[PVRCNC] VK9NT Update

[Irv [K3IRV] McWherter]

NEWS UPDATE 16 APRIL 2022 0000UTC: VK9NT

Hello from a wet and soggy Norfolk Island where we’ve had about 70mm of
rain in our first two days…

As some may have heard (or not…) our signals have been subdued since we
arrived on 14 April.  Sadly, our luggage did not make the flight with us
from Melbourne; no-one’s did.  We understand Qantas has had some staffing
issues with baggage handlers.  All Luke (VK3HJ) and Chris (VK3QB) have with
them on the island is their carry-on bags…  which thankfully included the
QRP radios, a paddle, computers, and some ancillary equipment.

Alan, VK6CQ flew in from Perth and his bag arrived…  so, we have an FT8
station.  We also have a bunch of antenna stuff we left on the island last
time.

What we don’t have are the amplifiers, balanced ATU and all of the antennas
we’d packed in the suit cases.

Our first day was spent assessing what we had and getting a basic station
established.  We have FT8 and an EFHW focused on 15m, and one of the QRP
radios (7 Watts) has been on CW using a mobile whip with 12 radials and a
17m vertical (home made yesterday) with 20 radials.

Yesterday a local loaned us an amplifier for a week or so and this is
(obviously) making a huge difference to our CW signals.

So, what’s next?

We will assume our luggage won’t make it….  Our focus will be on keeping
the QSO rate up on the most productive bands, as well as getting 160m up
and running.

The Terlin mobile whip is doing a surprisingly good job, so we’ll focus
daylight CW ops on the higher bands, and night-time will be 40m (as well of
course as any other higher bands that present opportunities).  We can at
least run 100W into this antenna now, and with 16 radials it is performing
admirably well.

Luke has been up the tree and we have the fly-lines up for the Inverted L
at 30 metres.  Today we will get this antenna up and at least one of the
beverages for receive.

We’ll keep the FT8 station running on 15m in Fox & Hound mode on 21.084MHz,
keeping clear of TX5N; so, if you need Norfolk Island on FT8 this is where
you’ll find us.

Please be patient as we hobble together a station with what’s on-hand.
We’ll update our QRZ.com page and send email updates every couple of days.

In the meantime, we’re having fun adapting and applying a bit of amateur
ingenuity to radiate the best possible signals we can.

73 from the VK9NT Team

VK6CQ, VK3HJ & VK3QB

(Amateur Radio: improvise, adapt, overcome.  [image: 😉] )