1. Having fun in the field

2. Tonights presentation
Death by powerpoint
Please ask questions
Why get involved?
WWFF
VK5 Parks Award
Equipment
Operating tips

3. Do you enjoy the great outdoors and travelling to beautiful locations around Australia, whilst enjoying the hobby of amateur radio?

4. Do you suffer from extremely high noise levels at home?

5. then operating portable might be for you!

6. Don’t collect wallpaper?

7. Why get involved? Fun Noise floor Experimentation Pile ups and DX
Plasma TV, solar inverters
Experimentation
Antennas, home brew tx
Pile ups and DX
Great way to see our beautiful country

8. Why get involved? Combine other interests Bushwalking birdwatching
Photography
4WDing
Caravaning
your partner
Family picnic

9. Hand in hand with other programs & activities
Summits on the Air (SOTA)
Beaches on the Air (BOTA)
Lighthouses
John Moyle Field Day
VHF/UHF Field Days

10. Promote our hobby Talk to onlookers Explain what you are doing
Sell the hobby of AR
Ask if they would like to say ‘hi’ on air
Talk with National Parks staff
Carry promotional material with you

11. What parks programs exist?
World Wide Flora & Fauna program (WWFF)
VK5 National & Conservation Parks Award (SANPCPA)
Keith Roget Memorial National Parks Award (KRMNPA)

12. About WWFF National & non-commercial program
draw attention to the importance of protecting nature, flora & fauna and to encourage the development of radio skills, especially in portable operations
Operate from designated nature parks/ protected nature areas
Global award program
National programs
45 participating countries
Australia (VKFF)
Various National Awards offered.

13. About WWFF WWFF Directory
Each park issued with a unique identifying reference number
ITU allocated prefix, FF for Flora & Fauna, and a unique identifying number, e.g. VKFF-001
In Australia qualifying parks are mostly National Parks
Program has expanded in Victoria, South Australia & ACT
State Parks, Coastal Parks, Marine National Parks (VIC)
Conservation Parks (SA)
Nature Parks (ACT)

14. What the hell does ’44’ mean?
During a WWFF QSO you may hear reference to ‘44’.
The first digit ‘4’ represents the four elements: earth, water, air, and fire.
The second digit ‘4’ represents the four directions: north, south, east, and west.

15. Global WWFF Awards GLOBAL Awards 44 QSO’s required
2 hour operating time.
QSO’s can be spread over multiple activations.
Mobile is accepted
M/M accepted
Marine Parks.
A/M not accepted
Repeaters, IRLP, Echolink not accepted

16. Australian (VKFF) program
10 QSO’s required
Reduced from 44 QSO’s due to our remoteness & number of amateurs
30 minute operating time.
Reduced from 2 hours

17. Chasing WWFF certificates
GLOBAL
Everything is done on online (via WWFF LogSearch)
Free as PDF ( ed)
AUSTRALIA
Online
Free as a PDF or PNG ( ed)
$5.00 printed & posted

18. VKFF program progress Since March 2013…..
About 1,300 certificates in total issued
About 280 overseas recipients.
About 70 Australian activator certificates
About 450 Australian Hunter certificates
Remainder – other VKFF certificates

19. VKFF program progress

20. VKFF program progress

21. Top VKFF Activator and Top VKFF Hunter

22. WWFF Log Search WWFF on-line database Commenced 16 Feb 2013
Activator logs uploaded by National co-ordinators
6, 951,967 QSOs in the database
From 11, 133 different references
114 DXCC’s
Figures accurate as of 17th June 2016

23. VKFF Activation Weekend 2015
Sat 28th & Sun 29th November 2015
Inaugural event
Over 50 Activators
All States/Territories (excl. VK7)
90 different Parks activated

24. VKFF Activation Weekend 2016

25. VKFF Team Championship 2016

26. VK5 National & Conservation Parks Award
Commenced April 2013
No formal SA Parks program prior
Promotes portable activity from SA’s National Parks and Conservation Parks
21 National Parks
272 Conservation Parks
Other parks do not qualify, e.g. Recreation Parks
Works on a points system

27. VK5 National & Conservation Parks Award
Activators, Hunters, SWLs
Not just limited to VK5 participation
National Park = 2 points
Conservation Park = 1 point
1 x QSO required as Activator
Activators claim points ONCE per calendar year
Hunters claim points ONCE per UTC day
Mobile operation not allowed
Repeaters, IRLP, Echolink not allowed

28. VK5 Parks Award – certificates
Activator
Hunter
SWL
Park to Park
Uniques
Activated/Worked all VK5 Park Regions
Currently no database
Spreadsheets
Free – PDF or PNG file
$5.00 printed & mailed

29. VK5 Parks Award progress
Since March 2013…..
Over 350 certificates issued
Brian ZL2ASH (first outside of Australia)
Danny ON4VT (first European)

30. 3rd year anniversary Saturday 2nd & Sunday 3rd April 2016
Around 30 activators
About 75 different parks
All across South Australia

31. What equipment do I need?
Transceiver
Antenna
Power supply
Other sundry gear
Sundry gear includes suitable clothing, maps, compass, GPS, etc

32. Transceivers Yaesu FT-857d Yaesu FT-817nd Elecraft KX3 Wouxon X1M
Icom IC-706

33. Antennas HF VHF/UHF Dipoles verticals
Recent study on the Australian SOTA Yahoo group showed that the linked dipole was the most popular antenna in Australia for SOTA activations. Andrew VK1NAM – 4 el VHF yagi & Slim Jim
You do not need sophisticated antennas to participate

34. Power source SLAB LiPo LiFePO Sealed Lead Acid (much heavier)
Lithium Polymer (LiPo)
Lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO)

35. Sundry equipment Squid poles Watch Pens/pencils Camera/video
First aid kit
Sunscreen
Mozzie repellant
Sit mat/cushion
Bothy bag
Whistle
GPS/compass
Maps
Water/food
Appropriate clothing
Spare clothing (in the car)

36. How do I fill up my logbook?
The secret is the antenna
Try different bands
Place your intentions on as many forums as possible
Consider the time of day/know when the bands are open
Solar figures/propagation conditions
DX cluster/parksnpeaks
Consider setting up an SMS goup
Try a group
Use the local repeater

37. Spotting & Alerting
parksnpeaks
hamspots.net/wwff
DX cluster

38. Operating skills/practice
Call for park activators
Then for QRP
Then for portable/mobile
Then for DX
Then for those that can hear you, but with difficulty
And finally, for everyone else (now the fun starts!)

39. Operating skills/practice
Do not queue jump
Do not call CQ on a frequency until you know the frequency is not in use
Always remember the DX Code of Conduct

40. Useful links www.wwffaustralia.com www.wwff.co

41. Useful links www.vk5parks.com

42. Useful links www.parksnpeaks.com www.hamspots.net
Various Facebook sites
WWFF
VK5 Parks Award
VKFF/SOTA
Field Radio

45. Beware of the ‘portable bug’

46. Questions ???