20170430 - In The News

In the news this week with an Activation of Mt Kaputar by Brett VK2BNN, using an FT-817. He has been having some challenges with the power settings of his radio, but as the SOTA Australia group advised him, it was more likely to be an Antenna, rather than a power issue, which lead to the recommendation to set the radio to display SWR on transmit, a recommendation that is also useful for many other radios and mobile activators.

Andrew VK1DA is looking for information about the NESCAF audio filter kit as a way to provide some narrowing of the audio bandwidth of a receiver for use on CW. If you have any personal actual experience, Andrew would love to hear from you. Head over to the SOTA_Australia mailing list to get in touch.

[SOTA_Australia@yahoogroups.com.au]

Liz VK2XSE is looking for information about antenna masts in Adelaide and asks how antenna regulations work in VK5. You can get in touch with Liz via the WWFFAustralia list.

[wwffaustralia@yahoogroups.com.au]

Steve VK6SJ reminds us that the deadline for the June Edition of AR magazine is looming and he's looking for information from you and your club.

[steve@kennedy-sj.com.au]

Glenn VK3YY activated Mt Jalla, on Jeju Island in South Korea on the 13th of April, a 1950m peak and the highest summit in South Korea. He's written a blog about the adventure, complete with photos. Get the link from the vk6.net website.

[https://vk3yy.wordpress.com/2017/04/25/mt-halla-hallasan-hljj-001-sota/]

VKFF awards have this week been bestowed on Mario IS0LYN, John VK4TJ, Greg VK2EXA, Grant VK2LX, Murray VK4MWB and the VK6 SOTA Association Manager, John VK6NU. Congratulations to all.

John VK6NU also reminds us that if you ever hear someone calling CQ Parks, they're operating from a National Park and they need contacts for their log. You don't have to track the contacts, they will and if you keep it up, you'll find yourself receiving awards and glory, so, there's no excuse. You can find more information at the WWFF website, the Parks N Peaks site and the WWFF Australia site, links on vk6.net.

[http://wwff.co/] [http://parksnpeaks.org/] [http://www.wwffaustralia.com/]

Brian VK3MI shares with us that there were 23 VK stations on air during the 2017 Commonwealth Contest, an excellent turnout considering the poor conditions to our part of the world. There were 17 teams in the team category and our teams achieved 3rd and 6th placing – so a pretty decent outcome. Congratulations to all. You can find the results via the vk6.net website.

[http://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/hfresults.pl?Contest=Commonwealth%20Contest&year=2017]

The Daily DX revisits the deletion of KH4, Midway and Kure Island because they now form part of a Marine National Monument. Bill K5FUV goes into the deep history of the DXCC list, which included these islands since the inception of the DXCC program in 1937. For a fascinating read and a solid conclusion that the islands should be re-instated as DXCC entities, check out the article on the Daily DX. You'll find the link on vk6.net.

[http://www.dailydx.com/unfortunate-deletion-kh4-k5fuv-bill-kennamer/]

Alek VK6APK lets us know that the Bunbury Radio Club has managed to eradicate the mice in the repeater hut who took the VK6RBY 2m repeater off the air for a long time. Test kerchunks are welcome on 146.650 MHz.

And finally, Grant VK2GEL points us at a tranquil article on "The Benefits of Solitude" as the reason for doing SOTA and VKFF. The article investigates the positive effects of spending time alone.

On April 14, 1934, Richard Byrd went out for his daily walk. The air was the usual temperature: minus 57 degrees Fahrenheit. He stepped steadily through the drifts of snow, making his rounds. And then he paused to listen. Nothing.

He attended, a little startled, to the cloud-high and over-powering silence he had stepped into. For miles around the only other life belonged to a few stubborn microbes that clung to sheltering shelves of ice. It was only 4 p.m., but the land quavered in a perpetual twilight. There was—was there?—some play on the chilled horizon, some crack in the bruised Antarctic sky. And then, unaccountably, Richard Byrd’s universe began to expand.

Visit the vk6.net website for the link.

[https://thewalrus.ca/the-benefits-of-solitude/]

No doubt there was more news around, but we didn't see it and you didn't send it to us. The address is newswest@vk6.net.