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On Monday evening I checked the weather forecast and the Bureau of Meteorology suggested a fine and sunny day for Adelaide.I decided that I would activate Kenneth Stirling Conservation Park at the Wottons Scrub Block. This park has four sections and a fuller description can be found at my earlier post on this park dating from April 2016.

On that occasion I made 51 contacts thus activating the park for the WWFF award. Here is a link to that activation – https://vk5bje.com/category/amateur-radio/sa-conservation-parks/kenneth-stirling-conservation-park/

I set up my station in the same location. But just about everything had changed – previously I used a second hand Yaesu 897D and a Sota beams linked dipole antenna. I no longer own the 897D – it was a good radio but a bit too big and I mainly used 10, sometimes 20 watts, so I purchased a Yaesu 857D, the same radio apparently in a smaller package. I had it with me yesterday but did not use it. My set up is now an IC705 and the matching AH5 tuner, a 12 amp hour LiFePO4 battery and two home made antennas. One is a linked dipole for 40 and 20 metres and the other is a linked dipole for 15, 17 and 10 metres.

I set up for 15 metres and did not get a contact. I did not try 17 but moved to 40 metres after changing the antenna. Propagation was strange. Signals came and went in seconds I could get a word, for example, a callsign and not hear the rest of the transmission. This happened with VK2IO on 20 metres. There was also echo on some signals. I was told by others who were activating parks on the east coast that they had similar experiences. At least it wasn’t a total black-out. I was told what we experienced was the end of solar storms and ejections and that conditions will probably stabilise in a day or two! A check of some of the sun weather internet sites confirmed what I was told and what I had suspected, that the earth was in a direct path from a storm on the sun; a second wave, on Monday.

I enjoyed the following contacts on 40 metres before transferring to 20 metres.

01:44 Z VK3BEZ/P in VKFF-0753 Brian

VK2RK Robert

VK2ACR Robert

VK5IS, 59 56 There was an interesting echo on Ian’s voice.

VK5GY Gordon

VK5LA Andy

VK3PF Peter

VK3MTT Therese

VK2IO Gerard

VK4JT John

VK5KAA Gordon

VK3BWS/P in VKFF-0747 Barry

20 metres 02:37 Z

ZL1BQD 51 52 Roly

VK3BWS/P in VKFF-0747 Barry

VK5HAA John

VK4EMP Mark Brisbane

VK4TJ John

ZL1TM 52 57Andrei

Thank you to the successful callers and to those who tried to make a two way contact.