Tuesday 23 April 2024
It looked as if the day would be a quiet one for amateur radio activities. I needed to drive to Maffra for the commemoration of the life of David Scott VK3DY, who passed away in late March. David had entered the Remembrance Day Contest for 70 consecutive years. David was heavily involved over the years in the two local amateur radio clubs in Gippsland and had been awarded honorary Life Membership of both clubs.
Not long after having left home, I did manage to work Paul VK5PAS/p in Thorny Passage Marine Park VKFF-1751 from the vehicle.
Upon reaching my destination, I found a spot to park and headed into the service. Two local amateurs were amongst those who spoke about David’s life. I think that 14 amateurs were in attendance.
After the service, I headed down to near the Macalister River and parked at a location close to the Gippsland Plains Rail Trail.
Gippsland Plains Rail Trail AU-7533
Maffra Silos VK-MFA3
On switching on the radio, I heard contacts being made on 7.144 MHz. I waited for my chance and worked Paul VK3AHM in Alpine National Park VKFF-0619. Paul was camped to the north of Licola, so not a large distance away. I then saw a spot for Paul VK5PAS/p on 20 m in VKFF-1102, so quickly changed from the 40 m whip to the Hampark antenna, with the wander lead set for 14 MHz. I soon had Paul in the log. I moved up in frequency and soon worked another eight stations. When I had no further callers, I swapped back to the 40 m whip and spotted. I worked seven stations fairly quickly, including 2 Silo to Silo contacts. I then decided that it was time to head off to the wake.
After a snack and a glass or two of water, and chatting to several of the amateur radio operators at the wake, I headed back to the vehicle to start the journey home. Being a delightful autumn day, I opted for a detour from the direct route, heading instead to have another look at a Reference not previously activated.
Just as I was getting underway, another spot came through. I soon had Paul VK5PAS/p in VKFF-1050 in the log. I drove out towards Newry and then towards Upper Maffra West before heading SW to reach the area of interest.
Macalister River Streamside Reserve VKFF-3759
Tinamba West Silos VK-TNT3
I had spent some time exploring the mapping for this Reference. MapshareVic shows that this Reserve is under a Grazing Licence. Satellite imagery indicates that most of the Reserve is part of working farming operations. As such, permission to access the Reserve will need to be granted by the Licence holder. An added complication is that the Reserve has a small section on the northern side of the river. Access from the northern side is likely under the control of a different landholder.. An attraction of access the main portion of the Reserve is that much of the Reserve is inside the activation zone of the nearby Tinamba West silos.
Access from the Macalister River itself might be possible, but the river banks are predominantly under heavy vegetation cover within the Reserve boundary, with very thick undergrowth from the bridge upstream towards the Reserve.
The easily identified house close to the Reserve is occupied by staff working for the property owner. The occupants cannot grant permission to access the Reserve. As I approached the house, I saw that a vehicle was parked beside the dwelling. I parked near the house, went to the front door and knocked. I explained who I was and my desire to access the Reserve. The occupant retrieved her mobile phone and rang the property owner. I was soon explaining my request to the owner. I was fortunate – permission to access was granted.
I first looked at the area to the west of the house, taking care to avoid the vehicle traffic associated with fodder harvesting to the west of the Reserve. As well as being close to the house and a powerline, the area was a bit scrubby with weeds. I ended up entering the property from Heyfield-Upper Maffra West Road via a gate between the house and the river. The paddock contained a group of cows in calf. I carefully drove across the paddock towards the centre-pivot irrigator system until I was sure that I was inside the Reserve boundary, checking the location with Gaia Maps. I was also inside the activation zone of the Tinamba West Silos. I stopped and retrieved my drive-on mast stand from the rear of the vehicle and soon had the stand under a wheel at the rear of the vehicle. I then turned off the vehicle and proceeded to set up the antenna and station after having posted a Spot advising that I would soon be on air.
I used my 12 m Spiderbeam pole lashed to the drive-on stand. The doublet centre was at about 11.5 m above ground and the ends of the halyard lines simply tied off to tufts of grass. As there were cows in the paddock, I set up inside the vehicle, with the IC-7300 on the front passenger seat.
On switching on the radio, sitting on 7.144 MHz, I heard Brett VK3MCA/p operating from VK3/VC-014. I soon had Brett in the log and moved up in frequency. The next eight minutes were hectic, with 19 contacts logged. The last few contacts were despite a building signal from an Italian station calling CQ DX on the same frequency. I moved up another 5 kHz and respotted. The callers were quickly upon me. I ended up with a total of 46 contacts on 40 m SSB, in only 43 minutes.
I moved to 20 m SSB and soon had Steve KG5CIK in the log. I spotted myself and started calling. 15 minutes of calling saw another 17 contacts in the log. But by then the wall of EU callers had appeared. I had worked a few EU stations before I decided to swap to CW. As soon as I moved, I heard Steve KG5CIK calling. I worked another three stations before another EU station started calling CQ on the same frequency, so I moved up a few kHz. I soon worked another eight stations, but the wall of sound from the EU operators calling on top of each other became frustrating. I took the easy choice and moved to 40 m CW.
Here I worked seven stations fairly quickly before I jumped up to 20m SSB to work Paul VK5PAS/p in VKFF-1751. I then returned to 40 m CW, working another five stations.
When there were no further callers, I moved back to 40 m SSB and spotted. I worked another 12 stations and then closed. During that period, one of the cows was having a good scratch using the tow ball at the rear of the car, an interesting experience! I had been on air for about 110 minutes and had 101 contacts in the log.
I then packed up, drove back out to the road and then started the drive home. On the way out, I rang the property owner to advise that I was out, leaving a message to that effect when the call went to voice mail. Anyone wishing to activate the Reserve can make contact with me to request contact details for the landholder.
Many thanks to all who called.
vk3pf 
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