vk5pas

///////////////////////////////////////////
Spring Mount Conservation Park 5CP-219 and VKFF-0789

Posted: 03 Mar 2017 04:30 PM PST
https://vk5pas.org/2017/03/04/spring...and-vkff-0789/


For last nights (3rd March 2017) Friday event for the VK5 National &
Conservation Parks Award, I activated the Spring Mount Conservation Park
5CP-219 and VKFF-0789. Â*The park is located about 71 km south of Adelaide
and about 15 km south east of the town of Myponga on the Fleurieu
Peninsula. Â*I have activated this park previously back in December 2013 and
October 2014, but the park was not in the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF)
Directory back then.

https://vk5pas.org/2013/12/29/spring...ervation-park/

https://vk5pas.org/2014/10/27/spring...vation-park-2/


Above:- Map showing the location of the Spring Mount Conservation
Park. Â*Map courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.

Spring Mount is 270 hectares in size and was first proclaimed on 3rd
February 1966 as Spring Mount Wildlife Reserve. Â*It was re-proclaimed on
the 27th April 1972 as a Conservation Park. Â*Additional portions of land
were added to the park in September 1973 and again in October 2013. Â*The
park is mostly open forest of Brown Stringybark and Messmate Stringybark,
with understorey plants including Myrtle Wattle, Beaker Hakea, and
Yacca. Â*It is without a doubt, one of my favourite parks.

Spring Mount summit is located just outside the park off Spring Mount
Road. Â*Spring Mount Farm is located directly opposite the summit. Â*Nearby
Mount Alma is also located just outside of the southern boundary of the
park. Â*The terrain within the park is quite hilly and reaches about 413
metres above sea level.

The park is located on the northern edge of the Inman Valley and the
southern edge of the Hindmarsh Valley. Â*The Hindmarsh Valley was named
after John Hindmarsh, the first Governor of South Australia. Â*Hindmarsh
created the South Australia Police Force (Australias first) and on 28th
April 1838, he appointed 21 year old Henry Inman as sole commander, at the
rank of Inspector. Â*Inman Valley is named in his honour.

The park is home to a large amount of native wildlife including Western
Grey kangaroos, and echidnas. Â*More than 90 species of bird have been
recorded in the park including Adelaide Rosella, White-throated
Treecreeper, Superb Fairywren, Scarlet Robin, Beautiful Firetail, and
Sacred Kingfisher.

After leaving the Myponga area I travelled along Hindmarsh Tiers Road
towards the park. Â*I took a small detour and headed along Hammond Road. Â*I
wanted to do a reccy on another park, the Gum Tree Gully Conservation
Park. Â*This park has never been activated before and is surrounded by
farmland. Â*I wanted to do a quick door knock of surrounding properties to
see if there was a way into the park. Â*I found a house at the end of
Hammond Road which almost appeared abandoned and I was unable to raise the
occupants. Â*On the other side of the road was a locked gate leading to a
farmhouse. Â*So I will have to undertake some more enquiries re this park.


Above:- GumTree Gully Conservation Park.

I continued a short distance up Hindmarsh Tiers Road and then turned right
onto Spring Mount Road. Â*There were some fantastic views to be enjoyed of
the Hindmarsh Valley. Â*I then turned left onto Mount Alma Road. Â*The park
immediately came into view on my right hand side.




Above:- views from Spring Mount Road of the surrounding countryside

In the past I have set up here in the north western corner of the
park. Â*But this time I decided to have a look a little further down Mount
Alma Road. Â*I initially went to gate 4 where there is a walking trail
leading through the park. Â*It was a warm afternoon and there was plenty of
shade here. Â*But I also wanted to put out the solar panels, and there wasnt
enough sunlight coming in through the trees. Â*So I decided to try another
operating spot. Â*But before leaving here, I went for a 30 minute walk
through the park.
Click to view slideshow.

There is a fire access track at this point which leads from the eastern
side of the park over to the western side. Â*I highly recommend this walk as
you get a real feel for the park which is truly quite spectacular.





After getting back to the vehicle I drove to the southern boundary of the
park, keeping an eye out for possible operating spots along the
way. Â*Whilst doing so I received a text message from John VK5BJE advising
that he was in the Scott Conservation Park on 3.610. Â*So I headed to 80m
and worked John from the mobile (5/7 both ways). Â*I told John Â*that I would
be up on air in around 5-10 minutes and that I would come looking for him
for a Park to Park contact once I was set up.


Above:- Mount Alma Road, which dissects the park

I decided that gate 6 offered a good operating position. Â*There was a
cleared access track around this section of the park and there was some
shade, but also some sun for the solar panels. Â*For this activation I ran
the Yaesu FT-857d, 30 watts output and the 80/40/20m linked dipole,
supported on the 7 m heavy duty telescopic squid pole.


Above:- Map showing my operating spot in the Spring Mount Conservation
Park. Â*Image courtesy of Location SA Map Viewer.

After quickly setting up I headed to 3.610 and found John VK5BJE still
there calling CQ. Â*So John became my first contact for the activation. Â*And
he was a very good 5/9 plus. Â*It was a nice way to start the activation,
with a Park to Park contact. Â*John kindly handed the frequency over to me
and I started calling CQ. Â*This was answered by Hans VK5YX who was also 5/9
plus. Â*A great signal. Â*I then spoke with Les VK5KLV who was portable in
the Winninowie Conservation Park VKFF-0820. Â*Les was a good 5/7 signal, and
it was pleasing to have another Park to Park contact in the log after just
3 QSOs.

Unfortunately I had very patchy phone coverage so I was unable to spot
myself on parksnpeaks and Facebook. Â*But I did manage to work a further 6
stations on 80m, from VK3 and VK5.

I lowered the squid pole and removed the 80m section links and headed to
the 40m band. Â*Prior to calling CQ I had a tune across the band and found
E51DWC from the Cook Islands, calling CQ on 7.130. Â*He was a good 5/9 to
me, but sadly, despite numerous calls to him, he was unable to hear my
signal. Â*I then headed to 7.144 but found a USA station on 7.146, so I
dropped down to 7.140 and started calling CQ. Â*This was answered by Dianne
VK4DI, followed by Peter VK3TKK mobile, and then Mick VK3GGG/VK3PMG.

But it was very slow going for a Friday evening, and it looked like it was
going to be a real struggle to reach the 44 QSOs required to qualify the
park for WWFF. Â*I logged 14 stations on 7.140 from VK1, VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5,
and VK6, before callers completely dried up. Â*So I tuned across 40m and
found Lewis VK2FGLB calling CQ, running just 5 watts QRP. Â*Lewis had a very
nice 5/8 signal with his low power from Sydney.








I then headed to Â*the 20m band and started calling CQ on 14.310. Â*This was
answered by Hans VK6XN with a good 5/8 signal. Â*But we were competing with
the Over the Horizon Radar which was 5/9 plus. Â*Despite numerous CQ calls
my only other taker on 14.310 was Jim VK6ZMR. Â*I tuned across the 20m band
and the only European signal I heard was IK4GRO in Italy, who was only
5/3. Â*I also heard some Chinese speaking stations on 14.270. Â*But the stand
out signal on 20m was Ken JH1CD on 14.187, who was 5/9. Â*I patiently waited
for Ken to finish his QSO and I gave him a shout. Â*Ken was quite astounded
when I told him I was only running 30 watts and a little bit of
wire. Â*There was no doubt that Kens 12 element beam (5 active elements on
20m) was doing all of the hard work.

I then headed back to 40m and found that the band was very busy. Â*I found
7.135 clear ans started calling CQ and this was answered by Ivan VK2FZED,
followed by Barry VK3LBW and then Greg VK5GJ. Â*The static crashes had
increased a bit in strength, but overall band conditions on 40m seemed to e
very good. Â*I worked a total of 17 stations from VK1, VK2, VK3, VK4, and
VK5. Â*A few stations had asked if I was going to try 80m, so I decided to
head back to that band.


Above:- An interested onlooker, a Western Grey kangaroo.

I called CQ on 3.615 and this was answered by Greg VK5GJ at Meadows, about
50 km to the north east of Spring Mount. Â*Greg was pounded in at 5/9
plus. Â*He lowered his power down to 400 milliwatts and his signal dropped
to 5/8. Â*And then 4/7 using just 40 milliwatts. Â*Greg and I have often had
this little QRP test, and it is truly amazing what you can do with QRP. Â*I
logged a total of 8 stations on 80m from VK3, VK4, and VK5.

It was now approaching 9.00Â*p.m. local time and I was keen to book in to
the 7130 DX Net. Â*So I headed back to 40m and checked into the net, where I
worked a total of 11 stations. Â*This included some nice DX contacts: Rafael
KP4WW in Puerto Rico, Otap YC7TUU in Indonesia, and John W3UX in the
USA. Â*It was also nice to work Greg VK8HLF in Darwin, 3000 km to my
north. Â*Greg had a booming 5/9 plus signal.



At the end of the net I moved up to 7.135 and worked 6 stations from VK2,
VK6, and VK7. Â*This included John VK6VZZ who was mobile (5/7 both
ways). Â*Time was marching on, and I had an hour drive to get home, avoiding
the kangaroos. Â*But before going QRT I had a tune around the 40m band and
found Jim WB2REMs net in full swing on 7.163. Â*I patiently waited while the
VKs on the net worked a number of USA stations. Â*Jim then asked if there
was any further DX and I gave him a shout. Â*Sadly, only Jim WB2REM in
Florida, and Richard K2KA in Massachusetts were able to hear my little
signal.



After a very slow start, I had a total of 72 contacts in the log. Â*Stations
worked were from VK1, VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5, VK6, VK7, VK8, Japan, Puerto
Rico, Indonesia, and the USA. Â*Thankyou to everyone who called. Â*And
thankyou to everyone who took the time to spot me.

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

VK4DI
VK3TKK/m
VK3GGG
VK3PMG
VK5FAKV
VK1DI
VK5FANA
VK5KLV/p (Winninowie Conservation Park VKFF-0820)
VK2NSS
VK7DW
VK3MCD
VK3ANL
VK6XN
VK3MAB
VK2FGLB
VK2FZED
VK3LBW
VK5GJ
VK2XRC/3
VK2HHA
VK2UH
VK2LEZ
VK3MPR
VK3FSPG
VK3ELH
VK3FPHG
VK1AT
VK3FZIP
VK4BOV/2
VK4HNS/p
VK3YSP/p
VK3FOWL/p
VK2QK
VK4PDX
KP4WW
VK6FFAR
VK4HG
VK8HLF
VK7FPRN
VK2STO
VK2FOUZ
YC7TUU
W3UX
VK2QA
VK7FRJG
VK7JON
VK6FADE
VK6NU
VK6VZZ/m
WB2REM
K2KA


I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

VK6XN
VK6ZMR
JH1CDR


I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

VK5BJE/p (Scott Conservation Park VKFF-0934)
VK5YX
VK5KLV/p (Winninowie Conservation Park VKFF-0820)
VK5FANA
VK3PF
VK5PL
VK5TW
VK5FMWW
VK5FVSV
VK5GJ
VK3MPR
VK3FSPG
VK4HNS/p
VK3GGG
VK3PMG
VK3MAB
VK5FANA


References.

Birds SA, 2017,
http://www.birdssa.asn.au/location/s...ation-park/gt;,
viewed 2nd March 2017

Geoview, 2017,
http://au.geoview.info/spring_mount_...ark,8162785gt;, viewed
2nd March 2017

Wikipedia, 2017,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_..._commander)gt;, viewed
2nd March 2017