Winter 2019 - Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 June.

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Contest Introduction
The VHF-UHF Field Days provide VHF-UHF operators with the opportunity to "head for the hills" and see how far and how many they can work. 

The Field Days have separate sections for single and multiple operator stations. The duration of the Field Day is 24 hours, but there are also 8 hour sections for operators who may not be able to camp overnight. Most club stations prefer to operate for the full 24 hours. 

The Field Days also generate plenty of activity from home stations, so there is also a separate Home Station section. 

All contacts must be simplex: contacts through repeaters or satellites are not allowed. There is plenty of FM activity, but one feature of the Field Days is a high level of SSB activity. 

It is possible to do very well with only modest antennas if you pick a good hilltop. Another option, if your station is easily transportable, is to operate from more than one location during the contest period. 

Aim Of The Contest
The overriding aim is to get away for the weekend and have fun! But next after that, the aims are: 
   to encourage more activity on VHF and microwave bands; 
   to encourage people to work greater distances than usual by operating portable, and 
   to provide opportunities for people to activate or work into new grid squares. 



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The rules are probably the same as that for 2018 except for the dates to suit 2019. 
Those rules are http://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/v...0Rules.pdf
A specific 2019 rules PDF is not currently available for download...

It's only a little over a month away so it's time to put the thinking caps on.

BUMP.    Reminder that this event is coming up in a few weeks so time to get preparations under way.

I won't be participating for the first time in quite a few years due to the VE Exams on the Sunshine Coast that same weekend. 
Good luck all, enjoy the cold.

73 Doug VK4ADC

From text edition for June 9 2019 - VK NATIONAL NEWS BROADCAST ON VK1WIA : http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/wianews/

Also in MP3 edition of news available at: http://www.wia-files.com/podcast/wianews-2019-06-09.mp3


"
This is Roger Harrison VK2ZRH, Interim Manager for the VHF-UHF Field Days

The 2019 Winter event is two weekends away !

It has been a looong interim for me, but here we are with the first single set of rules.
No more Division 1 and Division 2. Scoring is now be distance-based.

So. Over Saturday the 22nd and Sunday the 23rd, Winter Field Day fun and frolics is on for all you stalwart enthusiasts keen to brave whatever the weather can throw at us.

So far, that means wild winds, low temperatures and icy precipitation

All the Sections and Sub-sections featured in past events remain, as do the two-hour re-work period and the exchange of 6-character locators for all contacts.

Any stalwart Rovers keen to travel from peak to peak  well, hump to hump, really . . . still have to travel from Square to Square, but the scoring is based on 6-character locators.

You can concentrate your efforts on one band, if that's what you fancy, and go hammer and tongs to pile up contacts.
You never know, you might just win the sub-section to the surprise of all !

Alternatively, have a lash at the Four-bands Sub-section.
At a minimum, you can operate on any two of the bands six metres, two metres, 70 centimetres, 23 centimetres  or three bands, or the whole four !

You don't have to be a gun operator with a super station to get out there and have fun on the Field Day.
For those who are old hands at VHF-UHF Field Day shenanigans, why not invite an F-call or Standard to join you in the field.
Or, invite an F-call or Standard to your home QTH for a few hours of the contest.

Yes. Home stations are welcome !

Take the opportunity, if you know someone returning to the hobby, get them involved and mentor them through the process of making contest contacts.

You never know what might happen. They could get hooked !

You'll find the rules on the VHF-UHF Field Days page of the WIA website.
http:/www.wia.org.au/members/contests/vhfuhf/

( http://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/v..._Final.pdf )

So. Download the new rules from the website  and over Saturday the 22nd and Sunday the 23rd  be on the air, or be square !
This is Roger Harrison VK2ZRH for VK1WIA News.
"


EDITORS NOTE : You will need to download a revised version of the VKCL logging software to suit, now at V4.8 and available from http://www.mnds.com.au/vkcl

BUMP.  This weekend. 

Don't forget to update your version of the VKCL logging software beforehand !

Hopefully snow doesn't stop us from participating

Greetings to all readers!

This week-end, weather permitting, I plan to be operating on the Saturday evening from Mt Gravatt in Brisbane (QG62MK) for a couple or three hours starting around 6 p.m., then on the Sunday morning I plan to be at Kamarun Lookout (QG61NU) starting around 6:30 a.m. (brrrr!) using all bands from 50 MHz to 76 GHz inclusive.

Liaison/talk back could be via one or other SSB frequency used n the contest or, preferably 146.500, 146.550 or 439.000 MHz FM simplex.  (Sometimes on Sunday mornings 146.500 FM simplex is used by rural amateurs for 'chit chat', which explains the suggested alternative frequency.)

Best wishes to all participants!

--Doug Friend, VK4OE.

Managed a few contacts on otherwise a cold winters day

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbbvghTfibU]

My brother Bert VK3TU and I mounted an impromptu outing for this event. Given that we only had a few hours' operating time and there were just the two of us, we decided to rationalise the equipment down to what we could readily deploy in a minimum time. We also chose a location very close to where we normally would go, but which sacrifices some elevation and take-off to the south and west in return for comfort. Oh, well, better than nothing. Bands in use were 144, 432, 3398, 5760 and 10368 MHz. Contacts were made on every band, which was rewarding. Perhaps the best QSO was with VK3KQ on 3398 MHz. They had solid QRM at their end and I only took my GARC 1W panel transverter instead of my usual 20W transverter with 60cm dish. Lesson learnt......

Some photos below. Bert at the controls.

Chas
VK3PY