XPost: rec.radio.amateur.moderated, aus.radio.amateur.misc, rec.radio.amateur.equipment

VK5PAS

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Our tallies as VK100AF and VI100AF.

Posted: 17 Aug 2021 06:03 PM PDT https://vk5pas.org/2021/08/18/our-tallies-as-vk100af-and-vi100af/

Between March and August, Marija VK5MAZ and myself were honoured to use the special event callsigns of VK100AF and VI100AF, to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the Royal Australian Air Force.
We would like to thank Stuie VK8NSB who organised the event. He did a fantastic job putting it all together.
Marija and me were one of around 50 amateurs who took part using the
calls. VI100AF was on air from March until the end of May. VK100AF
remains on air until the end of August.


We had the 2 callsigns on 9 different occasions. We made a total of 3,078 QSOs. This was into 66 different DXCC entities.
Countries worked were:-

AlaskaAntarcticaAsiatic RussiaAustraliaAustriaBalearic IslandsBelarusBelgiumBosnia-HerzegovinaBulgariaCanadaCanary IslandsCayman IslandsChinaCroatiaCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkEnglandEstoniaEuropean RussiaFederal Republic of GermanyFijiFinlandFranceGeorgiaGreeceGuadeloupeHawaiiHungaryIndonesiaIrelandIsraelItalyJapanLatviaLord
Howe IslandMaltaMoroccoNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNorthern IrelandNorwayPanamaPhilippinesPolandPortugalPuerto RicoRepublic of KoreaRomaniaScotlandSlovak RepublicSloveniaSouth AfricaSouth Cook IslandsSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTajikistanThailandUkraineUnited States of AmericaVirgin IslandsWake IslandWales
The map below shows our contacts around the world.


During March, April, May, June, and July we found that long path 20m band conditions into Europe & the UK were good. Unfortunately there was
virtually no long path propagation during August.
The map below shows our contacts into Europe.


Our 40m antenna is a rotatable dipole at about 55 feet, and with 100 watts,
it is difficult to make good contacts on that band into the USA. However,
we did make a few, and also made North American contacts on 20m.
The map below shows our contacts into North America and the Carribean.


We only found some propagation on the 15m band to Asia during March, and
very little if any on 10m, so we did not make a lot of contacts into Asia.
The map below shows our contacts into that part of the world.


We were very happy to make some contacts on 20m into Africa. The map below shows our contacts into that part of the world.


Most of our contacts were on the 40m band as can be seen in the graph below.

10m 27 QSOs15m 32 QSOs20m 1,137 QSOs40m 1,256 QSOs80m 624 QSOs


THANK YOU to everyone who called us between March and August whilst we had
the calls. We had a terrific time and it was a real honour to be able to
use the special event callsigns. Thanks to Stuie VK8NSB for asking us to
take part.
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VK100AF for the last time

Posted: 17 Aug 2021 06:00 PM PDT https://vk5pas.org/2021/08/18/vk100af-for-the-last-time/

Marija VK5MAZ and myself had VK100AF for the very last time on Saturday
14th, Sunday 15th, & Monday 16th August 2021.


I had a short go with the callsign on Saturday morning leading up to the Remembrance Day

(RD) Contest. I did not use the special event call for the
RD, rather entering the contest under my own call. After a sleep on Sunday afternoon after the completion of the RD, I made a few more calls as
VK10AF. Then on Monday I was in and out of the shack, jumping on air
wherever possible. On Sunday evening Marija made a number of contacts on
the 80m band.
All up, a bit quieter for us this time around, with a total of 160 QSOs in
the log. The map below shows our contacts.


Very little DX was around this time around, with just 6 DXCC entities
worked.

AntarcticaAustraliaEnglandNew ZealandSpainUnited States of America.
The majority of our contacts were around Australia and New Zealand, as can
be seen in the map below.


We worked just 2 USA stations, one in California and one in Virginia.


We made just 2 contacts into Europe and the United Kingdom: John EA7BA in
Spain and John G0OUF in England.


Thanks to everyone who called us.
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2021 Remembrance Day Contest

Posted: 17 Aug 2021 05:54 PM PDT https://vk5pas.org/2021/08/18/2021-remembrance-day-contest/

Over the past weekend

(Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th August 2021) I took part
in the annual Remembrance Day

(RD) Contest.
The RD Contest commemorates the Amateurs who died during World War II and
is designed to encourage friendly participation and help improve the
operating skills of participants.
The RD is held on the weekend closest to the 15th August, the date on which hostilities ceased in the southwest Pacific area. The aim is to make
contact with as many amateurs in VK call areas, New Zealand

(ZL) and Papua
New Guinea

(P29).


Below is a list of the WIA members who paid the supreme sacrifice.
Royal Australian Navy
J.E. Mann VK3IE
A.H.G. Rippon VK6GR
Australian Military Forces
C.D. Roberts VK2JV
J.D. Morris VK3DQ
J. McCandlish VK3HN
S.W. Jones VK3SF
D.A. Laws VK4DR
J.G. Phillips VK5BW
K.S. Anderson VK6KS
Royal Australian Air Force
F.W.S. Easton VK2BQ
V.J.E. Jarvis VK2VJ
W. Abbott VK2YK
G.C. Curle VK2AJB
T. Stephens VK3GO
M.D. Orr VK3OR
J.F. Colthrop VK3PL
J.A. Burrage VK3UW
J.E. Snadden VK3VE
F.J. Starr VK4FS
R. Allen VK4PR
C.A. Ives VK5AF
B. James VK5BL
J.E. Goddard VK6JG
P.P. Paterson VK6PP
Merchant Marine
N.E. Gunter VK3NG
R.P. Veall VK3PV
Last year I had just moved to my current QTH at Ashbourne and I did not
have a dedicated amateur radio station set up, so I operated from the back verandah with my portable station. I made a total of 402 contacts running
just the Yaesu FT-857d, 40 watts, and a 20/40/80 m linked dipole.
This year I had my shack all set up and tower in the air. I ran the Yaesu FT-2000, 100 watts, with the antennas being a 40m rotatable dipole, an 80m
home brew dipole, and a 5 element tri band yagi.
I made a total of 870 QSOs with a claimed score of 1,038 points.


This year I operated from the start of the contest at 0300 UTC on Saturday

(12.30 p.m. local time) until 0300 UTC on Sunday

(12.30 p.m. local time)
when I started to fall asleep at the radio & computer. I tried to stay
awake as long as I could after 1.00 a.m. as points were trebled between
1.00 a.m. and 6.00 a.m. local time. But my eyelids didnt win the battle.
I went to bed at 3.00 a.m. and came back out into the shack at about 5.30
a.m. sneaking in a couple of hours of sleep.
The graph below shows my operating activity over the 24 hour period.


I operated on the 80m, 40m, & 20m bands on SSB, with the majority of my contacts being on the 80m band.

80m 407 QSOs40m 373 QSOs20m 90 QSOs
The graph below shows my contacts on the three bands.


The map below shows my contacts during the contest around Australia and New Zealand. I wasnt called by anybody outside of VK and ZL, with those
contacts not counting for the contest. The highlight of the RD contest for
me was to be called by Paul VK0PD at Casey Station, Antarctica. Sadly
there were not a huge number of ZL stations participating. I logged 15 different New Zealand stations. I did not hear any stations from P29 land.


The map below shows my contacts around mainland Australia and Tasmania.
The majority of my contacts were into Victoria with a total of 301 QSOs.
This was followed by 156 into New South Wales.

VK1 13
VK2 156
VK3 301
VK4 93
VK5 94 VK6 106
VK7 91
VK8 0
VK9 0
VK0 1
Of the 870 QSOs, a total of 402 were different callsigns. In the RD, you
could call the same station after a three hour period.


The graph below shows my contacts per State/Territory.


The map below shows my contacts around Victoria.


The map below shows my contacts around New South Wales.


The map below shows my contacts around Western Australia.


The Map below shows my contacts around South Australia.


The map below shows my contacts around Queensland.


The map below shows my contacts around Tasmania.


The map below shows my contacts into New Zealand.


The map below shows my contacts per band. The red markers are for 40m, the blue for 80m, and the orange for 20m. It was pleasing to be able to work
New Zealand on 20, 40, & 80m.


The graph below shows my activity on the 80m band. I started off on 80m
before it became dark and continued on into the evening. The 80m band was working beautifully, with lots of very strong signals. More importantly,
was the absence of any significant status crashes.


Below is a screen shot of VK5BAR Ironstone Range Kiwi SDR showing the
activity on 80m at 1.06 a.m. SA local time, showing all the activity with stations taking advantage of the treble points.


The graph below shows my activity on the 40m band. Once it was dark, I
found 40m virtually unusable, with very few VK & ZL stations to be heard.


The graph below shows my activity on the 20m band. Contacts on this band
were made into VK1, VK2, VK4, VK6, VK0, and New Zealand. It was very
pleasing to work a total of 37 VK6 stations.


The screen snot below of the Croydon Victoria Kiwi SDR shows the flurry of activity on 40m just before the end of the contest on Sunday afternoon.


Thank you to everyone who called. I had a lot of fun.


References.

WIA, 2021, <https://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/rdcontest/>, viewed
16th August 2021

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