VK4KC Marty’s Ham Radio Adventures

 Lamington National Park VKFF-0280, POTA VK-1259 Scott VK4CZ has regularly activated from this national park and advised me that Kamarun lookout is the best place to activate from.  It just so happened that Scott was going to be there the same day to run his microwave gear. He was setting up when I arrived at 10:15 am. I forgot to take photos of my setup but I have a few photos of the area and views. There were a few Gold Coast hams up there checking out Scott’s setup. There was a young lad, Jack VK4ADW who recently got his licence. He was keen to also activate this park, he also had not worked on HF so he used my gear and made 12 contacts.  I made 45 contacts, 10 of which were FT8.  I strapped the 10 metre spider pole to a wooden post and setup in the sheltered area. This is one of my favourite locations to activate from. Wonderful views!

 Tingalpa Creek Conservation Park, VKFF-1660, POTA VK-1054 Arrived at 6:15am. You can drive into this park but I was able to park just outside near the locked gate. There are power lines above the gate so I walked into the park about 70 metres.  I had to make a few trips as I housed the 7300 and associated gear.  Used the 10 metre sota beams pole with a EFHW for 40m and inverted V dipole for 20m. I made at total of 22 contacts, 15 voice and 7 FT8. The photos below show setup location and gear. 

 Bukkulla Conservation Park VKFF-1489, POTA VK-1479 About one hour drive north of Rockhampton at Marlborough head east on Glen Praire Rd and drive for about 20 minutes. The yellow X marks the spot where I activated. There is a large dam on the other side of the road so it is easy to located where this locked gate is. The bottom rung of the barbed wire fence is quite high so I was able to crawl under and activation just inside the park boundary. There is a star picket in the ground in which I was able to strap my Sotabeams pole to and use the linked dipole.

 Newport Conservation Park VKFF-1622, POTA VK-1150 About 1.5 hours drive north of Rockhampton turn off the Bruce hwy on to St Lawerance Croydon road and head east. Once you get to St Lawerance follow the signs to the boat ramp. It is about 10 minute drive from St Lawerance to Newport conservation park. I tested the mud/salt flat before driving on it. It seemed firm so I drove out on the flat area and into the park boundary. The yellow X marks the spot I activated from. S

Bullyard conservation Park VKFF-1491, POTA VK-1475 You can operate from your vehicle in this park. From Bullyard take Delan Rd, on the left there is a sign that says Bullyard conservation park (see photo below). Just to the left of this sign is a track that enters the park.  About 50 metres in on this track this is a small section where it is within the park boundary (see images below) Good phone reception with Telstra and Optus. W

Calliope Conservation Park VKFF-1499, POTA VK-1463 Heading south on Calliope River Rd on the left soon after the start of the park the is a dirt road where there are some empty small buildings.  This parking area is within the park.  There are quite a few power lines in this area which do generate some noise on some of the bands.  There is phone reception on Telstra and Optus.

Limestone Creek Conservation Park VKFF-1580, POTA VK-1257 Just north of Rockhampton this park can be activated from your vehicle.  This is my third activation of this park. There are some buildings in this park in the south east corner with a good size car park where I operated from my car. Mobile phone coverage fine withTelstra and Optus. 

Cape Palmerston National Park VKFF-0080, POTA VK-1453 This has been one of my favourite parks to activate due to being beside the beach. From Ilbilbie take Greenhill Rd east. Turn left into Cape Palmerston Rd. At the end of this road there will be the sign of the National park. The road then heads east then north till you get to the car park beside the beach.  I made 46 contacts. Good phone coverage on Telstra and Optus.