2016 Spring VHF-UHF Field Day

[VK4ADC]

I made a total of 11 QSOs during a brief setup on Saturday afternoon, 10 on 6M SSB to VK1,2 and 3 plus a 2M SSB to Roy VK4ZQ up Brisbane way. I was set up under some nice shady trees adjacent to the Coolamon Lookout at Bangalow, height 180M ASL, along the old Pacific Highway near the turnoff to Byron Bay. (Grid QG61SI42.) The 2M and 70CM turnstile sections were up in the tree branches but that couldn't be helped as there were little enough options in parking space for the car with caravan attached.

I tried later from Kingscliff Caravan Park (QG61SS82) and heard VK3ER coming back to me but the signal was not strong enough to rise above the local electronic hash, well not strong enough to make a contact. I did hear VK7DX at one stage but wasn't quick enough to make the call back before he disappeared.

My original plan to operate for a longer period from the Bangalow spot was thwarted when I found that the deep cycle battery in the caravan had dropped a cell (and thus 2V off its output voltage) and then I was being conservative about using the IC7000 off the vehicle battery for too long.

73 Doug