vk5pas

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Angove Conservation Park 5CP-005 and VKFF-0867

Posted: 11 Feb 2017 05:07 PM PST
https://vk5pas.org/2017/02/12/angove...and-vkff-0867/


YesterdayÂ*afternoon (Saturday 11th February 2017), my wife VK5FMAZ and I
headed up to the northern suburbs of Adelaide to pay my Dad and stepmum a
visit who are in their 80s. Â*We spent an enjoyable few hours with them,
including discussing their next cruise to Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and New
Caledonia. Â*I only hope Im that active when I (if) am their age. Â*On the
way home Marija and I detoured into the Angove Conservation Park 5CP-005
and VKFF-0867 for a park activation. Â*This was to be a unique park for both
of us, for both the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program and the VK5
National & Conservation Parks Award.

Angove Conservation Park is locatedÂ*about 16 km north east of Adelaide,
situated in the foothills between the Adelaide Plains and the Mount Lofty
Ranges Adelaide Hills.


Above:- Map showing the location of the Angove Conservation Park in the
north eastern suburbs of Adelaide. Â*Image courtesy of Location SA Map
Viewer.

Angove Conservation Park is about 5 hectares (12 acres) in size and
conserves one of the last remaining stands of remnant drooping sheoak and
southern cypress pine open woodlands within the Adelaide foothills. Â* The
park which was proclaimedÂ*on the 23rd June 1994 contains 142 native plant
species and provides specialised habitat for a small number of animals that
require dense vegetation to survive. Â* Several species of reptiles can also
be found, along with mammals such as ringtail and brush-tailed possums,
bats and 75 species of birds. Â*The most commonly observed birds in the park
include Rainbow lorikeet, Spotted turtle-dove Crester Pigeon, Musk
lorikeet, Adelaide Rosella, Red Wattlebird, and Laughing Kookaburra. Â*The
park is bordered by residential housing and features a number of walking
trails.


Above:- Aerial shot showing the location of the park, surrounded by
housing. Â*Image courtesy of google maps.

The park has a fortunate history. Â*In 1993 there was an attempt to purchase
the land for subdivision. Â*In response to this, the local community and
other groups lobbied the South Australian State Government and the Federal
Government, the City of Tea Tree Gully Council and the then Department for
Environment and Natural Resources. Â*As a result, the park was proclaimed as
a Conservation Park. Â*Power of the people!

The park was named after the Angove family, pioneering winemakers.Â*Angove
Family Winemakers was founded in 1886 by Dr. WIlliam Thomas Angove
1854-1912). Â*His grandson, Thomas William Carlyon Angove AM (1918-2010) Â*is
credited with the invention of the wine cask.




Above:- Dr. William Thomas Angove (Left) and Wthomas William Carlyon
Angove. Â*Images courtesy of http://www.angove.com

The Angove family winemaking history began in 1886 when Dr William Angove
emigrated to Australia from Cornwall. He established a medical practice at
Tea Tree Gully, and along with other Doctors at the time, including Dr
Lindeman and Dr Penfold, began cultivating vines and making wine.

Dr. William Angove had a keen interest in nature and he kept this small
area in a relatively natural state. Â*He named Butterfly Ridge, located in
the centre of Angove Conservation Park at the site of the old vineyard,
after the numerous butterflies to be found there. Â*If it were not for Dr.
Angoves interest and dedication to nature, houses would probably cover
Angove Conservation Park today.

Prior to heading out to the park I checked the Hourly Area Prediction (HAP)
chart for Adelaide which showed that close in propagation on 40m was to be
highly unlikely on the 40m band.



We accessed the park via Bowen Road. Â*We had intially tried Tree Martin
Court, a no through road which borders the eastern side of the park. Â*But
parking options there were limited, so we headed for Bowen Road which
borders the southern section of the park. Â*There were plenty of parking
options here and we walked a few hundred metres down one of the walking
trails and started to set up.






There werent too many operating options as the scrub is very thick and I
didnt want to set up on the walking trails. Â*We found a small clearing in
amongst the scrub and managed to stretch out the 80/40/20m linked
dipole. Â*But only just! Â*We ran the Yaesu FT-857d for this activation,
initially set at 40 watts output for me, and then lowered down to 10 watts
for Marija (her Foundation licence stipulates 10 watts PEP).


Above:- Aerial shot showing our operating spot in the southern section of
the park. Â*Image courtesy of Google Earth.

We had alerted on parksnpeaks and Facebook that we were to be on air at
0700 UTC, and we were a little late. Â*We were all set to go by 0737 UTC, so
I hoped that some of the park die hards would be patiently waiting for
us. Â*Marija and I started off on 7.144 on 40m and it took about 3 minutes
of CQ calls before we had our first park hunter in the log. Â*It was Gerard
VK2IO who had a very nice 5/9 signal into Angove. Â*I was pleasantly
surprised that the noise floor was relatively low considering we were
completely surrounded by housing.

Next up was John VK5EMI in the Adelaide Hills. Â*This was a pleasant
surprise as the HAP charts suggested I would not be able to work VK5 on the
40m band. Â*John was not overly strong (5/7), but was perfectly readable,
and responded with a 5/5 signal report for me. Â*I then worked Peter VK3FPHG
who I had recently met during my visit to Swan Hill, and then Hans VK5YX at
Hallett Cove in the southern suburbs of Adelaide (5/8 sent and 5/7
received). Â*Next was Allen VK3ARH who commented that my signal was the
lowest he had ever heard me. Â*This was not a good sign with regards to me
getting 44 contacts to qualify the park for WWFF.

But amateur radio is just like that box of chocolates that Forrest Gump
talks about. Â*As Forrest says, You never know what you are going to
get. Â*My seventh caller was Danny ON4VT in Belgium with a nice 5/5
signal. Â*Danny and I exchanged signal reports (3/3 for me). Â*I was quite
excited to work Danny on 40m with just 40 watts and a little bit of
wire. Â*Great ears Danny!






I went on to work a total of 31 stations on 40m from VK1, VK2, VK3, VK4,
VK5, VK6, VK7, New Zealand, and Belgium. Â*It was quite hard going with
conditions well down into Victoria. Â*The highlight on 40m was the contact
into Belgium. Â*But it was also nice to get Ken ZL4KD, the NZFF co-ordinator
in the log. Â*Conditions into Western Australia were quite good as well,
with Andrew VK6AS and Hans VK6XN logged.

We then lowered the squid pole and changed the links and headed off to
14.310 on the 20m band. Â*My first caller there was Andrew VK2UH who had
followed me up from 40m. Â*Andrews signal was down a little which was a sign
of things to come, with very poor propagation into the eastern States of
Australia. Â*Hans VK6XN then called from Western Australia with a good 5/6
signal, followed by Adam VK2YK who was well down in signal strength
compared to normal. Â*Next up was Peter VK4AAV with a good 5/8 signal,
followed by Frank VK7BC and finally Mark VK8MS in Darwin with a beautiful
5/9 signal some 3,000 km to my north.

We then lowered the squid pole and inserted the links and headed to 3.610
on the 80m band. Â*I knew that I would get at least one contact there, as
Adrian VK5FANA had sent me an SMS text advising he would be waiting there,
as he was unable to hear me on 40m. Â*Sure enough, I asked if the frequency
was in use, and Adrian responded No Paul, its been clear for the past 10
minutes. Â*Ive been patiently waiting. Â*Adrian had a beautiful 5/9 signal
coming in from the Yorke Peninusla, and he reciprocated with a 5/9 for
me. Â*I then worked Peter VK3PF/VK3KAI, and then John VK5BJE/VK5PF. Â*But
despite numerous CQ calls, they were my only callers on 80m.







I had convinced Marija to pick up the mic and qualify the park for VKFF,
and she logged Adrian VK5FANA, Peter VK3PF/VK3KAI, and John VK5BJE/VK5PF on
80m. Â*We returned to 40m and I quickly picked up my 2 remaining contacts to
qualify the park for WWFF. Â*Marija then took over the drivers seat and
logged a total of 13 stations, thus qualifying the park for VKFF. Â*Marijas
contacts were into VK2, VK3, VK5, and VK6. Â*Andrew VK6AS on 40m was a good
contact from one side of Australia to another.






We then packed up, as the sun was setting and we were getting a little
hungry. Â*I had a total of 44 contacts in the log, whilst Marija had
13. Â*Unfortunately we did not get the change to try the 15m band.

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

VK2IO
VK5EMI
VK3FPHG
VK5YX
VK3ARH
VK7LTD
ON4VT
VK4HNS
VK7FAMP
VK6AS
VK6XN
VK7BC
VK2YK
VK7FRJG
VK3FNQS
VK1MTS
VK4QQ
VK2WWV
VK2UH
VK2ND
VK4SMA
VK2TAZ
VK7DW
VK3YSA/p
ZL4KD
VK2NNN
VK4AAV
VK2VU
VK3GGG
VK3PMG
VK3PF
VK2HHA
VK3MCK


I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

VK2UH
VK6XN
VK2YK
VK4AAV
VK7BC
VK8MS


I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

VK5FANA
VK3PF
VK3KAI
VK5BJE
VK5PF


Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

VK2HHA
VK3MCK
VK7FPRN
VK6AS
VK7LTD
VK5KIK
VK2WWV
VK3FSLG


Marija worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

VK5FANA
VK3PF
VK3KAI
VK5BJE
VK5PF


After packing up we headed to North East Road and stopped off to have a
look at the old Angove winery. Â*There is not much left anymore, with most
of the land now under construction as a housing estate.






We then called in to the Plaza Pizza bar and had a few refreshments and a
beautiful pizza. Â*Back in the 1990s I worked at nearby Holden Hill, and the
Plaza pizza bar was a regular haunt of ours when the original owners ran
the shop. Â*And the quality of the pizza didnt disappoint this time
around. Â*It was belissimo.



References.

Department for Environment andÂ*Heritage, 2005, Management Plan Angove
Conservation Park

National Parks SA, 2017,
https://www.environment.sa.gov.au/pa...vation-parkgt;,
viewed 11th February 2017

Wikipedia, 2017,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angove...vation_Parkgt;, viewed 11th
February 2017

Wikipedia, 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Angovegt;, viewed
11th February 2017