 Hi folks,
The annual VK1 WInter SOTA QSO Party will be held on Sunday 7 August 2016. 2016 is the fourth consecutive year where VK1 SOTA tragics brave the Canberra cold weather to promote and demonstrate amateur radio to the ACT community. If you are new to SOTA or VKFF the VK1 Winter SOTA QSO Party is something to experience, either as an enthusiastic winter activator or chaser. For the uninitiated activator the VK1 Winter SOTA QSO Party is a coordinated activation of multiple VK1 summits where chasers and activators scramble to gain chaser or S2S points, pre and post UTC day change. Weather permitting, this year the VK1 SOTA QSO party will commence at 23:00 UTC +/- (15 min) and run for about 1.5 to 2 hours or for as long as the activator's battery/s holds out. Many of the VK1 local SOTA summits are within ACT Nature Parks (VKFF). No doubt there will be additional interest in P2P contacts plus the opportunity for VKFF hunters to pick up new VK1 Nature Parks. For activators in VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5, VK6, VK7 and VK8 please join in for a frantic session of S2S pileups as you compete with SOTA chasers to earn S2S and P2P points. Past VK1 Winter SOTA QSO Parties have proven to be so popular with chasers the SOTAWatch website didn't keep pace with the volume of VK spots. How do activators join in on the VK1 SOTA QSO Party? No permissions required, simply post a SOTA or VKFF alert for Sunday morning 7 August 2016. If you are considering visiting Canberra on Sunday 7 August 2016 please drop me an email. Following the mass SOTA activation, the VK1 group will hold a lunch at a local sports club, you are very welcome to join us. For SOTA and VKFF chasers now is the time organise a leave pass and plan an early breakfast in the comfort of your warm radio shack. :) The VK1 SOTA crew are looking forward to your participation. 73, Andrew VK1AD
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I have commenced assembling a sequel to “MF Down Under”: An edited VK-compendium of articles and projects for the 630m & 160m bands which sold out within 19 days of being released on 20 June 2016 to the USA Europe, NZ & all VK States.
The book sequel is “Enjoying LF-MF amateur radio away from home: 2200, 630 & 160m” and is aimed at encouraging those already operating outdoors to activate and chase all-mode activity on the low bands Its release timeline is approximately 12-months hence, less if contributions arrive early enough to enable that. I am calling for expressions of interest in being collaborative contributors to this adventure into this exciting, challenging yet under-utilised aspect of Amateur Radio. Quite a few submissions have already been received, but submission does not guarantee inclusion, as an appropriate balance of material is necessary. I am also soliciting input from amateurs around Australia & NZ as to what projects, information, advice and anecdotal feedback they would like to see included in such a compendium. As the compendium Editor, I will determine book content and layout, as well as project-managing the production and promotion for a similar publication format & quality that we have just enjoyed. It is a not-for-profit, cost-recovery undertaking, as was its predecessor. The draft content plan includes: Traditional QRP but on LF-MF bands as an extension to current SOTA, WWFF, VKFF, the VK Parks award activations & general club field day events. Worth noting is that neither 2200 nor 630m bands allow for contesting, which is in itself is not conducive to encouraging wider participation on these bands, in my opinion. Special ANZAC callsign activations on both MF bands (as detailed in “MF Down Under” Chapter 1 Article 3) has paved the way for sustaining this approach & also the inclusion of 2200m this time round. Mobile from the vehicle or boat/houseboat while underway. Portable, including from a stationary small “tinny” boat. Transportable – the option amateurs never seem to mention – where the home base station or a spare 100W rig & amp is taken on a holiday in the caravan, motorhome, campervan or boat. For those times when we are away for perhaps a week to 3 months & it might be worth the effort to plug into 240V AC @ caravan parks etc. Perhaps even a trailer-mounted MLA or other array. Construction projects: 630 & 160m transmitters, dedicated receivers, a transceiver or two, accessories and all-mode operation items. A range of effective aerial and ground system options to enhance the “away from home” activity, including some “outside the square” possibilities. In the toolbox: portable testing equipment & doing modifications on the run. Sharing of contributors’ LF-MF anecdotes. Commercial LF-MF kit and equipment reviews. Miscellaneous LF-MF Matters: maybe even some items that missed out last time round? This is a suggested inclusion list only & will obviously be tempered by the requests from amateurs as above, and material actually forthcoming from contributors. I have invited a couple of eminent overseas LF-MF colleagues to offer submissions for consideration. They have extensive & illuminating pedigrees, including international publication in the field, and have capacity to provide rich enhancement to this forthcoming publication. I may be contacted in the first instance via d.wd@bigpond.com Vy 73 de Doc/VK5BUG  Here is the most recent WIA Board Newsletter with information regarding governance training, VI9ANZAC, PLT interference, and more. 
Paul VK5PAS will be leading a team to the Cape Willoughby Lighthouse on Kangaroo Island again this year, for the ILLW http://illw.net/ to be held on 20-21 August 2016, and has asked for 9 or 10 volunteers to help man this event (not a contest). We have access to the accommodation at the site and have previously been able to use the lighthouse to support one end of the antennas, this will be a fairly unique and fun weekend for those that attend, and a good exercise in portable operation. Please contact Paul (vk5pas@wia.org.au) if you would like to participate and help out.  This year the team went to Womberoo near Swan Reach. They were operating in the section of multi operator portable and using the bands of 80mtrs, 40mtrs, 20mtrs, 15 and 10mtrs from a Kenwood TS-680S on a dipole, an IC706Mk2G on an inverted ‘V’ and an TS2000 on an off centre dipole and managed to rack up a total of 180 contacts for a score of 360 points.
As a result they managed to get a credible 4th place in the 24hr Multi operator section as per below :- Call Sign Operators Mode Band Locator Contacts Score Award VK5BAR Multi Phone HF PF95SL 180 360 4 /+certificate Well done to all, it's nice to see that AHARS is once again on the National scene in contesting, and the information below about the ILLW is another opportunity for you to have fun weekend and add to that as well. |
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