vk5pas

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Warren Conservation Park 5CP-247 and VKFF-0941

Posted: 13 Aug 2019 05:25 AM PDT
https://vk5pas.org/2019/08/13/warren...d-vkff-0941-2/


Today (Tuesday 13th August 2019) I activated four parks.Â* My intention was
to activate the 4 parks and get 10 contacts in each.Â* These 4 parks would
go towards the special South Australia National Parks and Wildlife
certificate which is on offer in August 2019 by the VKFF program.

My first park was the Warren Conservation Park 5CP-247 & VKFF-0941.Â* I have
activated and qualified the park previously.

The park is located about 36 km northeast of the city of Adelaide and about
10 km southeast of the town of Williamstown.Â* It is located in the lower
section of the Barossa Valley.
Above:- Map showing the location of the Warren Conservation Park.Â* Map
courtesy of Protected Planet.

The Warren Conservation Park is 364 hectaresÂ*in size and was established on
the 14th July 1966.Â* The park is well signposted on the corner of South
Para Road and Watts Gully Road.Â* The park itself also has a sign on Watts
Gully Road.

The best access to the park is via the Watts Gully trailhead on Watts Gully
Road.Â* There is a small car parking area here and a pedestrian entrance to
a boardwalk into the park.Â* Otherwise, you can hike into the park from
other points including the walking track from the nearby Hale Conservation
Park or the Tower Track through Mount Crawford Forest.





The park is situated in rugged hilly country in the Mount Lofty Ranges.Â*
The major habitat in theÂ*parkÂ*is Woodland with Pink Gum and Long-leaf Box.

The park has four challenging walking trails, including a section of the
long-distance Heysen Trail. The tracks are steep and difficult and should
be used by experienced bushwalkers only.







The park first gained protected area status as a wildlife reserve
proclaimed under the Crown Lands Act 1929 on the 14th July 1966.Â* On the
9th November 1967, the land in the wildlife reserve was proclaimed under
theÂ*National Parks Act 1966Â*as theÂ*Warren National Park.Â* On the 27th
November 1969, section 321 was added to the national park. On the 27th
April 1972, the national park was reconstituted as theÂ*Warren Conservation
ParkÂ*upon the proclamation of theÂ*National Parks and Wildlife Act
1972.Â* Â*In 1980, it was listed on the now-defunct Register of the National
Estate.

The park is named after the Hundred of Warren, which in turn was named in
honour of John Warren (1830-1914), who was an Australian pastoralist and
politician.
Above:- The Hon. John Warren. Â*Image courtesy of wikipedia.

There is a wide variety of native animals found in the park including
Western Grey kangaroos, koalas, Southern Brown bandicoots, and echidnas.

Birds SA have recorded about 75 species of bird in the park including
Superb Fairywren, New Holland Honeyeater, Â*Crescent Honeyeater, Striated
Thornbill, Australian Golden Whistler, Grey Fantail,Â*Peaceful Dove, Brown
Treecreeper, Black-chinned Honeyeater, Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Buff-rumped
Thornbill, and White-winged Chough.

In 1884, gold was found by John Watts in nearby Watts Gully, near the
current day Warren Conservation Park. Â*In fact, it was Watts Gully Road
that I was headed for. Â*The area yielded gold nuggets as large as 14
ounces. Â*As a result, Forreston boomed as a little town. Â*From articles I
have read on TROVE, it appears the area’s population swelled, with around
350-400 persons working on the diggings.
Above: – Article from the ‘Evening News’ dated Sat 20 June 1885. Â*Courtesy
of Trove.

I drove along Watts Gully Road and set up just off the boardwalk.Â* I ran
the Yaesu FT-857d, 20 watts, and the 20/40/80m linked dipole for this
activation.
Above:- The Warren Conservation Park showing my operating spot in the
southern section of the park.Â* Image courtesy of Protected Planet.

I commenced calling CQ on 7.144 and this was soon answered by Ian VK3FIAN
with a good strong 5/8 signal.Â* This was followed by a Park to Park contact
with Ian VK5CZ/p who was activating the Mokota Conservation Park VKFF-1062
in the mid-north of South Australia.Â* Peter VK3PF followed, then Terry
VK6ATM in Western Australia, and then Owen VK7OR.Â* Next in the log was Ken
VK3UH who kindly spotted me on parksnpeaks.

Within about 13 minutes I had contact number ten in the log, with a QSO
with John VK5BJE in the Adelaide Hills.Â* This was followed by Deryck
VK4FDJL/6 who was in the Mangkili Claypan Nature Reserve VKFF-2941.

Band conditions were quite poor, with lots of fading noted on most
signals.Â* Signals from Victorian stations were well down compared to
normal.Â* My last station logged on 40m was Liz VK2XSE/m who kindly placed a
spot up for me on parksnpeaks.

With 20 contacts in the log I headed off to the 80m band.Â* I placed a self
spot on parksnpeaks and started calling CQ on 3.610.Â* Unfortunately, I
logged just the two stations: John VK5BJE, and Ian VK5CZ in the Mokota
Conservation Park for a second band.

To complete the activation I moved to the 20m band after putting up a spot
on parksnpeaks, and called CQ on 14.310.Â* I logged John VK4TJ, along with
his USA and Canadian callsigns.





With 25 contacts in the log, including 3 Park to Park contacts, it was time
to pack up and head off to my next park, the Hale Conservation Park.

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

VK3FIAN
VK5CZ/p (Mokota Conservation Park VKFF-1062)
VK3PF
VK6ATM
VK7OR
VK3UH
VK5BQ
VK3SQ
VK1TX
VK5BJE
VK4FDJL/6 (Mangkili Claypan Nature Reserve VKFF-2941)
VK2KNV/m
VK5FBIC
VK7OT/p
VK2UXO
VK4TJ
VK4/AC8WN
VK4/VE6XT
VK7MMT/p
VK2XSE/m


I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

VK5BJE
VK5CZ/p (Mokota Conservation Park VKFF-1062)


I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

VK4TJ
VK4/AC8WN
VK4/VE6XT






References.

Birds SA, 2019,
https://birdssa.asn.au/location/warren-conservation-park/, viewed 13th
August 2019

National Parks and Wildlife Service, 2019,
https://www.parks.sa.gov.au/find-a-park/Browse_by_region/Adelaide_Hills/warren-conservation-park,
viewed 13th August 2019

Wikipedia, 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Conservation_Park,
viewed 13th August 2019

Wikipedia, 2017,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W...an_politician), viewed
13th August 2019


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NPWS certificate

Posted: 13 Aug 2019 03:57 AM PDT
https://vk5pas.org/2019/08/13/npws-certificate/


Today I activated four South Australian Conservation Parks to bring my
tally of VK5 parks activated in August to five.

As a result, I have qualified for the special National Parks & Wildlife
Service South Australia certificate.

This special certificate is on offer during August for anyone who activates
or works at least five different South Australian VKFF references during
August.Â* More information can be found on the WWFF Australia website at.

https://www.wwffaustralia.com/nation...rvice-vk5.html

Thanks to everyone who called me.