Summer VHF UHF Field Day 2024

SARC members Pat VK2FAAD, Graham VK2BWC & Graeme VK2QJ made the trip Friday morning to Vista Point, arriving just in time for lunch.

The weather held out, allowing the setup of 2m – 6cm to be completed before nightfall, receive testing of the Brisbane beacon (300km) successful on all bands. Graham headed home late afternoon, after an enjoyable time assisting with setup.

David VK2JUB and son Aydan arriving just before dark, we all pitched in to get his camp setup for the night before settling in for a few light refreshments and chat.

Saturday morning saw the setup of David’s 6m & main 70cm station along with the my 3cm gear, receive tests were also conducted on the main 70cm & 3cm station with reception of Brisbane beacons proved successful. Reception of the 3cm (10Ghz) beacon is quite outstanding given it is transmitting 1w into an omni antenna at a distance of 300km.

The event started with a good 6m opening with contacts made into VK3, VK7 & ZL.

2m contacts were made with Hervey Bay some 530km away. The higher band also performed well with contacts of over 330km on 23cm and over 300km on all microwave bands.

The overall number of VK4 stations were well down due to forecast adverse weather north of the border. A few stations ventured out portable Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning, seeing contacts made with most active stations. Young Aydan enjoyed a few contacts during the Field Day, making 3 generations of the one family active during a single event.

All in all it was a great weekend on a hilltop doing what we enjoy, we are looking forward to the JMMFD in March.

Thanks to all that supported & made contact with us during the event.

Regards Graeme VK2QJ

AMATEUR RADIO MICROWAVE DEMONSTRATION AT SARCFEST

The club was most fortunate to welcome Graeme VK2QJ and David VK2JUB with the very impressive portable field day caravan and 23cm to 10 GHz microwave antenna setup. The Brisbane VHF Group was most welcome and they presented a very interesting talk on amateur microwave activities, equipment and bands. This was illustrated by a slideshow on the club TV. The group also had some impressive microwave setups at the rear of the clubrooms. A member of the Brisbane VHF Group had set up at a portable antenna array at Clunes. Successful two way contacts were then made between Graeme and the Brisbane VHF Group members set up at the clubrooms and the VHF Group portable station at Clunes on the main microwave frequencies used up to 10 GHz. It was most interesting to see the equipment set up ready to use and to have it demonstrated for us.