Christmas Rocks Conservation Park

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After packing up at Aberdour Conservation Park, I headed back to the Riddoch Highway and travelled south towards my next activation which was the Christmas Rocks Conservation Park, which was to be another unique park for me as an activator.  It was just a very short drive from Aberdour CP.

Screenshot 2015-06-03 19.28.08

The Christmas Rocks Conservation Park was proclaimed in 2014 and is just to the north of the little town of Willalooka.  Don’t blink, because you will miss the park.  There is just one small brown sign on the western side of the Riddoch Highway, with a camera sign and the words Christmas Rocks.  If you’ve reached Willalooka when travelling south, you have come too far.

The sign indicating the park
The small town of Willalooka

The park itself consists of some fairly dense scrub and a series of granite rocks which were once part of the archipelago of granite rocks in the shallow sea that covered the Limestone Coast some 25 million years ago.  I recommend taking the time to walk to the top and admire the views of the surround countryside.  It is a very easy 10 minute walk from the carpark.  Sadly, there is no real defined park.  It is another example of the poor state our parks are in South Australia.

Prior to activating, I did exactly that.  I took a walk up to the top of the granite rocks while the showers had disappeared.  Although not high above sea level, there are some very good views of the district.

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I set up in the scrub about 10 metres in from the carpark.  The weather was still terrible, so I didn’t want to be too far from the vehicle.  I had hoped to take the Yaesu FT-817nd up onto the top of the rocks, but it was just too wet.  So I quickly set up the equipment, my Yaesu FT-757d (set on 40 watts) and a 40m/20m linked dipole supported on a 7 metre squid pole.

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I called CQ again on 7.095 and this was answered by Tony VK5FTVR at Strathalbyn, followed by Scott VK5FSKS mobile at Swan Reach with a nice 5/8 signal, and then park stalwart, Mick VK53PMG in Stawell in western Victoria.  Eugene VK5ZA mobile at Auburn in the Clare Valley was next, followed by another park devotee, Adrian VK5FANA on the Yorke Peninsula.

Whilst I was operating, the area was alive with birds.  Of the feathered variety!  The gum trees were in flower so that attracted the New Holland Honeyeaters.  There was also a large number of Superb Blue Wrens and Fantails.

After the callers had slowed down, I had a quick tune around the band and found Phil VK2JDL calling CQ from a SOTA peak, Mount Coryah VK2/ NW-004 in the Mount Kaputar National Park VKFF-353.  Phil was my last contact (5/7 both ways), just as the rain started to come down again.  It was a quick pack up and back to the vehicle.

After 40 minutes in the park, I had a total of 22 contacts in the log from VK2, VK3 & VK5.

The following stations were worked:-

  1. Tony VK5FTVR
  2. Scott VK5FSKS/m
  3. Mick VK3PMG
  4. Eugene Vk5ZA/m
  5. Adrian VK5FANA
  6. Anthony VK3LPG
  7. Les VK5KLV
  8. Les VK5KLD
  9. Ian VK5IS
  10. Jim VK5JW
  11. Greg VK5ZGY
  12. Rick VK5BGN
  13. Ivan VK5HS
  14. Peter VK3PF/m
  15. John VK5BJE
  16. Alan VK5FAJS
  17. Paul VK2DEL/m
  18. Terry VK3UP/m
  19. Bob VK5XL
  20. Steve VK3NSC
  21. Phil VK2JDL/p (SOTA)

 

References.

Tatiara Tourism Group, 2015, <https://www.tatiara.sa.gov.au&gt;, viewed 20th May 2015

 

Aberdour Conservation Park

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Aberdour Conservation Park was my first park activation for the week away in the South East.  I left home early on Thursday morning (4th June 2015), and journeyed down the Dukes Highway to Keith, where I turned off onto the Riddoch Highway.  About 10 km from the park I had a QSO on 40m with Gary VK5ZK, Rick VK5BGN, and a few other VK5 locals.  It was good to try out the new Codan 9350 antenna on the Toyota Hi Lux.

Aberdour Conservation Park is about 35 km south of Keith on the eastern side of the Riddoch Highway (Naracoorte-Keith Road), and about 260 km by road from Adelaide.  It is quite a large park, being 133 hectares in size.  It was dedicated as a Conservation Park in February 1991, and was a gift from the Nankivell family.  In fact Nankivells Road runs on the eastern side of the park.  The park preserves an area of remnant vegetation which is very typical of undulating dune and limestone country of the South East.

Screenshot 2015-06-03 19.16.20 Above:- Map showing the location of the park in SE South Australia.  Map courtesy of mapcarta.com

There has been extensive clearing of the surrounding countryside and the park provides an important habitat for a large amount of native wildlife.  The park contains the Nationally endangered Jumping Jack wattle Acacia enterocarpa.

I haven’t been able to find out an origin of the name of the park.  Unfortunately there is not a lot of information on the internet about this park and DEWNR were unable to assist.  There is a town called Aberdour on the south coast of Fife in Scotland.  Perhaps it has some association.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberdour

Screenshot 2015-06-10 13.39.00

Above:- The boundaries of the park.  Courtesy of http://www.openstreetmap.org

I turned off the Riddoch Highway onto Cannawigara Road and travelled east.  A few km down the road (which is a dirt road), I saw the park sign on my left on the northern side of the road.  There was an access track at the south western corner of the park on Cannawigara Road, but it was extremely wet and sandy and I didn’t feel like getting out and lowering the tyre pressure in the Toyota Hi Lux.  So I continued down Cannawigara Road and turned left into Nankivells Road and travelled north along the eastern boundary of the park.  At the end of Nankivells Road, which becomes a dead end road, there is another sandy 4WD track which follows the northern boundary of the park.  But I turned back around and found a clearing in the scrub, and parked the car on Nankivells Road.

Screenshot 2015-06-10 12.57.29

Above:- Map showing my operating location.  Image courtesy of mapcarta.com

The scrub in the park is very thick, but I had found a nice clearing and quickly set up my fold up table, deck chair, and antenna, trying to beat the rain.  It was not the best of days for park activating, with quite a lot of shower activity and it was very cold.

My first contact after calling CQ on 7.095 was with Adrian VK5FAJH in Port Pirie with a nice 5/9 signal.  This was followed by Tony VK5FTVR in Strathalbyn, and then Rick VK5BGN who I had spoken to from the mobile.  Thanks for coming up to say g’day Rick.  The showers were starting to set in, so I deployed the bothy bag to try to stay dry.  It was pleasing to hear a steady flow of callers from lots of the regular park hunters, but also a number of new callers, from all around Australia.

In fact, during my 45 minutes in the park I had contacts on 40m into VK2, VK3, VK5, VK6, and VK7.  The band seemed to be in quite good condition with 5/7-8 signals coming in from Western Australia.

After a total of 23 contacts, I lowered down the squid pole in the rain, and took out the links in the dipole and started calling CQ on 14.310.  This was answered by Peter VK6RZ firstly with a beautiful 5/9 signal, followed by Max VK6FN who was also 5/9.  But the rain had got the better of me.  It was that heavy and steady that water was seaping through the bothy bag, so it was time to pack up and head for the warmth of the vehicle.  I had a total of 25 contacts in the log and this was a unique park for me as an activator.

Thanks to Paul VK2HV and Peter VK6RZ for spotting me on the DX Cluster and to those that spotted me on parksnpeaks.

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The following stations were worked on 40m SSB:-

  1. Adrian VK5FAJH
  2. Tony VK5FTVR
  3. Rick VK5BGN
  4. Ivan VK5HS
  5. David VK5KC
  6. Ian VK5IS
  7. Adrian VK5FANA
  8. Allen VK5FD
  9. Paul VK2HV
  10. Jeff VK5JK
  11. Les VK5KLD
  12. Jim VK1AT/3
  13. Greg VK5ZGY
  14. John VK5FANG
  15. Peter VK3PF/m
  16. Andy VK2VOO/m
  17. Geoff VK5HEL
  18. Peter VK6RZ
  19. Tony VK7LTD
  20. Max VK6FN
  21. Mark VK7MK
  22. Ian VK5CZ
  23. Rich VK6HRC

The following stations were worked on 20m SSB:-

  1. Peter VK6RZ
  2. Max VK6FN

References.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources, 1997, Aberdour and Mount Monster Conservation Parks Management Plans

Wikipedia, 2015, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberdour&gt; viewed 10th June 2015

Trip to the South East

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On Thursday 4th June 2015 I headed down to the South East of South Australia, and returned home on Tuesday 9th June, 2015.  My destination was Mount Gambier where I attended the South East Radio Group (SERG) Convention and National Fox Hunting Championships.  This is the 51st year that the event has been held.

Whilst there I activated a number of South Australian National Parks and Conservation Parks as part of the VK5 National and Conservation Parks Award, and World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF).  See below for more info. I had a great time at the SERG Convention.  On Saturday morning after my first park activation, I attended the Scout Hall in Margaret Street Mount Gambier, where I set up a display table promoting the VK5 National and Conservation Parks Award and the WWFF.  On display I had a number of award certificates, my Yaesu FT-817nd, my Yaesu FT-857d, 44 amp hour power pack, LiFePo batteries, SLAB batteries, bothy bag, handheld GPS devices, solar panels, & antennas.  I also had a number of promotional handouts. DSC_0147 I occasionally snuck away to see if I could pick up a bargain from some of the traders.  Both private and commercial sellers were in attendance, including Ross from Strictly Ham.  There was plenty of good food on offer, with the kitchen always busy.  Foxhunting events were held all day on Saturday and Sunday.  And late on Sunday afternoon there was a very interesting presentation on Surface board mounting of components.  This was followed by the award presentations for the fox hunting events.  And finally, a dinner was held in the adjacent hall with soup, a choice of roast beef or roast chicken, followed by apple crumble. I highly recommend the SERG Convention to anyone who hasn’t attended.  Congrats to the SERG team for putting it all together.  I’ll mention a bit more about the Convention in other posts to follow.

And of course as I mentioned earlier, I also activated a few parks (17 in total) whilst in the area, including a joint activation with Alan VK5FAJS at the Tantanoola Caves Conservation Park on Monday.  It was very pleasing to pick a number of new ‘regular’ park hunters who have gained an interest in the VK5 Parks Award & WWFF.  And also some regular calls on 40m from Ken ZL4KD (even during the middle of the day).

Not all the activations went to plan.  There were a couple of parks I did not get to…Talapar and Mullinger Swamp.  This was due to a combination of the terrible weather (it was June in the South East after all) & not being able to access Talapar.  But I did sneak in some others.

Here are some stats from my activations………..

  • Total of 17 parks activated
  • 11 unique VK5 parks for me
  • 8 unique WWFF parks for me
  • Total of 751 contacts
  • about 1700 km driven over the 6 days
  • countries worked: VK, ZL, USA, Belgium, Italy, Germany, France, Poland, Spain, Israel, Hungary, England, Belarus, Russia, Romania, Serbia, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Canada.

Thursday 4th

  • Aberdour Conservation Park……….25 contacts
  • Christmas Rocks Conservation Park……….21 contacts
  • Naracoorte Caves National Park VKFF-380……….63 contacts

Friday 5th

  • Fairview Conservation Park……….36 contacts
  • Vivigani Ardune Conseervation Park……….35 contacts
  • Mary Seymour Conservation Park……….27 contacts
  • Big Heath Conservation Park VKFF-792……….45 contacts
  • Hacks Lagoon Conservation Park……….32 contacts

Saturday 6th

  • Penambol Conservation Park VKFF-802……….52 contacts

Sunday 7th

  • Ewens Ponds Conservation Park……….66 contacts
  • Piccanininnie Ponds Conservation Park……….35 contacts

Monday 8th

  • Telford Scrub Conservation Park VKFF-805……….63 contacts
  • Tantanoola Caves Conservation Park VKFF-804……….49 contacts
  • Nene Valley Conservation Park VKFF-801……….49 contacts

Tuesday 9th

  • Gower Conservation Park VKFF-798……….50 contacts
  • Calectasia Conservation Park……….30 contacts
  • Penola Conservation Park VKFF-803……….73 contacts

I will put some more info & photos up here over the coming weeks about each activation. Thankyou to everyone that called, and thanks to those who took the time to spot me on either parksnpeaks and/or the DX Cluster.  It really does help.

Some interesting portable QSL cards received

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Here are a few interesting portable QSL cards I’ve received in the last couple of weeks.

The first is from the Zuid West Vlaamse Amateur Radio Club in BELGIUM.  They recently operated from the Tyne Cot cemetery.  I visited the cemetery last year in Jun 2014 during my Europe trip.  My good mates Marnix OP7M and Eddy ON6ZV took Marija and I all through Flanders Fields.  A very moving experience.

ON4PTC091

The second is from Inaki, EB2GKK who was operating from SOTA summit, Lapoblazion EA2/ NV-050 in SPAIN.

QSL_EA2NV050_VK5PAS

And the last is from Pedro NP4A in PUERTO RICO, who I have worked a few times now whilst I’ve been out portable (in Bullock Hill Conservation Park and Kenneth Stirling Conservation Park).

NP4A

Mark Oliphant Conservation Park, VKFF-782

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On Saturday afternoon after the AHARS meeting I travelled to the Mark Oliphant Conservation Park, VKFF-782, for another unique activation for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.  The park was recently added to the WWFF program.

I set up at gate 11 off Evans Drive which runs through the middle of the park.  There is a nice cleared area here to string out a dipole.

Screenshot 2015-05-24 19.14.53

Above:- My operating spot.  Image courtesy of mapcarta.com

I had spoken with Larry VK5LY on the way to Mark Oliphant.  Larry was operating portable with Ivan VK5HS and Peter Vk5FLEX, in the Pike River Conservation Park.  Larry had agree to hang around to get a ‘park to park’ contact.  So after setting up I quickly tuned to 7.105 and heard Larry calling with a very strong 5/9 signal.  I got Larry in the log and this was followed by Peter VK5FLEX.

I then headed up to 7.144 and started calling CQ.  My first taker there was Alan VK4AL (5/7 both ways), followed by Andrew VK1NAM mobile 3 (5/8 both ways), and then Andrew VK5NPP operating portable from near Mannum in the Riverland region of South Australia (5/9 both ways).

Whilst operating I had a local fella walk by on nearby Evans Drive and he waved to me and had obviously heard me on the radio.  He shouted out “I am QSYing”.  I took a quick break from the radio and had a chat with him and found out that he was not an amateur, but had studied radio back in his cadet days.  I think he said with the Army or the Air Force.

I went back to chatting on 7.144 and worked a few more VK’s and another local then walked by, with her dogs.  Again I stopped for a short time to have a quick chat.  She said she was on the way to the shops but would stop off for a look at me operating on her way back.  By the time I got back to the radio, a VK2 had moved in on 7.145.  So I QSYd down to 7.141 and called CQ and this was answered by David VK5KC.  I worked a further 15 stations in VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5 & VK6, before deciding to have a try on 20m.

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Unfortunately I could not get on to my nominated operating frequency of 14.244 as the band was very busy.  So I headed up to 14.310 and started calling CQ.  To my surprise, my first taker was Swa, ON5SWA in Belgium followed by Luciano I5FLN and then Max IK1GPG.  I later worked out why the Europeans had found me.  Allen VK3HRA had spotted me on the DX cluster.  And this was followed by two more spots by ON5SWA and I5FLN.  Thanks for spotting me gentlemen.  It certainly helps enormously to drag in the park hunters.

Conditions on 20m were not great.  It was quite a struggle at times.  But I did manage to get a total of 30 stations in the log on 20m.  Countries worked were Belgium, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Germany, Hungary, Switzerland, Slovak Republic, and Slovenia.  VK’s worked on 20m were Greg VK8GM with a booming signal, and Daniel VK6LCK.  And again I managed a contact with my great mate, Marnix OP7M.

I headed back to 40m where I intended to stay for just a short while as it was getting extremely cold.  But pleasingly, I had a lot of callers, so I was there for a little longer than planned.  First taker upon returning to 40m was Rob VK4FFAB who is a very keen park activator and hunter.  This was followed by another eager activator and hunter, Mick Vk3PMG.  A few calls later, perrin VK3XPT gave me a shout whilst he was mobile, using his Codan 9350 antenna, minus the whip.  Considering that, Perrin had a great 5/7 signal and Perrin gave me a 5/9 signal report.

A few calls later, Brian ZL2ASH gave me a call from Wellington.  Although not as strong as normal, Brian was still 5/9 and also gave me a 5/9 signal report.  A few QSOs later I was very pleased to receive 4 calls in a row from VK6 Foundation operators.  They being Simon VK6FSYM, Ahmed VK6FHAM, Chris VK6FDKR, and George VK6FADD.  It was a little difficult at times with Simon and Ahmed, as some VK3’s and some USA stations had moved in on 7.140 and were bleeding over onto 7.138.

My last contact for the activation was Darren, VK2NNN in Bondi in New South Wales.  I then hurriedly packed up, as it was now extremely cold.  It was down to just 4 degrees celsius and was almost completely dark.  I had a total of 77 contacts in the log.

The following stations were worked on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK5LY/p (Pike River Conservation Park)
  2. VK5FLEX/p (Pike River Conservation Park)
  3. VK4AL
  4. VK1NAM/3
  5. VK5MPP/p
  6. VK2XPL
  7. VK3FCAS
  8. VK5FCDL
  9. VK5KC
  10. VK5NRG
  11. VK2YK
  12. VK5KFB
  13. VK3MCX
  14. VK3PF
  15. VK3ZPF
  16. VK3OF
  17. VK4FAAS
  18. VK5HS
  19. VK5LY
  20. VK5TR
  21. VK5NQP
  22. VK3FQSO/p (VKFF-759)
  23. VK2LX
  24. VK6MB
  25. VK4FFAB
  26. VK3PMG
  27. VK5FANA
  28. VK5ZGY
  29. VK3MPM
  30. VK6FCBG
  31. VK3XPT/m
  32. VK3DBP
  33. VK5KYM
  34. VK3AV
  35. VK5FTRG
  36. ZL2ASH
  37. VK5KLV
  38. VK3DAC
  39. VK3HRA
  40. VK3AXF
  41. VK5BW
  42. VK3CQC
  43. VK6FSYM
  44. VK6FHAM
  45. VK6FDKR
  46. VK6FADD
  47. VK6NTE
  48. VK2NNN

The following stations were worked on 20m SSB:-

  1. ON5SWA
  2. I5FLN
  3. IK1GPG
  4. ON4BB
  5. IZ0VXF
  6. EA3MP
  7. VK8GM
  8. EI4II
  9. IZ5YHD
  10. IZ2IHO
  11. DL1EBR
  12. HA0LG
  13. DK4RM
  14. EA1ACP
  15. OP7M
  16. DL5EBG
  17. ON1JU
  18. EA3ARP
  19. DL2ND
  20. EA4DTV
  21. HB9ELE
  22. OM7OM
  23. S58AL
  24. HA6OB
  25. EA2KV
  26. DF4PT
  27. S52KM
  28. DL3APO
  29. VK6LCK
  30. DF1YQ

Portable tips at the AHARS shack

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Last Saturday morning I attended the Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Club (AHARS) ‘shack’ at Blackwood for the regular monthly tech morning.  With the help of Chris VK4FR, I delivered a power point presentation with some tips for operating portable.

Chris and I also had a display of portable equipment with us including: Yaesu FT-857d, Yaesu FT817nd, Elecraft KX3, various power sources including SLAB, LiFePo, etc, bothy bag, hand held GPS gear, antennas and a variety of other equipment.

The session which lasted about 90 minutes, was attended by 12 keen amateurs from AHARS.

IMG_1401

Mylor Conservation Park VKFF-785

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On Friday afternoon (22nd May 2015) I headed over to the Mylor Conservation Park (CP).  I had activated the park twice before, but this would be my first activation under the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.  The Mylor CP was recently added to the WWFF program.

For information on my previous activations, have a look at…..

https://vk5pas.org/2013/09/29/mylor-conservation-park/

https://vk5pas.org/2014/09/14/mylor-conservation-park-2/

I set up in my normal spot, just inside the gate off Whitehead Road, which runs off the Strathalbyn Road.  The park is very well signposted on the Strathalbyn Road so there are no problems in locating the park.

Screenshot 2015-05-24 18.30.45

Above:- My operating spot.  Image courtesy of mapcarta.com

I started off on 40m and called CQ on 7.144.  It took a few minutes before some of the regulars found me.  First up was Mick VK3PMG in western Victoria (5/9 both ways), followed by Paul VK3DBP (5/9 both ways), Peter VK3PF (5/9 both ways), and then Amanda VK3FQSO running just 500 milliwatts (5/8 sent and 5/9 received).

I worked a total of 16 stations on 40m from VK1, VK2, VK3, and VK5, before QSYing to 20m.  I could not get on my nominated operating frequency of 14.244 as there were stations either side from Europe.  So I headed up to 14.310 and called CQ.  After a few calls, I was called by Baden VK7BRY, followed by John VK2EJP and then Adam VK2YK.  My fourth contact on 20m was John VK5BJE.

Thanks to Adam VK2YK who spotted me on the DX cluster, as this resulted in the European park hunters finding me.  After working John, I was called by a number of European and UK callers.  First taker was Danny ON4VT, followed by Axel DL1EBR and then Luciano I5FLN.

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After working a total of 36 stations, things slowed down.  So I took the opportunity of tuning around the band.  I found a very rare DXCC working a pile up on 14.225.  It was Bruce ZD7VC on St Helena Island.  I had worked Bruce before, from home and also whilst out portable, but I was determined to get Bruce in the log from another park.  I persevered for about 20 minutes and finally made contact (5/8 sent and 5/6 received).

Below is a video of how well Bruce was coming in to Mylor CP…..

After working Bruce I quickly went back to 40m to hopefully get Adrian VK5FANA in the log.  Adrian had sent me an SMS message asking me if I was going to go back to 40m.  I could not get back onto 7.144 as it was occupied by some other stations, so I called CQ a few times on 7.140 and I was very pleasantly surprised to receive a call from the man himself, Adrian.  This was followed by another park stalwart, Rob VK4FFAB.  Peter VK2NEO who was mobile then called me, followed by another dedicated park hunter, Doug VK2FMIA.  My last caller was Leo VK3FLMR mobile.

At 5.30 p.m. (0800 UTC) I packed up my gear and headed home.  My son was coming up for tea and to watch the Aussie Rules football with me.  This was another successful activation with a total of 58 stations in my log.

The following stations were worked on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK3PMG
  2. VK3DBP
  3. VK3PF
  4. VK3FQSO
  5. VK5ZAR
  6. VK2YW
  7. VK5GJ
  8. VK2IO
  9. VK3FARO
  10. VK1HW
  11. VK5OI/m
  12. VK3OF
  13. VK5HS
  14. VK5KC
  15. VK5NQP
  16. VK5HCF
  17. VK5FANA
  18. VK4FFAB
  19. VK2NEO/m
  20. VK2FMIA
  21. VK3FLMR/m

The following stations were worked on 20m SSB:-

  1. VK7BRY
  2. VK2EJP
  3. VK2YK
  4. VK5BJE
  5. ON4VT
  6. DL1EBR
  7. VK2HOG
  8. I5FLN
  9. 2E0JJM
  10. F2YT
  11. SP5INQ
  12. HA6OB
  13. DL5EBG
  14. EA4DTV
  15. ON1JU
  16. VK2NN/m
  17. F4FTA
  18. F4ELJ
  19. DJ3GG
  20. VK3IJB/5
  21. S58AL
  22. DJ8QP
  23. EA3MP
  24. G0KIK
  25. SP6KEP
  26. VK2IO
  27. DL4PT
  28. S52KM
  29. DL2ND
  30. K1MAA
  31. CU3AC
  32. G0RQL
  33. DF1YQ
  34. OP7M
  35. G3MWV
  36. VK3FD/6
  37. ZD7VC

Parks presentation at AHARS

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On Thursday night (21st May 2015) I gave a quick presentation on the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program and the VK5 National and Conservation Parks Award.  It was just a quick 30 minute presentation to introduce the group to these 2 great park portable programs.

There were about 50 people in attendance including quite a few park activators and hunters, including John VK5BJE, David VK5KC, David VK5LSB, Doc VK5BUG, Greg VK5GJ, Norm VK5GI and David VK5AAH.

I took along my Yaesu FT857d, Yaesu FT817nd, a few antennas, a variety of power sources including SLAB battery, LiFePo, and 44 hour power pack, and also some certificates.

Photos above courtesy of John VK5EMI.

Hopefully it inspired a few more hams to get involved in portable activity.

Following the presentation, myself, John VK5BJE, David VK5KC, and Trevor VK5ATQ answered questions from the floor re our attendance at the recent 2015 WIA AGM in Canberra.

WWFF certificate

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Last Thursday evening (21st May 2015) I attended the Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society (AHARS) general meeting.  I was to deliver a presentation that night on the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program, and the VK5 National and Conservation Parks Award.

But prior to my presentation I was called up by Barry VK5BW, the AHARS President, who gave me a very nice surprise.  It was a  ‘Certificate of Excellence’ from the WWFF Council.

DSC_8328-BW&PAS-certificate-2W

Photo courtesy of John VK5EMI.

I learnt that the certificate had been sent all the way from Pit YO3JW in Romania, to Nick VK3ANL in Victoria and in turn it had been forwarded on to AHARS here in South Australia.  It came as a great surprise.

I would like to thank Pit and the rest of the WWFF Committee.  It was take great pride in my shack, along with my recent WIA Presidents certificate for my involvement in the WWFF program.

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Here’s what appeared on the WWFF ‘global’ website……

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And the WWFF Facebook site…..

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