Maroochy Wetlands Conservation Park VKFF-1589, POTA VK-1231 A 1km walk is required from the car park to be within the park boundary. The are mangrove wetlands so there is a raised boardwalk that runs from the visitors centre to the river. There is a large sheltered area with seating near the river which is where I activated. I got 52 contacts including park to parks with Bob VK2BYF, Colin VK2VAR (SSB) and K7CAR in Arizona via FT8. I had phone reception on Optus. Insect repellent is a must. I used the 7300 with 100 amp/hr battery and laptop for FT8. I used an old pram base to load all the gear on to.
A quick activation Friday morning at Darwin before heading to the airport to take a flight back home to Brisbane. From the entry gates driving to the main car park I passed many munition depots that we’re used in the 2nd world war. One of them is open as a WW2 display but due to lack of time that will need to wait till my next visit to Darwin. At the entry there was a sign warning the public to cover up due to small biting insects. I didn’t think much of this at the time but it certainly was a problem when I was setting up. From the car park there is a large grassed area with picnic tables and permanent gazebo shelters. I noticed a lookout platform where I took a couple of photos, one showing Darwin in the distance. To the north of the lookout there was a gazebo with a large tree right next to it which is were I hoisted the inverted V dipole with strong fishing line. From the time I got out of the car to the time I began setting up I was being bitten by very small sand...
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!
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