new-park-rules-deter-visitors-to-innes-national-park/story-e6frea6u-1226550718598

Enough of the negative comments.  As we drove towards Inneston, there were some spectacular photo opportunities.  Initially we took a detour to Stenhouse Bay to view the historic jetty and the beautiful blue waters of the Bay.  We then headed to the Cape Spencer lighthouse, and also enjoyed the amazing views of Chinamans Hat Island, Cable Bay, Althorpe Islands, and across the water to Kangaroo Island.

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After settling in at the old Post Office, Marija helped me set up my radio gear.  Initially I set up my station at the back of the Post Office as it was a nice sheltered and enclosed area, but after turning on the radio I was saddened to hear that the noise floor was S8.  It was pretty much impossible to operate, so down came the antenna and I moved location, amongst the scrub, about 30 metres from our accommodation, close to some of the Inneston ruins.  Unfortunately the noise level was not much better.  Nearby was an ETSA power line running through the park, to supply power to the accomodation.  I suspect this is where the noise was coming from.

I called CQ on 7.088 and this was answered by park stalwart, Peter VK3TKK who was mobile (5/9 both ways).  This was followed by Doug VK2FMIA who was portable in the Somerton National Park, VKFF-607, in New South Wales (also 5/9 both ways).  So despite the high noise I was experiencing, the band seemed to be in very good condition.

A few calls later I was called by my first VK5 park for the weekend, Chris VK4FR/5 who was in the Dudley Conservation Park, VKFF-809, on Kangaroo Island OC-139.  Chris had a great 5/9 signal.  Chris was not to be my last park to park contact for this activation.  About 15 QSO’s later I was called by Greg VK5ZGY who was portable in the Mount Boothy Conservation Park in the Mallee region of South Australia.  Greg also had a nice 5/9 signal.

About a dozen contacts later I was called by Glenn VK6KY/5 who was mobile at Moonta at the top of the Yorke Peninsula.  I found out that Greg was travelling with a group of other VK6 amateurs and their wives, and in fact they had been at Inneston earlier in the day and had been standing right outside the old Post Office, reading the information board.  It is a small world.

Soon after I took a break for dinner, and when I returned my second caller was Steve VK5RU.  I was quite surprised when Steve told me that many years earlier he had lived at Inneston.  What is the chance of that?  A VK6 who had visited this remote location earlier in the day, and now an amateur who had actually lived at Inneston.  It was starting to get dark after quite a beautful sunset, and the Tamar wallabies were out in force.  Tamar wallabies were classed as extinct in the Australian wild until recently, and have now been reintroduced to Innes National Park.

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I went on to work a dozen or so VK3, VK5 & VK7 stations, and I was then called by Owen ZL2OPB in New Plymouth on the South Island of New Zealand (5/9 both ways).

At about 0935 UTC (8.05 p.m.) I headed off to 7.130 for the 7130 DX Net, run by Roy VK7ROY.  I worked a total of 15 stations on the Net including William FO5JV in French Polynesia, John ZL2BH in Blenheim, and Brian ZL2ASH in Wellington.

Following the net, I headed to 7.135 and called CQ and this was answered by Mike VK3AUR, followed by Dennis VK5LDM with a huge signal.  I worked a further 3 stations, until I decided it was time to head inside and enjoy a bottle of red.

I had a total of 69 contacts on 40m SSB which I was very pleased with.

The following stations were worked on 40m SSB:-

1.  VK3TKK/m
2. VK2FMIA/p (Somerton National Park)
3. VK3PF
4. VK5EE
5. VK5GJ
6. VK5FANA
7. VK5KLV
8. VK4FR/5 (Dudley Conservation Park)
9. VK4CPS
10. VK5ND
11. VK7NWT
12. VK5FMID
13. VK5FLEX
14. VK3FQSO
15. VK2YK
16. VK5KPR
17. VK3OHM
18. VK5NAQ
19. VK2LEE
20. VK3FLCS
21. VK5BMC
22. VK3DAC
23. VK3FMOL
24. VK5ZGY/p (Mount Boothby Conservation Park)
25. VK1DI
26. VK3PMG
27. VK5ZAR
28. VK3VIN
29. VK5CZ
30. VK5NPP
31. VK5HOS
32. VK5GW
33. VK3FSPG
34. VK5FTRG/m
35. VK3ANL
36. VK6KY/5
37. VK5YX
38. VK5WG
39. VK5FADS
40. VK7VAZ
41. VK5RU
42. VK5FDEC
43. VK3JP
44. VK5JK
45. ZL2OPB
46. VK4NAI/p
47. VK5ZRY/m
48. VK3HK/5
49. VK3KHZ
50. VK5PET
51. VK5TR
52. VK2HFS
53. VK3ADD
54. VK7XX
55. FO5JV
56. ZL2BH
57. VK6LCK
58. VK2PKT
59. VK3FMHY
60. ZL2ASH
61. VK7VEK
62. VK5FAKV
63. VK1AT/3
64. VK5FMID
65. VK3AUR
66. VK5LDM
67. VK7FGGT
68. VK5WG
69. VK5SFA

References.

Wikipedia, 2015, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardrossan,_South_Australia&gt;, viewed 7th April 2015

Wikipedia, 2015, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minlaton,_South_Australia&gt;, viewed 7th April 2015

Last night (Friday 27th February 2015) was the 4th Summer activation event for the VK5 National and Conservation Parks Award.  So I headed out to the Onkaparinga River National Park, which qualifies for both the VK5 Parks Award and also the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.  The park is VKFF-402 in the WWFF program.

Above: Map showing the location of Onkaparinga River National Park.  Map courtesy of mapcarta.com

I set up near Gate 3 and the Bakers Gully track.  There is a good carpark here where you can park off Chapel Hill Road.  Just a short walk of 20 off metres is a wooden table and benches, which makes a great ‘shack’.  The scrub here is a bit thick, but there is enough room to string out a dipole which is exactly what I did.  For this activation I ran the Yaesu FT-857d, 40 watts and the 40m/20m linked dipole, supported on a 7 metre telescopic squid pole.  It was quite a warm afternoon, about 28 deg C, so the shade provided by the gum trees was very welcome.

Above: Map showing my operating spot.  Map courtesy of mapcarta.com

Prior to calling CQ I had a look around the 40m band hoping that I would find some of the other park activators.  And it wasn’t long before I did.  My first contact was with John VK5BJE who was operating portable from the Scott Creek Conservation Park on 7.100.  John had a lovely strong 59 signal.  I then found Tom VK5EE in the Gower Conservation Park in the South East on 7.088.  Tom was also 59 and was conducting a joint activation with Col VK5HCF and new park activator, Alan VK5FAJS.  It was great to get Alan in the log.  Welcome to the world of park activating Alan.

My next contact was with another new park activator, Adrian VK5FANA, who was in the Clinton Conservation Park on the Yorke Peninsula.  Adrian was operating from near Port Arthur, and had a very nice 5/9 plus signal to Onkaparinga River.  This was a great start to the activation, five park to park contacts.

I then headed up to my nominated operating frequency of 7.144, but found that there was a lot of activity on either side, so I settled for 7.142 and started calling CQ.  In fact there were 2 G stations on 7.138 having a chat amongst themselves.  They were not very strong, but very readable.  But I didn’t call them as I wasn’t confident that they would hear me.  My CQ call was answered by Marc VK3OHM who has recently become an avid park hunter, followed by another park to park contact, this time with Chris VK4FR/5 who was portable in the Morialta Conservation Park.  Although Chris was running QRP, his signal was still 59 to me.  I went on to work a number of stations in VK3 & VK5, including Mick VK3PMG who has recently upgraded his call (formerly VK3FAFK).  Well done Mick.

When things slowed down I took the opportunity of QSYing and having a look around the band.  I found Richard VK5ZRY on 7.110 calling CQ from the Ramsay Way Conservation Park on the Yorke Peninsula.  I wasn’t expecting Richard to be out and about so this contact was a nice surprise.  I then worked Les VK5KLV who was portable in the Winninowie Conservation Park, south of Port Augusta.

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I then lowered the squid pole and removed the links in the dipole, so I could try my luck on 20m.  The WWFF program is very popular in Europe, so I was hoping to work some of the European park hunters.  I headed to my nominated operating frequency of 14.244, however there was activity either side including a G station calling CQ on 14.245.  So I headed up to 14.250 and started calling CQ.  But unfortunately the same G station had followed me up the band and started calling CQ on 14.251.5, just above me.  Strike two!

I then moved up to 14.267 and started calling CQ again and this was answered by David VK5ADO with a very loud signal.  This was followed by a small group of European park hunters including F5TJC, DJ8QP, I5FLN, IZ2IHO, F1BLL, EA3MP, F2YT, DK0EE, EA1DFP, HA6OB, S52KM, ON4BB, and DK4RM.  Conditions were challenging to say the least.  Many thanks to my old mate Larry VK5LY for spotting me on the DX Cluster.  This certainly alerted the European stations to my presence in the park.  I also managed a few other VK contacts which included Andrew VK2AC, John VK5BJE in the Scott Creek Conservation Park, and my mate Greg VK8GM in Alice Springs.

Prior to heading back to 40m, I had a quick listen around the 20m band.  I’m very pleased I did, because I managed to work VK9LC on 14.199 on Lord Howe Island.  But the cream on the cake was a contact with Jerry PH9HB who was aeronautical mobile above the Canary Islands.  Jerry was a good 5/7 and he gave me a 4/4 with my 40 watts.  I have worked Jerry before whilst he has been in the air, but those contacts have been from home.  So this was a very exciting contact.

I then headed back to 40m, where I spoke with Geoff VK5HEL on 7.093, who was portable in the Ferries McDonald Conservation Park.  Geoff had a beautiful 59 signal from the Murray Mallee.  I then QSYd to 7.144 and called CQ and this was answered by Perrin Vk3XPT who was portable in the Alpine National Park, running QRP 5 watts from his Yaesu FT-817 and an end fed 1/2 wave antenna.  Perrin was camping near Mount Buller and had a nice 59 signal.

I worked a further 11 stations in VK2, VK4 & VK5.  This included Tom VK4FAJB at Hervey Bay, who only received his licence in the mail the day prior.  Welcome to amateur radio Tom.

The drizzly rain had just started at this time, and it would continue on and off for the rest of the activation.  There were about five occasions when I had to drive underneath the bothy bag.

Again when things slowed down a little I had a look around the band.  I found Chris VK5FR/5 having a chat with Adrian VK5FANA who was portable in his second park, the Wills Creek Conservation Park.  After having a quick chat with Chris, Adrian came up asking Chris if he could quickly work me, to which Chris obliged.  It was great to get Adrian in the log from his second ever park activation.

I then spoke with Peter VK3YE who was pedestrian mobile at Port Phillip Bay.  Peter regularly goes pedestrian mobile and it never ceases to amaze me with the signal he puts out.  This evening was no exception, 5/8.

I then found Phil ZL2RO calling CQ on 7.167 from Hastings in New Zealand.  Phil had a very good 5/9 plus signal.

Following my contact with Phil, it was 8.00 p.m. local time (0930 UTC) so I headed to 7.130 for the 7130 DX Net.  On the net I had a total of 17 contacts including Bill W1OW in Massachusetts in the USA (5/7 sent & 5/5 received), William FO5JV in French Polynesia (5/8 sent and 5/5 received), Brian ZL2ASH in Wellington new Zealand (5/9 both ways) and Phil (VK2MCB) operating special event station VI110ROTARY for the 110th anniversary of ROTARY.  I also spoke with Andy VK4TH/8 who was sitting back enjoying the sunset in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in the Northern Territory.

Above: underneath the bothy bag.

Just prior to the closure of the net, I QSYd up to 7.135 and started calling CQ.  This was answered by Steve VK5SFA.  I went on to work a further 11 stations on this frequency, in VK2, VK3, VK4, VK6, & VK7.  All with excellent signals.

I then decided to see what propagation was like on 20m, specifically the Southern Cross DX Net.  Once lowering the squid pole again, removing the links, and putting the squid back into place, I tuned to 14.338.5 and heard the Net Control, Jack W1FDY in Virignia, with a good strong 5/8 signal.  Surprisingly Jack was able to hear me quite well.  He gave me a 5/6 signal report.  I went on to work a further 5 stations on the net: Reg VK6BQQ, Peter VK3CFA, Peter KD2BMX in new York, Bill W1OW in Massachusetts, and Al K4AWM in Virginia.

Unfortunately I had to go QRT in a hurry, as the rain really started to come down heavy.

This was a very enjoyable activation, with a total of 87 contacts in the log.  This included 13 S.A. park to park contacts, two Victorian National Parks and one Northern Territory National Park.  And also some interesting DX contacts including the contact with Jerry PH9HB aeronautical mobile.

The following stations were worked on 40m SSB:-

1. John VK5BJE/p (Scott Creek Conservation Park)
2. Tom VK5EE/p (Gower Conservation Park)
3. Col VK5HCF/p (Gower Conservation Park)
4. Alan VK5FAJS/p (Gower Conservation Park)
5. Adrian VK5FANA/p (Clinton Conservation Park)
6. Marc VK3OHM
7. Chris VK4FR/5 (Morialta Conservation Park)
8. Keith VK5FEKH
9. Peter VK3TKK/m
10. Fred VK3DAC
11. Phil VK3BHR
12. Lynton VK5FLKJ
13. Peter VK3PF
14. Amanda VK3FQSO
15. Peter VK5KPR
16. Mick VK3PMG
17. Richard VK5ZRY/p (Ramsay Way Conservation Park)
18. Les VK5KLV/p (Winninowie Conservation Park)
19. Geoff Vk5HEL/p (Ferries McDonald Conservation Park)
20. Perrin VK3XPT/p (Alpine National Park)
21. Andrew VK2UH
22. Rob VK4FFAB
23. Tom VK4FAJB
24. Wayne VK4MAD
25. David VK5NQP
26. Bob VK5FPAC
27. Rod VK5VRB
28. Theo VK5MTM
29. Allen VK3HRA
30. Jim VK1AT/3
31. Greg VK5GJ (QRP)
32. Adrian VK5FANA/p (Wills Creek Conservation Park)
33. Peter VK3YE (pedestrian mobile)
34. Phil ZL2RO
35. Bill W1OW
36. Chris VK2UW
37. Peter VK4AAV
38. Andy VK4TH/8 (Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park)
39. John VK2FALL
40. Mal VK5MJ
41. William FO5JV
42. Brian ZL2ASH
43. Phil VI110ROTARY
44. Gavin VK3MLU
45. Craig VK6VCK
46. Doug VK2FMIA
47. Geoff VK5HEL/p (Monarto Conservation Park)
48. Rick VK2HFP
49. Keith VK2PKT
50. VK6FABC (QRP)
51. Greg VK8GM
52. Steve VK5SFA
53. Gavin VK3MLU
54. Peter VK3TKK/m
55. Derric VK6PI
56. Wayne VK2PDW
57. Roger VK5NWE
58. Alan VK4NAI/p
59. Adam VK7VAZ
60. Ian VK3VIN
61. Paul VK7CC
62. Oscar VK4BOV
63. Glen VK4FSCC

The following stations were worked on 20m SSB:-

1. David VK5ADO
2. F5TJC
3. DJ8QP
4. Luciano I5FLN
5. IZ2IHO
6. F1BLL
7. EA3MP
8. F2YT
9. DK0EE
10. EA1DFP
11. HA6OB
12. S52KM
13. ON4BB
14. VK2AC
15. DK4RM
16. VK5BJE/p (Scott Creek Conservation Park)
17. Greg VK8GM
18. VK9LC
19. Jerry PH9HB (aeronautical mobile)
20. Jack W1FDY
21. Reg VK6BQQ
22. Peter VK3CFA
23. Peter KD2BMX
24. Bill W1OW
25. Al K4AWM

After leaving the Winninowie Conservation Park, I travelled south along the Augusta Highway and then travelled east along the Mambray Creek into the Mount Remarkable National Park.  The park is located about 60 km south of Port Augusta, and about 260 km north of Adelaide, in the southern Flinders Ranges.

I have activated this 16,000 hectare park previously, and have climbed the Mount Remarkable summit, but I had never activated the park at the Mambray Creek section.  The park entry fee was paid online, and I entered the Mambray Creek section and found a quiet parking spot on the northern side of road, amongst the scrub.

Prior to activating I walked over to the old Baroota Homestead ruins.  This area was once part of the might ‘Baroota Run’ which was established in 1851, and flourished for 12 years.  South Australia then suffered devastating droughts for a number of years.  Following the break in the drought, flooding rains and extreme cold followed.  This resulted in the death of thousands of sheep, and with them, the owners livelihoods.

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I ran the Yaesu FT-857d for this activation, with 40 watts output and the 40m/20m linked dipole.  I had the entire campround  area all to myself.  It was a beautiful mild night, with an almost full moon.  And no mosquitos.

I started off on 20m first and I was hoping to work some European DX and give the Europeans the opportunity of working a new park for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.  But I was to be sadly disapointed.  I called and called CQ  on 14.250 with no takers, until finally, Jim VK2QA responded (5/9 both ways).  But I was not spotted and called CQ numerous times after this with no takers.  So rather dejected, I tuned across the band and spoke with Franc F5PAU (5/8 sent and 5/5 received).  I then found Paul VK2HTM calling CQ with a booming signal from Sydney.  Paul also gave me a 5/9 signal report in return.  It was nearly 0900 UTC (7.30 p.m. SA local time), so I had probably left my run for 20m a little too late.

So it was off to 40m that I headed.  And my first contact there on 7.142 was with the same station I had first made contact with on 20m, Jim VK2QA in Lane Cove.   I worked a further 14 stations in VK2, VK3, VK4, & VK5, until a very strong CW signal came up on frequency calling me.  Wow, was this going to put me to the test.  It was Jack, VK5CJC.  I managed to stumble my way through and exchanged signal reports with Jack.  This was the first time I had ever had a CW-SSB contact whilst in a park.

Following my contact with Jack, I worked a further 3 stations on 7.142 until callers dried up.  I tuned across the 40m band and heard WWFF park activator and hunter, Rob VK4FFAB in QSO with Shaun VK4NSP and Glen VK2FQSL/p, so I called in to say hello.  After working Rob, Shaun, and Glen, I went up to 7.167 and called CQ.  The first responder was regular park hunter, Ron VK3JP with his usual very strong signal.  About 8 QSO’s later, after being placed on the DX Cluster by John, VK5NJ, I was called by Bill W1OW in Massachusetts in the USA.  Bill and I had a successful contact (5/7 sent and 5/5 received).  And then to my surprise, ten QSO’s later I was called byTom K2WCT in New Jersey in the USA (5/8 sent and 5/3 received).

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I went on to work a number of other VK’s including my good mate Greg VK8GM in Alice Springs, and a handful of VK6 stations including my buddy Ted VK6NTE with his normal very strong signal.  My last contact on 40m was with Damien VK2XDL.

I had a quick listen on 20m for Jack W1FDY on the Southern Cross DX Net, but all I heard were some of the local VK’s talking about how the band had not yet opened to the States.  So I decided to ‘pull stumps’ and head back to Crystal Brook.  I had a total of 50 contacts in the log, which I was very happy with.  Although I was a little disapointed that I did not work the expected DX on the 20m band.

The following stations were worked on 20m SSB:-

1. Jim VK2QA
2. Franc F5PAU
3. Paul VK2HTM

The following stations were worked on 40m SSB:-

1. Jim VK2QA
2. David VK5KC
3. Brian VK5FMID
4. Roger VK4YB
5. Jim VK5JW
6. John VK3HJD
7. Doug VK2FMIA
8. Ian VK5CZ
9. Tom VK5EE
10. Peter VK3ZPF
11. John VK5BJE
12. Richard VK5ZRY
13. Nev VK5WG
14. Chris VK2SR
15. Peter VK3TKK
16. Trevor VK5ATQ
17. Arthur VK5AAR
18. Peter Vk5FLEX
19. Sg\haun VK4NSP
20. Rob VK4FFAB
21. Glen VK2FQSL/p
22. Ron VK3JP
23. Colin VK3ZZS/m
24. Tom VK5FTRG/m
25. Gavin VK3MLU
26. Tony VK2RI
27. Ray VK3NBL
28. Chris VK5FCHM
29. John VK5NJ
30. Bill W1OW
31. Ian VK3VIN
32. James VK1DR
33. Steven VK7PSJ
34. Tony VK3AAT
35. Mark VK3YYR
36. Tony VK5TT
37. Geoff VK5HEL
38. John VK5FTCT
39. John VK5FABC/m
40. Tom K2WCT
41. Nill VK5MBD
42. Tom VK5FTRG
43. Doug VK2FMIA
44. Phil VK5NPP
45. Greg VK8GM
46. Owen VK5HOS
47. Larry VK6NOL
48. Charles Vk5FBAC
49. Mick VK4GMH
50. Adrian VK5FANA/qrp
51. David VK5ADO
52. Peter VK6DC
53. Doug VK3YQS
54. Ted VK6NTE
55. Ian VK3VIG/5
56. Damien VK2XDL

The following station was worked on 40m CW:-

1. Jack, VK5CJC

Yesterday (Saturday 20th December, 2014) I activated the Belair National Park (NP), VKFF-022, in the Mount Lofty Ranges ‘Adelaide Hills’.  I had already activated Belair NP earlier in the year, so there were no VK5 Park Award points up for grabs.  And I had already passed the 44 QSO threshold for Belair NP in the World Wide Flora and Fauna (WWFF) program.  But my real motivation, was to try out my new radio.  My beautiful wife Marija (and yes I am constantly reminded I am ‘boxing above my weight’) and my lovely daughter Olivia, purchased a Yaesu FT-857d for me, and gave it to me as an early Christmas present and early 50th birthday present.  I turn 50 on the 5th January.  So it was off to Belair for me, just a 15 minute drive to the west from home.

I set up just inside Gate 1 off Sheaok Road, at Crafers.  This is on the northern side of the park.  This gate was locked, however there is no restriction to access to the park at this point.  There is a walking track here, Wilyawa Track.  But to gain access to it, you need to either jump the fence, which has barbed wire, or jump the padlocked gate.  Why DEWNR do not have a pedestrian access point here I do not know?  Anyway, I got all the gear from the 4WD and then jumped the fence and walked a short distance down the track, where I set up my station, under the shade of some gum trees, as it was a warm 30 deg C day.

Map courtesy of mapcarta.com

I started off on my nominated frequency of 7.095.  I had posted on the VK5 Parks Yahoo group and the WWFF Australia Yahoo group that I would be on air at 0600 UTC on 7.095.  I was about 15 minutes late, but still did not have to call CQ.  I asked if the frequency was in use and this was responded to by Les VK5KLV at Port Augusta with a beautiful 5/9 signal.  Les gave me a 5/9 in return, and it seemed the band was in very good shape.  It was certainly very quiet.  There was no man made noise on the band due to the remote location of the park, and the QRN (static crashes) that have been present over the past few weeks were noticably absent.  My second caller of the day was Adam VK2YK who was a good 5/8.  Adam was struggling with me a little bit due to QSB, but gave me a 5/4 signal report.  This was followed by Mal VK5MJ in The Riverland in South Australia, who was 5/9 plus.  David VK5KC then called me, using just 1 watt, and was a very nice 5/8 signal.  I had already caught up with David earlier in the day for a coffee.

I went on to work a further 20 stations in VK1, VK3, and VK5.  A few of those stations were operating QRP.  The first QRP caller was Peter VK3TKK who was running just 5 watts.  Peter’s signal was only signal strength 3, but due to the low noise floor, I was able to receive him perfectly.  This was followed by Andrew VK1NAM mobile in VK3, in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne.  Andrew was running just 2.5 watts from his FT-817 in the car, but nether less had a great 5/7 signal.  Tom VK5FTRG then called in from the South East of South Australia, running just 5 watts, with a nice 5/9 signal.  My final QRP caller was regular QRP operator, Ian VK5IS, again running 5 watts.  Ian had a beautiful 5/9 signal coming in from the Mid North of South Australia.

I also worked a few mobile stations.  Other than Andrew mentioned above, I also spoke with Greg VK5ZGY who was mobile in the South East of South Australia, with a good strong 5/7 signal.  Greg had co pilot and wife, Gabbie, alongside of him.  I then spoke with Ian VK6PXF who was mobile in VK5 at Lonsdale, south of Adelaide.  Ian has started activating National Parks, and has sent me quite a few of his logs for upload to the WWFF Log Search facility.  And lastly I was called by Robin VK5TN who was mobile at Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills.

But to make my day, I was called by Richard VK5ZRY, who had decided to head out to the Ramsay Way Conservation Park.  The park is/was located on Richard’s property on the Yorke Peninsula.  Richard was trying out his new Yaesu FT-817 and had a magnificent 5/9 signal coming across the Gulf St Vincent to Belair.

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I left the frequency to Richard, and lowered the squid pole and removed the links in the dipole, so I could operate on 20m.  However, I was disapointed when I tuned across 20m, to hear only very weak signals coming in from Europe.  I found that my nominated frequency of 14.244 was clear, so I put out about 8 CQ calls but had no takers.  Rather disapointed, I tuned across the 20m band and could hear three stations coming in from Spain.  However, their signals were well down compared to normal conditions.  I also heard Jason ZL3JAS, working long path into Europe.  However, all the European stations he was making contact with, were very weak to me.

So I headed back to 40m.  Prior to calling CQ again, I tuned across the 40m band and I could hear quite a few Europeans & stations from the United Kingdom coming through, including Javier, EA7GAK on 7.178 who was working into the USA.  I gave Javier a few calls, but sadly he could not hear me.  I also heard W1AW/3 on 7.161 working into Europe.  I also called him, but again my 40 watts just wasn’t making the grade.   So I went back to 7.095 and called CQ again, and this was responded to by Nic VK5ZAT who was portable at Carrackalinga on the Fleurieu Peninsula.  I had worked Nic a little earlier, prior to QSYing to 20m.  He had been having problems with a high VSWR on his dipole.  And this time, his signal had dropped down a good 2 S points.  I was then called by Mick VK3FAFK in Stawell in western Victoria, with a beautiful 5/9 signal.  And this was followed by Andrew VK5UR mobile in VK2, about 100 km south of Parkes.  I had a lengthy chat with Andrew and his signal always remained around the S9.  Andrew was running an IC7100 and a roof mounted whip antenna.  My last contact on 40m was with Adam VK2YK who had called in again, as conditions had improved.  I was now 5/9 with Adam, and he was 5/9 plus.  I worked a further 13 stations from VK2, VK3, VK4, & VK5.

My curiosity had got the better of me, so I again lowered the squid pole and removed the links in the dipole, and again tuned to 20m.  I was hoping that the band had improved.  But it was getting a little late, approaching 8.00 p.m.  Again, I could hear some weak Europeans, who were certainly not strong enough for me to try to make contact with.  I managed just 1 DX contact and that was with Michio, 7L4LKK, who was a strong 5/9 to Belair.

So after a number of hours in the park, I had a total of 41 contacts in the log.

The following stations were worked:-

1.  Les VK5KLV
2. Adam VK2YK
3. Mal VK5MJ
4. David VK5KC/qrp
5. David VK5HYZ
6. Peter VK3TKK/qrp
7. Nev VK5WG
8. Ian VK5KKT
9. Matt VK1MA
10. Andrew VK1NAM mobile VK3/qrp
11. Tom VK5FTRG/qrp
12. Greg VK5ZGY/m
13. Ian VK6PXF mobile VK5
14.  Amanda VK3FQSO
15. Marshall VK3MRG
16. Ian VK5IS/qrp
17. Stuart VK5STU
18. Peter VK5KPR
19. Keith VK5FEKH
20. Steve VK3MEG
21. Nic VK5ZAT/p
22. Tom VK5EE
23. Richard VK5ZRY/p (park to park contact)
24. Robin VKTN/p
25. Nic VK5ZRY/p
26. Mick VK3FAFK
27. Andrew VK5UR mobile VK2
28. Gary VK4MDZ
29. Ian VK3VIN
30. Rob VK4FFAB
31. Bruce VK3FBNG
32. Darren VK2NNN
33. Kevin VK2VKB
34. Peter VK3ZPF
35. Andrew VK2UH
36. Jim VK5JW
37. Tony VK3AN
38. Nick VK3ANL/qrp
39. Tom VK5FTRG
40. Adam VK2YK
41. Michio 7L4LKK