23cm activity from VK3 this morning 26th January, 2026

 The VK3's having a cracker of a morning on 23cm SSB

Microwave activity 18th October, 2025

my activity is from Buff Point, near Budgewoi on NSW Central Coast, aiming across Lake Budgewoi, it proved the point that can definitely get back into Sydney from here on 23cm FM, so would be easy on SSB and WSPR

 

23cm portable QF43xe90 Porcupine Hill/Mount Trickett/Jenolan Caves/Kanangra-Boyd National Park

 Spent last week at Jenolan Cabins (QF46xe90) near Mount Trickett and Porcupine Hill in western Blue Mountains, whilst relaxing, I   worked 23cm stations  on FM and USB, using ic910 and a 23cm Bi-quad  antenna.

Noting working these 23cm repeaters:
VK2RWC Chatswood 1273.200MHz was 60/9 at 110km east
VK2RWI Dural 1273.500 was s9  at 99.1km east
VK2RAG Somersby 1273.400 was s7 at 131km nth east
VK2RMP Maddens Plains 1296.850MHz simplex parrot repeater was s3 at 100.5km sth east

Contacts:

Gary VK2KYP portable at Somersby via 1296.100 USB and FM, 10w signal 10/9,  and also qrp  both ways at with a few mW

worked Ivan VK2FUR, Ron VK2GO, Mick VK2CMP & Alex VK2KQ via Chatswood Repeater

and also called in on the ARNSW Broadcast on Sunday night on Dural 23cm repeater.

If looking for a good RF location to operate from, or operate nearby, then book a holiday at  Jenolan Cabins

VK3 MAD (Microwave Activity Day) 2nd November, 2024

 

VK3 MAD (Microwave Activity Day) 2nd November, 2024

VK3's having some fun for the MAD, plus some VK4 activity.

as per extract from vkspotter.com

latest multimode transceivers for VHF and above

I can never remember the latest model numbers as they are similiar and easily confused

ICOM IC-905   144, 430, 1200, 2400, 5600 MHz +10 GHz   All Mode Transceiver approx $4k8

ICOM IC-705   HF, 50, 144, 430 MHz    All Mode Transceiver    approx $2k

ICOM IC-9700   144, 430, 1200 MHz   All Mode Transceiver   approx $2k5      -  replacement to IC-910

YAESU FT-991A    HF, 50, 144, 430 MHz  All Mode Transceiver    approx $2k1

23 on 23 Microwave Activity Day - 23rd September, 2023

 good showing today and tonight for 23 on 23,   silly me got my day wrong, thougtht 23rd was Sunday, but it was today.

extract courteousy of VKSPOTTER.COM

Winter Weak Signal DX Update - 28th June 2023

 here are some very impressive DX contacts,  from VKSpotter Propagation Reporter,
specifically the microwave activity on 23cm and 9cm, this represents  the path of Gladstone to Brisbane.

Note : 9cm via Aircraft Enhancement using Q65 digital.

That is equivalent path of Sydney to Albury,  or Sydney to Coffs Harbour

update on 23cm repeater systems as of 10th May 2023

update on 23cm repeater systems centered around Sydney as of  10th May 2023

Here are the operational 23cm FM Analogue repeaters I can work:

OUTPUT / INPUT    Callsign    Location

1273.100 / 1293.100 VK2RTZ  Mt. Sugarloaf  - working,  it idents every hour, requires 91.5Hz ctcss

1273.200 / 1293.200 VK2RWC   Chatswood  - working

1273.400 / 1293.400 VK2RAG  Somersby - working, has beep on the tail

1273.500 / 1293.500 VK2RWI Dural  -  working, carries Sunday WIA broadcast.

1296.850  VK2RMP FM Simplex analogue parrot repeater at Maddens Plains - working, it idents every 10 minutes with a CW message

All the above are Vertical polarised.

1294.000 FM Simplex, not heard anyone since July 2022.

1296.500 MHz WSPR weak signal

 VK2BLS and VK2HC playing WSPR on 1296.500 MHz today

extract from VKspotter.com

23cm FM voice repeater systems centered around Sydney as of 9th April, 2023

 An update on 23cm FM voice repeater systems centered around Sydney as of  9th April, 2023

Here are the operational 23cm FM Analogue repeaters I can work:

1273.100 / 1293.100 VK2RTZ at Mt. Sugarloaf  - working,  it idents every hour, at 6minutes before the hour, requires 91.5Hz ctcss to access

1273.200 / 1293.200 VK2RWC  at Chatswood  - working

1273.400 / 1293.400 VK2RAG at Somersby - working, has beep on the tail

1273.500 / 1293.500 VK2RWI at Dural  -  yes, it is working again.

1296.850  VK2RMP FM Simplex analogue parrot repeater at Maddens Plains - working, it idents regularly every 10 minutes with a long CW message

Activity:  mostly found on Chatswood repeater, with some activity on Dural repeater on Sunday after the WIA NSW broadcast 10am and 7.30pm local time

1294.000 FM Simplex, not heard anyone on here since July 2022.

23cm / 1296Mhz Update - October 2022

 a recap on 23cm repeater systems centered around Sydney as of October, 2022

Here are the operational 23cm FM Analogue repeaters I can work:

OUTPUT / INPUT    Callsign    Location

1273.100 / 1293.100 VK2RTZ Mt. Sugarloaf

1273.200 / 1293.200 VK2RWC  Chatswood  

1273.400 / 1293.400 VK2RAG Somersby

1273.500 / 1293.500 VK2RWI Dural  - currently off-air due to antenna problem

1296.850  VK2RMP FM Simplex analogue parrot repeater at Maddens Plains

There are other known 23cm Repeaters, i.e VK2RRR Razorback and  others at Blue Mtns, Walcha, Muswellbrook, Lismore and Jervis bay,  all these have been unfortunately cancelled, scrapped or never completed.

23cm updates for 2nd August, 2022

I had 23cm transceiver scanning, I kept hearing a very weak female voice, looks to be a automated ident, kept trying to catch which frequency but eventually got it, so this good news, confirmed VK2RTZ is alive and still working. This is Peter VK2ZTV's baby.

 VK2RTZ in QF57SC                                  1273.100000 REP 51

Spotter: VK2KFJ in QF56OG @19° 97.5 Kmfrom Sugarloaf Range, near Newcastle, s0 weak, has a female voice for ident

I also in recent days seeing some weak signal digital activity,some guys doing JT65 on 1296.215 MHz between VK4'sand some WSPR on 1296.500 MHz between VK1 and VK3 stations
This is exciting, I need to get some more 23cm antennas up in the air.

23cm activity 26th July 2022

 found that I can key and hear myself noise free via the parrot repeater, as per my VKSpotter entry

VK2RMP in QF55LR1296.850000  53

Spotter: VK2KFJ in QF46XE @119° 100.9 KmFM parrot rptr
then spent 25mins chatting with Brian VK2AH at Bulli via the parrot.
Brian advised that IARC would like to convert the parrot to a proper 23cm FM repeater in the future.
gave some CQ's on 1294 MHz FM simplex. nothing heard.

VK2TDN in QF56ME1294.000000 FM 51

Spotter: VK2KFJ in QF46XE @89° 99.8 Kmqsb, and rain squalls in between

VK2RWC in QF56OE1273.200000  59

Spotter: VK2KFJ in QF46XE @88° 109.8 Kmworking dave vk2tdn via the rptr

23cm FM Repeaters update

Update of 23cm FM voice repeaters for VK1/VK2

OUTPUT   INPUT      Callsign       Location

1273.100   1293.100 VK2RTZ      Mt Sugarloaf , Newcastle   91.5Hz ctcss

1273.200   1293.200 VK2RPW    Grundy Mtn,  Walcha  - defunct

1273.200   1293.200 VK2RWC    Chatswood,  Sydney (north)

1273.300   1293.300 VK2RPL     Mt Nardi,  Lismore  - defunct

1273.400   1293.400 VK2RAG    Somersby,  Central Coast

1273.500   1293.500 VK2RWI     Dural,   Sydney (north west)

WIA Summer VHF/UHF/SHF Field Day Contest 2020 and John Moyle Field Day Contest 2020

As for the WIA Summer VHF/UHF/SHF Field Day Contest held on Saturday/Sunday 18th/19th January, 2020, I wasn't able to participate as I was working that weekend.

Next contest is the John Moyle Field Memorial Field Day Contest, to be held Saturday/Sunday 21st/22nd March 2020.  This time I have properly completed 10GHz portable setup to take away with me, plus the usual 3.4 GHz, 23cm, 70cm, 2m, 6m maybe some HF.  Probably go to Gowan  NSW grid square QF46pu to operate portable.

JMFD Contest details

post mortem of WIA Winter VHF UHF SHF Field Day Contest 2019

I forgot to do a write up, or I started but never completed, anyway, I did actually enter the contest, I operated from QF46pu, others who were there or nearby (QF46qu) were VK2CU, VK2DAG, VK2ZIW, VK2ZRH and VK2JDS.
I operated 24hrs segment. Bands used were 6m, 2m, 70cm, 23cm, 9cm, 3cm,  24Ghz, 76Ghz, not sure if we did 122GHz in the contest itself,  but we did spend a fair bit of time experimenting with 122Ghz on that weekend across the 3.8km void between hilltops.  Also did  some 4WDing around the two farms and taste testing some red wines at night following the roast pork cooked in a wood stove.
Overall, it was more of a microwave tuneup get together, than a serious go at contesting.

post mortem for John Moyle Field Day Contest 2019

the plan was to go to Mt.Lambie to operate the contest from, however, the weather was a let down, as it rained  all the way from Sydney to Lithgow and onto Mt.Lambie. In fact the whole of Mt.Lambie was engulfed by low cloud, as were any hills around Lithgow area.  So a plan of action was required, checking the BOM radar it was showing it as raining in Bathurst, that meant the alternative plan of going to Mt.Panorama was out of the question.  We noted that no rain showing on the radar to the north, ie. up to Ilford, Rylestone area. Started driving towards Ilford, as we progressed the weather improved, by time reaching Ilford it was mostly sunny, the road was dry. Once at Ilford, turned onto the Sofala road and headed along looking for a high location suitable for VHF and above, particularly for microwave bands.

Found a high spot just a few kilometres north of Sofala, about 860 metres ASL, QF46ux, an all open hilltop, setup off the road, then noticed the wind was suddenly increasing, by time we were ready to make contest contacts, the wind became so strong it was knocking over equipment and trying to blow away out portable gazebo.  Meanwhile, over on another mountain to the south west, Dave VK2JDS and Matt VK2DAG were now getting wet from a  rain squall and had to pack up all their equipment.

This lead us to the decision of packing up and go look at other potential mountain tops for future contests and microwave field days. One spot was up on the Old Ilford Road, QF46vx, this road runs along a ridgeline, all well above 1,000 metres ASL,  better than the location we stopped at on the Sofala Rd. We will keep this location in mind for future events.  Another potential area was at Wattle Flat QF46uu. we travelled back to Bathurst, then headed east, detouring up through sunny Corner and Dark Corner looking for potential high locations.  A really good spot is at a  farm at corner of W.Mitchell rd and Dark Corner Rd. (QF46wp). This might worth stopping and asking if we could use their paddock.

After returning to highway, we passed Mt.Lambie, it was still shrouded in low cloud. We proceeded onto Lithgow, purchasing some dinner and heading up to Hassans Walls lookout to check this as a potential site. Aft this heading up the Chifley Rd, stopped at Dargan next to railway line,  could hear 439.700 repeater from Nelson Bay,   also the Somersby 6m, 2m & 70cm repeaters are all 60/9 signals even though it pouring rain and sitting in cloud. It poured rain all the way back to Sydney.

Note: in this picture, you can see the ridgeline in the background of Old Ilford Rd.

WIA Summer VHF-UHF Contest 2019

operated portable from Mt.Lambie  QF46xm approx 1300m ASL on 12th January 2019
6m, 2m, 70cm, 23cm and 9cm for the WIA Summer VHF-UHF Contest

WIA Summer VHF/UHF/SHF Field Day Contest 12th/13th January 2019

check for latest status  here   on the day    https://www.contestradar.com/

or vk2kfj-9 on aprs,  or vklogger.com

of course the following are tentative, Wx permitting, failures, etc

Saturday afternoon QF46XM  1200m ASL
Sunday morning  QF46XE  1300m ASL
Sunday afternoon  back to QF46PU  900mASL  (non-contest mucking around if people need Ross Hull contest numbers)

50.150 USB Horiz
52.525 FM Vert
144.150 USB Horiz
146.500 FM Vert
432.150 USB Horiz
1296.150 USB Horiz
1294.00 FM simplex Vert  (or Horiz if reqd)
3398.150 USB or FM  Horiz     (or could be  .100 or .200  whatever!)
10.368.1xx USB (or FM if reqd)  (.100 or .150, or  somewhere there

Actually Ross Hull Contest runs whole of January and overlaps Summer contest.

Summer VHF/UHF Field Day Contest - 12th / 13th January 2019

almost end of 2018 and just realised that it only two weeks until the 2019 Summer VHF/UHF/SHF Field Day Contest.   I missed the Spring Field Day for 2018, so more effort required to ensure I go portable to operate VHF through SHF, obviously a mountain in the western side of Blue Mtns. The plan is to go Saturday morning setup for 12noon start, do 6 hrs stint will be enough. Not serious to win, it's about just getting out portable to give out some numbers to others and build up microwave skillset. I got everything for 6metres and above, but primary focus is on microwave bands.