John Moyle Field Day 18-19 March 2017

[VK2ZIW]

It's a bit early for Contest Radar so who will be where?

BMARC is mooted to be at the Katoomba Airport (Medlow Bath) - John VK2QN.

Please add your site?

Alan VK2ZIW looking for a club going somewhere nearer than Coonabarabran.

[VK4ADC]

I was about to create a JMMFD forum entry to spark some interest but I have been beaten to it by Alan.

Rules in full at http://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/johnmoyle/

Weather permitting, I will be out portable but will be limited to HF ( 3.5, 7, 14, 21 and 28MHz) plus 6M, 2M and 70CM SSB and FM. I can't put up the microwave mast on the FD trailer if I have the portable HF antennas set up as there just isn't enough physical separation to rotate the microwave array.

Destination is currently up for grabs but probably somewhere up in the Gold Coast Hinterland, QG61????.
I only plan to operate for the 6 hour segment during Saturday afternoon.

Doug

[VK4ADC]

BUMP...

Now less than two (2) weeks away... Are you making your plans and preparations as yet ??

[VK2ZIW]

Update for BMARC:

Katoombah Airfield not available, now Mt. Ovens, (near Bathurst).

(Mt Freezing!!)

Alan VK2ZIW

[VK4ADC]

BUMP AGAIN.

It's only a week away now - next Saturday and Sunday...

The weather is not looking good again for SE Q'ld for next weekend with increasing rain forecast for later in the week. I may not be going anywhere although I have spotted somewhere new on Google Earth, only about 1/2 hour south of here at 230M ASL and bitumen road access. I will probably go for a drive in the next few days to see if it is physically accessible and radio quiet (no power line noise). It is not in QG61 but them's the breaks.

http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/forecasts/brisbane.shtml

[VK4ADC]

It seems like there are only two of us using the forum who are participating - and I find that a little hard to believe - and will make for a very quiet JMFD if that is the case.

My portable plans are presently in disarray. I checked out the spot mentioned in my previous post yesterday and the overhead power lines and tree branches would make it impossible to put up my VHF or UHF yagi arrays, although my 3-band turnstile set would probably fit. Two of the nearby bushland sites that I have activated in previous times have now been blocked off with concrete barriers with large No Motor Vehicle signs posted so they are off the potentials list One siting issue is making sure there is enough room to erect the multi-band trapped inverted V for HF (80-10m), preferably roughly east-west, with the fallback position of using my squid-pole vertical wire and matching transformer. I have been researching some other possible "portable" sites on Google Earth but still not really sure where I would go. It seems that almost everywhere I find is a no-go / no-access zone these days. (At least G.E. makes it possible to look around a bit without making a physical visit.) A drive around some likely spots looks inevitable tomorrow as that will determine if I even go portable for this event. { I usually start on my preparation on the Thursday so I have a chance to discover if there is something missing out of the kit before I depart - one of the advantages of being retired }.

The weather outlook for Saturday for SEQ still doesn't look terrific:
Brisbane area: "Cloudy. High (70%) chance of showers. The chance of a thunderstorm later in the day. Winds southerly 25 to 40 km/h tending southeasterly 25 to 35 km/h during the day"
& Gold Coast : "Cloudy. High (80%) chance of showers. The chance of a thunderstorm later in the day. Winds southerly 30 to 40 km/h turning southeasterly 25 to 40 km/h during the day."

[VK3QI]

There should be some good activity from VK3 this weekend with the weather looking favourable.

We will be out at our usual place QF22dm McLaughlin's lookout with HF and VHF/UHF/Microwaves.

Hopefully some VK1 and VK2 stations can get out and about as well this year, compared with the lousy weather last year.

And 6 metres opens up to VK4 and ZL and beyond!

Cheers

Peter VK3QI (VK3ER/p)

[VK4ADC]

I have most of the FD setup ready for this weekend BUT my XYL made me aware of this update on the Higgins Stormchasing website this morning https://higginsstormchasing.com/low-pres...qld-nensw/ :


"Low pressure system forecast to hit Brisbane, SEQLD & NENSW

PLEASE READ!!! HEADS UP SEVERE WEATHER ALERT THIS WEEKEND for the South East Coast, Darling Downs and Granite Belt in QLD, Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast in NSW. Issued on Thursday 16/3/17.

A strong low pressure system is currently forecast to cross the coast near Brisbane this weekend bringing a severe weather threat to South East and Southern inland QLD. There is a significant flood risk to North East NSW during the weekend with a further 300mm of rain forecast from this system.

Current high resolution computer model forecast data develops a very strong trough along the New South Wales coast with a low offshore from South East Queensland during Friday. This low then rapidly moves West on Saturday slamming North East NSW and South East QLD with strong to damaging winds, heavy rain and damaging surf. During Sunday it is expected to continue West through Southern and South East inland QLD producing heavy rain and strong winds, not just to inland regions but also continuing along the coast. Subscribe to HSC for detailed 3 day storm and rainfall forecast maps across QLD and NSW here!

In South East QLD on Saturday and Sunday the highest risk areas for severe weather is currently forecast to be South of a line from about Brisbane to Dalby near to the lows center and anywhere South of it. This threat may also extend further North to include the Sunshine Coast and adjacent inland areas depending on EXACTLY where the low crosses the coast. Major locations including the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Ipswich, Gatton, Beaudesert, Toowoomba and Warwick could see very heavy rain up to 100mm causing flash flooding. Strong to damaging winds up to 100kms per hour are also possible along the exposed coast and elevated terrain developing late on Saturday continuing into early Sunday. Damaging and dangerous surf of 3 to 5 metres is likely to develop along the South QLD Coast during the weekend. On Monday and Tuesday the wet weather continues across the South East while spreading further North to include the Wide Bay & Burnett and Capricornia districts. This will be due to a very moist onshore flow producing scattered showers.

In North East NSW the equation is more simple… Recent widespread heavy rainfall of 100 to 200mm has already fallen from Port Macquarie North to the QLD border causing flash flooding and saturating catchments. Heavy rain is forecast to return late Friday and last through the weekend with a further 150 to 300mm likely over the same area. This heavy rain will cause a significant flash flood and river flood risk to these areas. Strong to possibly damaging Southerly winds are forecast to develop along the Central and North coasts during Friday. Winds then turn strong to possibly damaging Easterlies late on Saturday through the Mid North Coast and Northern Rivers. Damaging and dangerous surf of 3 to 5 metres is likely to develop along the North East Coast during the weekend. Scattered showers are likely to continue on Monday and Tuesday.

We are urging everyone to keep up with the latest forecasts and warnings during the next 4 days, especially over the weekend! Should forecast changes and amendments be required we will do so to this post while producing new ones. You will see “updated” at the top or a link to the new forecast. Stay safe everyone and remember IF IT’S FLOODED FORGET IT! "

I will make a final decision about going portable tomorrow morning (Sat, 18th) but it is not looking too promising for any SE Q'ld operations over the weekend. I will operate from home (on the same bands HF, 6,2,70) if going portable is not a reasonable option.

The rules are at http://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/johnmoyle/

Note the times on the 18th-19th March 2017 will run from UTC 0100 on the Saturday to 0059 on the Sunday.

The contest rules for 2017 remained modified to ensure more logs are submitted, by requiring that if any station works the same station a total of more than 10 times on any band or on any mode then the logs from both station should be submitted to verify those contacts.

Doug VK4ADC

[VK4ADC]

Well I chickened out of going portable at 8AM Saturday morning after watching very dark clouds come in from the SSE / South/ SSW direction. My portable destination had about 80mm of rain logged the Friday afternoon while we had 36mm (in about 15 minutes) at home, and it was considered all too chancy to go. In hindsight, I should have braved the elements like so many others and gone and done the portable bit. It was all ready to load into the vehicle too, maybe half an hour to get it all loaded, half an hours travel, probably the same to set up.

It was good to hear and work so many portable stations during my 6 hour activity period though, from all over VK and even one ZL, on 80, 40 and 20M. Some commented that it was raining heavily at the time and at least one wondered whether their party would be able to leave their site due to the rain. What was disappointing was that there was only ONE station operating on VHF/UHF from South East VK4 in a portable capacity (Grant VK4JAZ on Tamborine on 2FM) yet there was a bunch in Northern NSW and I managed to work Graham VK2QJ/p on 6, 2 and 70 SSB at a distance of 280Km once in each 3 hour block. I worked only one other VK4 callsign on VHF/UHF - a very poor showing from SE VK4.

I was all ready to start operating from the home QTH at 0100UTC but VKCL reminded me of the 3 hour block arrangement so I deferred my start until after an early lunch to 0200UTC. I then worked until 0800UTC giving me the requisite 6 hours. Sometimes it is worthwhile reviewing the rules to maximise the scoring options - in my case it meant 2 hours in the first block, then three and finally one hour into a third block.

I hope others post details of their outings..... and also remember to get their logs uploaded.

[VK2ZIW]

My wife and I were all packed for JMFW, drove to site Sat morning. All wet.

What do we do, visit friends. Went to Bathurst, where it was dry believe it or not.

Disappointing, yes, we helped a friend preparing to move so something good
came of the day.

Oh well, next year.

Alan VK2ZIW

[VK3QI]

Good morning,

VK3ER/p operated successfully from our usual spot on McLaughlin Lookout (825 metres A.S.L.).

Weather was excellent(!) - so typical of Victoria at this time of the year.

We were entertained by 2 legs of the Australian Rally Car championship immediately adjacent to our site on the Saturday a.m. and p.m.

Operations from 80mx through to 24 Ghz.

The only disappointment was the lack of portable stations from the east of VK3 and into VK1 - the propagation was certainly there, with the VK3RGI beacon on 2.4 Ghz loud and clear all weekend.

There is some drone footage of our site plus some of the rally cars as they screamed past.

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Cheers

Peter VK3QI (VK3ER/p)

[VK3QI]

2017 JOHN MOYLE FD RESULTS are out on the WIA website.
Cheers

Peter VK3QI

[VK4ADC]

http://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/johnmoyle/