Today (Friday 21st August 2015) I had a day off work, but the morning did not give any good signs of it being an ideal day to head out for a portable activation.  The weather was cold, cloudy, with showers.  But by lunch time the weather had cleared and the sun had revealed itself.  So I packed the 4WD and headed to the Mount George Conservation Park, VKFF-784.  The park is just a short drive from my home, down the South Eastern Freeway towards Adelaide.

I have activated Mount George CP previously as part of the VK5 National and Conservation Parks Award.  But this was the first time I had activated the park as part of the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.

Above:- Map showing the location of Mt George CP.  Courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.

Mount George CP was set aside as a reserve to protect stands of native vegetation, inspiring landscape and a diversity of habitat types.  The 62 hectare park is divided into trwo sections, which are separated by Mount George Road, Cox Creek and the Mount George picnic ground.  The famous Heysen Trail also passes through the park.

Prior to European settlement, the area of land belonged to the Peramangk Aboriginal people.  After European settlement, the land was farmed and the surrounding stringybark forests were logged for timber and firewood until the 1940’s.  Most of the park was left in its original condition.  The fenced Eastern Section was developed as an Earthwatch Reserve in 1986 for nature conservation and environment education.

The park is covered with vegetation ranging from wetlands to open forest.  Brown and messmate stringybark trees cover the higher slops.  A mixture of candlebark and manna gum (considered rare in South Australia) covers the lower slopes.  Rocky outcrops, some with superb views, are found in both sections of the park.  The understorey offers spectactular spring glowers, including flowering pea flower, ground hugging correas and various native orchids.  Native cherries are also pound in the park.

Many native bird species can be seen in the park including Superb blue wrens, red-brown finches, white-throated treecreepers, yellow tailed black cockatoos and wedge tailed eagles.

A variety of mammal species may be seen in the park, particularly at dawn and fusk.  They include western grey kangaroos, possums and echidnas.  Bearded dragons, sleepy and blue tongued lizard, and various skinks are just some of the reptiles to be found in the park.

Above:- Map showing my operating spot.  Courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.

I set up on one of the wooden benches and tables in the Mount George Picnic ground area.  The afternoon was cool, but the sun was out and it was quite pleasant sitting under the large gum trees.  The park was quite active, with lots of people enjoying the sunshine.

I used the normal equipment for this activation, consisting of the Yaesu FT-857d, 40 watts, and my 40m/20m linked dipole, supported on the 7 metre telescopic squid pole.

I had nominated 7.144 as a starting point, but there was a station from VK3 on 7.140, so I headed to 7.145 on 40m.  I called CQ for a few minutes before being answered by park stalwart, Adrian VK5FANA on the Yorke Peninsula.  Adrian had a good 5/9 signal.  This was a good sign, as 40m has been a little ordinary the past week or so.  Next up was Col VK5HCF at the other end of South Australia, down in Mount Gambier.  Again, a great 5/9 signal.  This was followed by a call from Rick VK4RF in Queensland with a nice strong 5/8 signal.  Rick has become a regular park hunter.

Thanks to Adrian VK5FANA and Mick VK3PMG for spotting me on parksnpeaks.  And also thanks to Rick VK4RF for spotting me on the VKFF/SOTA Facebook site and the WWFF Facebook site.  I’m sure this contributed to the steady flow of callers that followed.

I worked a total of 42 stations on 40m including some very interesting contacts.  That included a QSO with Amanda VK3FQSO who was QRP, running just 1 watt.  Amanda was a genuine 5/9 signal from Victoria.  I was also called by Andre V51B/VK2.  I have spoken with Andre a number of times from Namibia on 10m short path.  So it was a real surprise when I heard his voice on 40m.  Also some excellent mobile signals.  This included Andrew VK5FLCS mobile near Tiboburra in far north west New South Wales (5/9); Danny VK4SD/2 (5/9); John VK2YW mobile 180 km north west of Broken Hill (5/9); and John VK3FCAN mobile (5/8).

I was also called by Gerard VK2IO who was portable on top of Livingstone Hill, VK2/ SM-093 as part of the Summits on the Air (SOTA) program.  Gerard was a good 5/7 signal.

And I also spoke with regular park hunter, Ken ZL4KD in New Zealand, who called in with a good 5/7 signal from Christchurch.

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The weather was starting to come in from the west.  The sun had gone, the wind had picked up and I was receiving the occasional drop of rain.  So I headed to 20m where my first contact was Rick VK4RF with a very strong 5/9 signal.  Rick was kind enough to spot me on the DX cluster, which resulted in a number of DX contacts into Slovenia, Italy, Ukraine, Slovak Republic, Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, England, Russia, Spain, Japan, and the Czech Republic.

There were also some VK’s in amongst the DX.  That included Perrin VK3XPT, who I had also worked on 40m; Robert VK2XXM who has become a regular park hunter; Peter VK4PHD on Bribie Island; and John VK5BJE who was my last contact.

Thanks to Rick VK4RF, Luciano I5FLN, Gyula HA6OB, and Robert VK2XXM for spotting me on the DX cluster.

So after 2 hours in the park I had a total of 64 contacts in the log.  Another successful activation, and another park under my belt.

The following stations were worked on 40m SSB:-

1. VK5FANA
2. VK5HCF
3. VK4RF
4. VK5EE
5. VK3PMG
6. VK4HA
7. VK2MI
8. VK4AAC/5
9. VK3OF
10. VK3TJK
11. VK5ZAR
12. VK3PF
13. VK5PET
14. VK3KRH
15. VK5VBR
16. VK3BHR
17. VK3FQSO
18. VK4FFAB
19. VK3SQ
20. VK5FCLS/m
21. VK5KAF
22. VK3CRG
23. C51B/VK2
24. VK3JM
25. VK4SD/2
26. VK2PKT
27. VK3UH
28. VK5PL
29. VK2YW/m
30. VK5PXO
31. VK2IO/p (SOTA VK2/ SM-093)
32. VK5AAR
33. VK3FCAN/m
34. VK5FTRG
35. VK2HHA
36. VK5WG
37. VK3ZMD
38. VK3XPT
39. VK2YK
40. VK5JK
41. ZL4KD
42. VK5BK

The following stations were worked on 20m SSB:-

1. VK4RF
2. VK4HA
3. S58AL
4. I5FLN
5. UT5PI
6. OM7OM
7. DL2ND
8. S52KM
9. HA6OB
10. LZ1HA
11. VK3XPT
12. G2YT
13. DK4RM
14. RA3PCI
15. DL1MIJ
16. EA1EJ
17. JA8RJE
18. VK2XXM
19. VK4PHD
20. EA1ACP
21. OK1AOV
22. VK5BJE

On the weekend just gone (Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th August 2015), myself and John VK5BJE operated as VI5ANZAC to commemorate the 10th Australian Infantry Battalion.

The 10th Battalion was among the first infantry units raised for the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) during the First World War. The battalion was recruited in South Australia, and was raised within weeks of the declaration of war in August 1914.  The Battalion embarked for overseas just two months later, and after a brief stop in Albany, Western Australia, the battalion proceeded to Egypt, arriving in early December.

The 3rd Brigade was the covering force for the ANZAC landing on 25 April 1915 and so was the first ashore at around 4:30 am. Two soldiers of the 10th Battalion, Lance Corporal Philip Robin and Private Arthur Blackburn, are believed to have penetrated further inland than any other Australians at ANZAC.  The 10th Battalion was heavily involved in establishing and defending the front line of the ANZAC position, and served there until the evacuation in December.

After the withdrawal from Gallipoli, the 10th Battalion returned to Egypt and, in March 1916, sailed for France and the Western Front.  From then until 1918, the battalion took part in bitter trench warfare. The battalion’s first major action in France was at Pozieres in the Somme valley in July. After Pozieres the battalion fought at Ypres in Flanders before returning to the Somme for winter. In 1917, the battalion returned to Belgium to take part in the major British offensive of that year – the Third Battle of Ypres.  For his valorous actions at Polygon Wood east of Ypres in September 1917, Private Roy Inwood was awarded the Victoria Cross (we will be commemorating Inwood next month as VK100ANZAC).  INWOOD’s brother Robert had been killed at Pozieres and another brother, Harold, had been badly wounded and invalided to Australia in November 1917.

In March and April 1918 the 10th Battalion helped stop the German spring offensive and was then involved in the operations leading up to the Allied counter-stroke. In June, during an attack near Merris in France, Corporal Phillip Davey became the third member of the battalion to be awarded the Victoria Cross. Davey had been awarded the Military Medal for bravery near Messines in January.  His brothers Claude and Richard were also members of the battalion and both had been awarded Military Medals in 1917.

The battalion participated in the great allied offensive of 1918, fighting near Amiens on 8 August 1918. This advance by British and empire troops was the greatest success in a single day on the Western Front, one that German General Erich Ludendorff described as “the black day of the German Army in this war”.

The battalion continued operations until late September 1918. At 11 am on 11 November 1918, the guns fell silent. In November 1918, members of the AIF began returning to Australia. At 8 am on 5 September 1919, the final detachment of the 10th Battalion arrived at Adelaide, aboard the transport Takada.

Above:- Lines of the 9th and 10th Battalions at Merna Camp, looking towards the pyramids.  Image courtesy of Wikipedia.  The kangaroo was the regimental mascot.

Saturday was quite challenging on the 40 m band with ‘close in’ propagation (within about 400 km) coming and going.  Conditions on 20m, long path into Europe were quite good.

However, everything fell apart on Sunday.  Solar conditions wreaked havoc on the bands.  There was absolutely no close in propagation and long path into Europe on 20m was almost non existent.  Very disappointing.

Here are some of our stats over the 2 days…..

• total of 281 contacts
• 26 DXCC entities worked
• 11 ITU zones worked
• 23 IOTA references
• VI4ANZAC
• 24 x Australian lighthouses
• 1 x Puerto Rican lighthouse
• 1 x USA lighthouse
• 1 x SOTA contact
• 1 x WWFF contact

References.

Australian War Memorial, 2015, <https://www.awm.gov.au/unit/U51450/&gt;, viewed 19th August 2015

I did a bit of research tonight and found that I have activated a total of 126 unique South Australian National and Conservation Parks out of a total of 292.  That’s about 43%.  So I have a way to go yet.

Below is a map from Google Earth showing my VK5 park activations.

I received another certificate via email today for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.  This time around it was from Poland, and was the SPFF-Hunter Award for having worked 24 different SPFF references.

Many thanks to Sylwester SP2FAP, the SPFF Award Manager, and all of the Polish WWFF activators.

This morning I received via email, my latest Belgian Flora and Fauna (ONFF) award.  it is for working 25 different Belgian ONFF reference areas.  The next step is the Gold, which requires 50 different ONFF reference areas.

Many thanks to Gino ON4BB for the certificate.

And also thanks to all of the Belgian activators, particularly Danny OT4V, Swa ON5SWA and Yves ON8ON.

I was very pleased to receive this morning my new Hunter certificate in the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.  It is issued for having worked a total of 352 different WWFF reference areas.

Many thanks to all the WWFF activators and thanks to Pit YO3JW.

Recently I have worked numerous Belgium reference areas for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.  This has mostly been due to the efforts of Danny OT4V and Swa ON5SWA.

Both Danny and Swa take the time to listen out for the Australian park hunters which is great.  It is often very difficult to break through the European pile up with many of the European park activators.  So it is very refreshing to hear Danny and Swa specifically listening for outside of Europe.

And Danny has been sending me some great QSL cards from his activations.

Yesterday I received via email two France Flora Fauna certificates for working 5 different, and10 different French Flora Fauna reference areas.

Many thanks to Marco F5SSN, the France Flora Fauna (FFF) co-ordinator.

For more information on the FFF program, please check out their website at……

http://www.france-flora-fauna.fr/diplomes-fff/diplomes-fff/

Following up on the recent Top VKFF Activator certificates that I recently released, I have now released the Top VKFF Hunter certificates.

These will be released annually for the Top VKFF Hunter.  In other words, the amateur who has worked the most number of VKFF references in that year.

I have started off in 2013, as this is the year that VKFF kicked off in Australia.

The Top VKFF Hunters in 2013 were myself and Larry VK5LY (we both worked 39 different VKFF references).

In at second place (again shared) was Ron VK3AFW and Bernard VK3AMB (on 38 references),  in 3rd was Nick VK3ANL with 35 references, Peter VK3PF at number 4 (34 references).  And at number 5 was Allen VK3HRA (with 32 references).

The Top VKFF Hunter in 2014 was Peter VK3PF, with 85 VKFF references worked.

In second place was Paul VK5PAS with 83 references.  In 3rd was Amanda VK3FQSO with 81 VKFF references.  Fourth spot was shared by Nev VK5WG and Matt VK1MA with 62 references.  And in 5th position was Ron VK3AFW with 59 references.

So far in 2015, the Top 5 VKFF Hunters are:-