With the recent release of the Sapphire VKFF Hunter certificate and the Honour Roll certificates, and the OCCFF Hunter certificate, my email system has been running hot, sending out certificates all around Australia and the world.
Below are the certificates I’ve recently qualified for myself for the World Wide Flora Fauna program (VKFF National program).
Enjoying my morning coffee here on Saturday morning (26th September 2015) at the moment, and checking my emails. I was pleasantly surprised to see my latest certificate sitting in the In Box for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.
It is for activating a minimum of 44 different WWFF reference areas.
Many thanks to Pit YO3JW, the Awards Manager.
I decided today to have a look at what countries I was working in the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program. So I headed to WWFF Log Search to find the answer.
Leading from the front is Australia obviously, with a total of 249 different VKFF references. Next up was Belgium, with 44 ONFF references. What an appropriate number. Most of these are due to the tireless efforts of Danny OT4V and Swa ON5SWA, who always take the time out to listen for outside of Europe.
At number three is Poland, with 25 different SPFF references in my log. Poland seems to have a strong SPFF following, and I have found that the Polish operators also listen for outside of Europe. This was closely followed by Italy.
Total of 426 different WWFF reference areas in my log from 24 different countries…….
This amazing hobby of amateur radio never ceases to amaze me.
Yesterday afternoon (Wednesday 23rd September 2015) I had a nice contact on 20m with Jerry PH9HB, who was aeornautical mobile over Europe. I have spoken with Jerry quite a few times on 20m, whilst he has been behind the controls of a commercial airliner over Europe.
This time, Jerry was flying a Boeing 737-8k2, registered PH-HSJ, for Transavia, from Eindhoven Airport in the Netherlands, to Faro Airport in southern Portugal.
During our QSO I jumped on to flightradar24, and was able to track Jerry’s progress in the skies over Europe..
As you can see from the image below, there was certainly a lot of air traffic over Europe at the time.
And below you can see Jerry’s flight just crossing over from Spain into Portugal during our QSO. Jerry was at an altitude of 33,000 feet and was travelling at 454 knots which equates to about 841 km per hour.
And if you are curious to see how many aircraft were in the sky all around the world, at the time of our QSO, then have a look at the image below. Amazing!
At the conclusion of our QSO, I continued to listen to Jerry working other European amateurs and followed his progress into Faro airport. You can see an image below of Jerry’s aircraft on the tarmac at the Faro Airport in Portugal.
I received my latest certificate this morning for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program. It is for working 396 different WWFF references around the world.
Many thanks to Pit YO3JW, the Awards Manager.
A mate of mine who is an amateur, and is now living in Thailand, paid a visit to an electronics shop in South Thailand the other day, and found something in the shop front window (see below)…..
Yesterday (Saturday 19th September 2015) my wife Marija and I went for a drive down the South Eastern Freeway to the small but interesting Mowantjie Willauwar Conservation Park, VKFF-919. This would be my third visit to the park. The first being in 2014, for an activation as part of the VK5 National and Conservation Parks Award, and then just over a week ago I made an attempt to get 44 contacts as part of the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program, but fell short at 14 (the bands were terrible). So I decided to head back to pick up another 30 QSOs to qualify the park.
For more information on the activation about a week earlier, and some interesting information regarding the park, please see my previous post at…..
https://vk5pas.org/2015/09/10/mowantjie-willauwar-conservation-park-vkff-919/
On the way to the park I worked both Mick VK3PMG and Tony VK3VTH, who were out portable in Victorian parks as part of WWFF. I had worked Mick and Tony from home, but as they had such terrific signals into my mobile, I decided to give them a shout.
After arriving at the park, we set up in my normal operating spot, which is about 600 metres in from the gate on the northern side of Placid Estates Road. For this activation I ran the Yaesu FT-857d, and my 40m/20m linked dipole supported on a 7 metre squid pole.
It was a beautiful sunny afternoon. Local time was 2.20 p.m. and the temperature was about 22 degrees C. I had been eaten alive by sand flies and mosquitoes during my previous activation here at Mowantjie Willauwar, but this time I had come prepared with a can of ‘Off’.
Prior to calling CQ I had a quick look around the 40m band and found Norm VK5GI and Greg VK5GY on 7.100, operating out of the Bullock Hill Conservation Park on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Norm and Greg were running QRP, just 4 watts, and had a nice signal coming in to the Murray Mallee. After working Norm and Greg I found Mick VK3PMG calling CQ on 7.110 in Dergholm State Park, VKFF-756 with a beautiful 5/9 + signal. I then tuned up to 7.142 and worked Tony VK3VTH operating portable from the Mount Granya State Park, VKFF-767, again with a 5/9 + signal from Victoria. Not a bad start….four park contacts to kick off the activation.
I then headed for 7.150 and started calling CQ and this was immediately answered by regular park hunter, Rex VK3OF with his normal 5/9 + signal, followed by Les VK5KLV who was operating portable from the Winninowie Conservation Park, VKFF-820. I was very happy…my 5th park contact in just 6 QSOs from Mowantjie Willauwar.
A steady flow of callers followed, and then came another park activator. This time it was Gary VK5FGRY who was in the Morialta Conservation Park, VKFF-783. And after about a dozen more contacts I was called by Greg VK5GJ and Norm VK5GI had moved to the Cox Scrub Conservation Park.
The band was getting very busy and I had a little bit of QRM from F8CHM in France on 7.151. But I perservered and worked Brendon VK5FSCC who was portable in the Deep Creek Conservation Park on the Fleurieu Peninsula. It seemed that everyone was out enjoying the sunshine. Many of the regular VK5 and WWFF park hunters called in, but it was also pleasing ti get a number of new calls in the log. Many of whom struggled to get their tongue around Mowantjie Willauwar, which means ‘Native Pine forest’ in the local aboriginal language.
After working a total of 39 stations on 40m I headed over to 20m, and after lowering the squid pole and removing the links, I called CQ on 14.311. This was immediately answered by the ever keen Albert S58AL. He must have been there waiting for me. I went on to work stations in Slovenia, Russia, Germany, France, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Ukraine, Slovak Republic, Japan, Poland, Czech Republic, Israel, Estonia, Belgium, VK4 & VK6.
I worked a total of 47 stations on 20m, before heading back to 40m to see if I could pick up any of the die hard park stragglers. The band was very busy with lots of European and North American signals coming in. I found 7.130 clear and called CQ. Peter VK3ABM came back to my call, and this was followed by Peter VK3PF who was operating portable from Ninety Mile Beach Marine National Park, VKFF-951. I was Peter’s 44th contact to qualify the park for him. Well done Peter.
Next up was Peter VK3YE and Scott VK5FSKS who was operating portable from Chelsea Beach as part of flag pole day. Below is a video of Peter and Scott…..
A few calls later, in amongst the VK’s I heard a European accent. I asked the VK’s to stand by, and sure enough, Danny ON4VT in Belgium came back to me with a 5/3 signal, and reciprocated with a 5/3 for me. Wow, was I excited. Just 40 watts and a meager little linked dipole, and I had Belgium in the log on 40m. I’m sure I heard one or two more European callers, but the frequency was very busy and I was unable to pull out any more European call signs.
But I did work a handful of Kiwis including Lamont ZL2ALK, Willem ZL3CHE, Stan ZL1TWR, and Ken ZL4KD.
So after 3 hours in the park, I had a total of 107 contacts in the log, including some nice DX contacts on both 20m and 40m. Thanks to everyone that called, and thanks to those that took the time to spot me on the DX cluster, parknspeaks, and Facebook.
After the activation, Marija and I headed to ‘Fred’s landing’ where we watched the sunset over the Murray River. We were also fortunate enough to observe two Whistling Kites who were in a nearby gum tree enjoying a late afternoon meal (a freshly caught fish from the river). I tried to get as close as I could for a photo (didn’t have the zoom lens), and they both flew off, dropping their meal.
The following stations were worked on 40m SSB:-
The following stations were worked on 20m SSB:-
Here are some QSL cards recently received via the Bureau from portable operators…..
Jurgen OE4JHW on SOTA peaks OE/ NO-009 and OE/ NO-085 in AUSTRIA.
Laci HA5MA on SOTA peak HA/ EM-045 in HUNGARY.
Jana DG5WU on SOTA peak DL/ EW-001 in GERMANY.
I am very pleased to report that the brand new OCCFF Hunter award has now gone live on WWFF LogSearch.
OCCFF award certificates will be issued in increments of 7, for working Oceania DXCC entities and VK States and Territories.
All applications are electronic via LogSearch and will come via me. I will email out the certificates for FREE as a JPG or PDF file.
Many thanks to Pit YO3JW for his fantastic designs of the certificates, and thanks to Andrew M0YMAA for input to LogSearch.
And tonight when they went live I applied for my OCCFF – 7. Here it is below…..
The OCCFF – 14 and OCCFF-21 look as follows…..
Today (Thursday 10th September 2015) was my first of 2 days off, and the weather was beautiful…sunny and about 19 degrees C. I had planned on activating a couple of parks on my days off, but on checking my emails this morning I found a message from Gerard VK2IO with some bad news as far as propagation. All the bands were rated as poor.
I checked the Hourly Area Prediction (HAP) charts from Space Weather Services, Bureau of Meteorology and that did not make me any happier. Propagation out to around 400-500 km was only possible on 4mhz and below.
http://www.ips.gov.au/HF_Systems/1/1
Nether less it was such a glorious day that I decided to head out anyway to my planned destination of the Mowantjie Willauwar Conservation Park, VKFF-919. The park is about 75 km east from my home. I have been to this park previously, and activated as part of the VK5 National and Conservation Parks Award, but the park was recently added to the World Wide Flora and Fauna (WWFF) program. I was hoping to get 44 contacts to qualify the park for the global WWFF awards, but I wasn’t holding my breath considering the predicted band conditions. If I got 10 QSOs, then I would qualify the park for the Australian (VKFF) program and I would be very happy.
Above:- Map showing the location of the park. Image courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.
Mowantjie Willauwar Conservation Park was proclaimed on the 2nd June 2005, and conserves nearly 143 hectares of Southern Cyprus Pine Forest. It is situated about 6 km south west of Tailem Bend. Mowantjie is the aboriginal name for the native pine found in the park, while Willauwar is a plural word meaning ‘forest of species’. Therefore the name Mowantjie Willauwar means ‘Native Pine Forest’, and this is a very accurate description of the park. The park was originally known as the Tailem Bend Forest and still appears on Google maps as such.
There are 23 species of plants located in the park which are either of regional, state or national conservation significance. The nationally vulnerable Sandhill Greenhood Orchid and nationally endangered Metallic Sun-orchid have been found in the park.
Over 40 different bird species can be found in the park. Of these at least nine native bird spcies are of state or regional conservation significance. The park was certainly alive with wrens. At one stage I even had an eagle soaring above my operating spot. Other native fauna located in the park include Eastern Grey kangaroos, and Sand Goannas.
On my way to the park I stopped off at the Frank Jackman lookout at Murray Bridge. Some excellent views can be obtained here of the mighty Murray River and the surrounding countryside.
After leaving Murray Bridge I spoke with Roald VK1MTS/2 who was activating a summit for the Summits on the Air (SOTA) program. Roald was on on the top of Bobbara Mountain, VK2/ ST-044 (5/3 sent and 5/7 received). I then continued on to the little town of Tailem Bend, where I again stopped to view the Murray River. I could see the park in the distance from my vantage point.
After leaving Tailem Bend I turned onto the Princes Highway and travelled south towards Meningie. I briefly stopped near the northern tip of the park. There is a parking area here and it was at this point that the Princes Highway previously cut through the park. The road was re-routed during the 1960’s to bypass the park. There is a monument here to commemorate the changes to the Highway. You can operate from this spot. There is a small gate leading into the park and plenty of room to park your car. But I decided to head to my previous operating spot.
Prior to setting up though, I travelled to the end of Placid Estate Road to enjoy some more views of the Murray River. There are some very impressive shacks and houses at the end of the road, overlooking the river. A very nice place to have a radio shack!
I then entered the park off Placid Estate Road. There is a gate on the northern side of the road and a track leading into the park. I found a nice shady clearing and set up my chair and table. For this activation I ran my normal portable set up, comprising the Yaesu FT-857d, 40 watts and the 40m/20m linked dipole supported on a 7 metre squid pole.
Above:- Map showing my operating spot. Image courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.
I was set up and ready to go at 3.15 p.m. (0545 UTC). I called and called and called CQ on 7.144 on 40m with absolutely no takers. I then tuned across the band and did not hear a single station. Oh oh!! Fortunately I had phone coverage so I sent out an SMS message to some of the keen park hunters. But sadly the response was not a good one. Col VK5HCF at Mount Gambier advised that he could not hear me, as did Mick VK3PMG in Stawell in western Victoria. And then Adrian VK5FANA on the Yorke Peninsula also texted me to advise he could not hear me.
It was starting to get very frustrating. Not only was the band in poor shape, but the mosquitoes were as big as birds and were biting hard, along with the sand flies.
I called CQ again a number of times, but again, not a single taker. It was now 3.30 p.m. (0600 UTC). I tuned across the band and found the Kandos Group starting up on 7.093. Tom VK2KF, the net controller had a very strong 5/9 signal so I gave him a shout and booked in to the net. But it took a long time for my over, and the mozzies were starting to make a meal of me. So I headed for the safety of the 4WD until it was my turn on the net. I could not hear any of the VK3’s or VK5’s on the net, but the VK2’s and VK4’s were coming in quite well.
After my go on the Kandos net I headed down 5 kc and called CQ on 7.088 and this was answered by Gerard VK2IO, who is a very keen SOTA and parks activator and hunter. Gerard was 5/7 with significant QSB, and he reciprocated with a 5/5 signal report for me, also reporting QSB. I was then called by Rick VK4RF, who recently was awarded the Diamond VKFF Hunter certificate, despite being only new to the WWFF program. Rick was 5/5 and returned a 5/5 to me.
Despite the band being in poor shape I did manage to work VK1, VK2, VK4, VK7, and VK8. This included a contact with Rob VK4FFAB. I told Rob that I had brought my 15m dipole with me, but Rob advised not to even bother with 15m as he had been there a little earlier and called CQ for 30 minutes with no replies.
My last contact was with my good mate Gerald VK2HBG, who must have a very kind signal strength meter on his transceiver, because he gave me a 5/9.
I then QSY’d to 20m and called CQ on 14.310. Again I called and called and called and absolutely no takers. So again, I tuned across the band to find very few signals, and those that were there, were very low down. Back to 14.310 and CQ again. This time I was answered by Greg VK5GJ at Meadows in the Adelaide Hills. Greg was 4/1 at best with very deep QSB. And then the ever reliable Rick VK4RF called, but that was the end of activity on 20m. Not a single European!
I moved back to 40m and called CQ again, but I could only manage 1 more contact, this time with Peter VK3ZPF.
The poor band conditions and mosquitoes had got the better of me. I packed up and headed off with just 14 contacts in the log. Well short of the required 44 contacts for the global WWFF program, but fortunately I had my 10 contacts and had qualified the park for VKFF.
On my way home I stopped off briefly at a lookout just down from the park off Princes Highway for some more views of the Murray River.
When I got home, I checked the HAP charts again, and as you can see below, band conditions were very very poor. Thanks again to everyone that called, and thanks to those that took the time to spot me on either parksnpeaks, the DX cluster, and/or Facebook.
The following stations were worked on 40m SSB:-
The following stations were worked on 20m SSB:-
References.
Department for Environment and Heritage, 2008, ‘Mowantjie Willauwar and Poonthie Ruwe Conservation Parks Management Plan’.
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