G'day All,

You'd be aware that the Spring VHF/UHF Field Day Weekend is coming up over the weekend of the 25th & 26th of November.

Given the elevated activity over the past six months, particularly in the eastern states, as well as the proliferation of new gear as well as newcomers and returnees, I suspect the Spring FD will be a belter, particularly in VK2, VK3, VK4, VK7 plus I'm sure the Microwave Mafia in VK5 will be keen to get amongst it as well as the other states.

I've heard that quite a number of uWave retirees in VK3 are going to make a comeback.

If the string of Microwave Activity Days over the past six months in various states are anything to go by, I'm tipping it's going to be a target rich environment compared to recent years.

So blow the dust of that gear, give it a quick tweak, shoehorn everything into your vehicle, head for your favorite brokeback mountain and work as many stations that you can from 6m and upwards.

Post here what your plans are.

Keep an eye on the VK-Spotter... Vk Spotter

Post your location on the Contest Radar... Contest Radar

Finally, don't forget to have plenty of fun and laughs with your mates along the way and remember what happens on the FD weekend, stays on the FD weekend... unless it's a really good yarn!

Cheers,

Possibility of an ATV broadcast on 23cm or 2.4GHz during the Sparing VHf/UHF FD Saturday night.

I’ve had a thought. Here we go, I hear you say. When things quieten down on the Saturday night of the upcoming Spring VHF/UHF FD weekend (Sat 25th), I was thinking of doing a short live OB from the VK3KQ/P Enfield station at QF12VG later on Saturday night using an Icom IC-905 on 23cm or 2.4GHz, depending on feedback & ideas from those on this list. I’ve got 18el on 23cm at 10W and a 2ft gridpack on 2.4GHz at 2W. I’ll be pointing towards Melbourne. I’ll have a camera or two and a vision/audio switcher running into an HDMI to composite converter then into the IC-905. I’ll probably post up on the VK-Spotter when we’re transmitting. I’m not sure how successful it’s going to be, it’s going to be a bit of a stretch, given the distance into Melb. But we’ll give it a shot.
 
So if you’ve got an IC-905, you will hopefully receive our video/audio signal and watch it on the front display of your IC-905 or if you wish to view it on an external monitor, grab one of these from Jaycar… https://www.jaycar.com.au/digitech-compo...r/p/AC1722 and an AV cable like this… https://www.jaycar.com.au/3-x-rca-plugs-...m/p/WV7345
 
As for the band to use, I’ll be guided by your ideas & recommendations and anyone from the Melb ATV group for a recommended frequency. Looking at the WIA bandplan, we’ve got a few options, but I don’t wish to clash with any VK3RTV DVB operations. Again, it’s a bit of a long shot…

Channel 1: Simplex or repeater inputs
FM Maximum bandwidth 18 MHz, centred on 1250 MHz
DVB Bandwidth 7 MHz, centred on 1246 MHz or 1255 MHz
Channel 2: Simplex or repeater outputs
FM Maximum bandwidth 18 MHz, centred on 1283 MHz
DVB Bandwidth 7 MHz, centred on 1278 or 1287 MHz

Channel 1 (secondary): Simplex or repeater output
FM or DVB Maximum bandwidth 18 MHz, centred on 2415 MHz
DVB Bandwidth 7 MHz, centred on 2411 or 2419 MHz
Channel 2 (primary): Simplex or repeater input
FM or DVB Maximum bandwidth 18 MHz, centred on 2439 MHz
DVB Bandwidth 7 MHz, centred on 2435 or 2443 MHz

Cheers,