G'day,
Those who are interested in contacting historic lighthouses around the
world may like to look out for VK6VZ/6 in the Stew Perry Topband Distance
Challenge on 29/30 December.
I will be operating from Australia's first lighthouse, located at Cape
Leeuwin (grid OF75), 9 km north of Augusta and around 300 km south of
Perth. Cape Leeuwin is located on a promontory and marks the place on the
Western Australian coastline where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet.
The lighthouse balcony is around 39 metres above ground and for the contest
an inverted vee dipole will be sited there, giving the antenna apex an
effective height of approaching 100 metres over the sea, which surrounds
the lighthouse on three sides. The only problem is that Cape Leeuwin is
probably the windiest place in Western Australia, so keeping an antenna in
the air could be tricky!
Transmission may be done between 1810 and 1815, with QSX 10 - 15KHz down
the band, in the spirit of the old W1BB trans-Pacific QSOs. As the
operation is LP, if operation takes place higher in the band (i.e. 1820 -
1835) QSX up 1 is likely to be used.
A special QSL card commemorating the operation will be available for those
who contact VK6VZ/6 at Cape Leeuwin.
Vy 73,
Steve, VK6VZ
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