VK4KC Marty’s Ham Radio Adventures

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.

 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.