Where are the VK6's ??

[ZL3MH]

At that time there was no internet and no packet radio . I always thought it
was Mike ZL3TIC. I was running a QQU4/40 amp to 2/ 10 element beams and
a VK2ZAB pre amp with a BF981. Radio a IC202 or a FDK Multi 2000.

I have a pic 73 Murray ZL3MH

[VK3PY]

Incidentally, I heard (only) ZL3TIB on two metres on Xmas day

Yikes! I never knew that! Just goes to show, even in the days before the internet was widely available, VK6 - ZL on 2m nearly happened (well, it happened one way, which means the path was there). But Christmas Day? This raises the question of the mode of propagation. Tropo or multi-hop Es - or what was it Roger - petites jupes or something? That VK7's were worked by ZL on the day does not really help - they're roughly at the mid-point. Maybe the duration of the opening tells us something. Forty-five seconds might point to Es, but what the heck? It's do-able.

To paraphrase a former VK Prime Minister - Be alert, not asleep (at the rig)!

Chas
VK3PY

[VK6LD]

Hi Leigh & All,

A couple if points from my own experiences.

Firstly the hours we work in or jobs these days is just crazy! I work many more hours these days than I used to and when I get home, I have dinner, watch TV for maybe an hour before going to bed or falling asleep on the lounge. There is some truth to the rumour that the WA economy is the engine room of the country and props up the other states...!

Secondly is the time difference between VK6 and the eastern states. 3 hours in summer between the sides is a big gap. When we are getting home from work at 6 or 7 pm it is 9 or 10 pm on the eastern seaboard. By the time all our domestic duties are out of the way and can get into the shack 8.30 pm or so, the east coasters are in bed.

In the mornings, it is the reverse when hams on the east coast are rising at 6 or 7 am looking for contacts, it is still 3 or 4 am here in the west. I enjoy the hobby, but the only thing that will get me out of bed at that time of the morning is a house fire! Even those of us that might be retired, we couldn't do 3 or 4 am wake ups regularly. Yes I have had SMS messages from hams in the east at 3 am, notifying that the VHF/UHF bands were open, but I didn't smell any smoke and my sleep has a higher priority!

By the time we might be waking up here, say 6 or 7 am (5.30am usually for me) it is 9 or 10am over east and you're either at work or propagation has shifted/dissipated.

Finally, yes there is quite a bit of local chat on HF (40M & 80M) as there are some large distances between areas that you can't cover on VHF/UHF.

Some food for thought hopefully.

73's,

Rob...
VK6LD

[VK3PY]

Some notable points, Rob, but much the same would apply to VK3's with respect to ZL's, especially the time zone difference. I guess it's also a matter of enthusiasm and belief that contacts can be made. A lot of eastern state DX is worked in the wee hours of the morning (e.g. VK3 - VK4 Meteor Scatter).

As for VK6's economy driving Australia, well, 'bout time we in the east got something back for all those decades when we subsidised you guys. Looks like the wheel's about to turn again.

Chas
VK3PY

[VK5BC]

Leigh may have made a bad choice of words in his post but I can assure you that he is not deliberately trying to upset anyone.

Eager, keen, excited, enthusiastic, ardent, fervent, avid about Amateur Radio - and especially VHF/UHF propagation - Leigh
may be, but never rude, crude or deliberately offensive.

Well said Bill, having met Leigh several times I can only totally agree. I hate to think how many $'s, hours & effort Leigh has put into trying to promote VHF and provide a very good station for all VHfers to work and not just on 2m but 70cm, 23cm etc as well as both SSB (horizontal) & FM (Vertical).

Like Leigh, I and many other eastern VHF operators have been frustrated by the lack of VK6's to work when the band has been open and beacons can be heard including the Perth 1296 MHz beacon. Yes the time difference doesn't help but there have been some keen VK6's in the past who would welcome a tel call and get up at any time, unfortunately some now SK's.

This is very unfortunate as the Bight path would have to be one of worlds great tropo paths and I'm sure ZL - VK6 could be done.

73 Brian
VK5BC

[ZL1TPH]

Text of David's - VK6AOM - message to John - VK2FG
Monday January 19, 1987

Dear John,
Please let me apologise for the delay in returning a card for that terrific QSO we had in December. I can tell you, John, I couldn't believe my ears when I heard your callsign at 5 x 9 and it may have been apparent in my cautious approach to you when I called you back! Never again will I be so backward in coming forward !!!!! If I said that it was a pleasure in working you, it would be a masterpiece of understatement. It has been the highlight of this DX season. Incidentally, I heard (only) ZL3TIB on two metres on Xmas day. His signal came up out of the noise for about 45 seconds and I immediately fired up my big linear but before it came out of the pre-heat stage, the signal was gone. If I left out all of the swear words I didn't say a thing. He was working VK7's and I worked him on 6 next day and was able to identify the stations he was calling and part of his QSO… which he confirmed. So that's one way. Next time……John, I look forward to the opportunity of working you again. Should I be spared till next year, you'll be the first station I'll call !!!!!

Best 73, John
(Signed)
David Lloyd - VK6AOM

Murray, triple hop 2 m Es at 1666 km each or derivate of those three to make to the 5000 km path and your signal never hit the ground or water, all cordial mode all the way to VK6.

Cheers,
Steve ZL1TPH

[VK6LD]

Some notable points, Rob, but much the same would apply to VK3's with respect to ZL's, especially the time zone difference. I guess it's also a matter of enthusiasm and belief that contacts can be made. A lot of eastern state DX is worked in the wee hours of the morning (e.g. VK3 - VK4 Meteor Scatter).

As for VK6's economy driving Australia, well, 'bout time we in the east got something back for all those decades when we subsidised you guys. Looks like the wheel's about to turn again.

Hi Chas,

I think the time difference between VK3 & ZL is 2 hours both with & without daylight saving. The west is used to that on a daily basis, but from my own experience at work and home the extra hour added with daylight saving is a killer. (Yes unfortunately we are still trapped in the past in WA with no daylight saving)

I outlined the challenges above on the home front with the 3 hours time difference. At my work, the 3 hour time difference in dealing with the eastern states is even more of a challenge. I start around 7.15am and by the time I'm ready to go we get at best 1.5 hours to deal with the eastern states counterparts, before they start going to lunch. We then get a window between 10am - 12pm before we go to lunch and by the time we are back from lunch, our eastern states counterparts are starting to finish work for the day. If we are lucky we might get an extra hour after lunch from the diligent workers, but after that the phones and emails go unanswered. In my work days during daylight saving months I probably end up having close to equal contact hours with counterparts in overseas countries west of us.

The other point I wanted to mention is there is only a handful of active amateurs in the Albany & Esperance areas and of that only a minority would have VHF/UHF equipment. For those in Perth, where the greatest proportion of amateurs live, we are 400kms north of Albany and approx 800kms across land path to get to The Great Australian Bight and start across the pond. Certainly history shows us that it isn't impossible, but there certainly are long, long periods between openings that makes it pretty difficult to sit in front of the radio waiting & listening for that elusive opening.

As someone else mentioned there are good tropo openings up and down the west coast during summer, but not too many amateurs at the far end to speak with. If you're lucky, you might be able to speak with another Perth amateur through a distant repeater, but that's about it.

In closing, it certainly isn't the case that VK6 operators don't want to work east coast operators on VHF/UHF bands, quite the opposite actually. For the 4 years I lived on the south coast near Albany, I had a ball over 3 summers working pile ups of VK5's & VK3's on 2M & 70cms. We did have daylight saving for some of those years and the stars aligned just perfectly to give me the opportunity to work the Bight path on many occasions. (In my current situation,the stars just dont align) I hope to one day retire down there, but that is still many many years away.

Cheers,

Rob...
VK6LD

[VK6ZGO]

Back in the day,various organisations had permanent staff in country towns,many of which were Hams.
In the late 1980s,early 1990s,there was an exodus of these people,as companies & Government instrumentalities retreated to the city.

Telecom Aust,for instance,for many years had Broadcast section staff working shifts at such attended Radio & TV Transmitter sites as:
Wagin,Mt Barker,Mount Lennard (near Bunbury),Mawson (near Quairading),etc.

As they were Transmitter Techs,many of them were drawn to Ham Radio,& probably the largest proportion were "Z" calls,so were mainly on 2m.
As all these sites were hurriedly modified to be unattended,most of these people returned to Perth.

At around the same time,the Telecom Aust exchanges were destaffed,& a little later,the SEC ,Railways,& even the local Banks.
Some of the people from those organisations were also Hams.

Just before all of this happened,I remember being temporarily at Mt Barker.
One night after TV closedown,I travelled to Albany to check on the TV site on Mt Clarence,then to the MF site to do the regular
programme line tests.
I chucked the FT290R in the firm's ute (just sitting upright on the seat with the whip extended).

As I ascended Mt Clarence,I heard a conversation on 146.500MHz between a local,& a VK5,who I assumed was mobile locally.
It turns out,she was still in VK5!
I was working,so I couldn't waste much time,but I could hear both sides at good strength right down to the bottom of the hill,when it faded out.

I went & did my thing at the MF station,& drove back to Barker,picked up my car,set up the FT290R (this time with a proper antenna) & headed off,listening to 146.700MHz.

Bill VK6ZBB(now SK) was having a contact with another station,& I thought they were both in the local area through the
Albany repeater,but it turns out there was nice ducting to the Perth one!

I said "Gooday" to Bill,he signed,& I put out another call,only to be answered by Sid VK6SJ (now SK) in Wagin!
You couldn't do that these days,due to the small number of country Hams!

[VK6ADF]

One of the Albany amateurs who would probably in the past have had a qso on VHF is no longer active, now residing in a nursing home in Albany. I was visiting another ham who also lives in the home last month and during the conversation the other ham's name came up and I was told "oh he's here too" So I found him and said a quick hello but I don't think he remembered me even though we met before and had numerous QSO's in the past.

So age is also not assisting the VK6 population in the south.

[VK3YE]

One of the Albany amateurs who would probably in the past have had a qso on VHF is no longer active, now residing in a nursing home in Albany. I was visiting another ham who also lives in the home last month and during the conversation the other ham's name came up and I was told "oh he's here too" So I found him and said a quick hello but I don't think he remembered me even though we met before and had numerous QSO's in the past.

So age is also not assisting the VK6 population in the south.

When Harry 6WZ (also ex-Albany) was doing the WIA broadcast in the '80s I remember an item from the Southern Electronics Group saying that there was something like 60 amateurs in or near Albany, a town of under 20 000. That was the largest concentration of hams outside Perth and probably one of the highest ratios in Australia. Not sure if anyone's checked 6330 in the ACMA database, but I doubt it would still be this high.

[VK3ALB]

Not sure if anyone's checked 6330 in the ACMA database, but I doubt it would still be this high.

33

[VK4GHZ]

When Harry 6WZ (also ex-Albany) was doing the WIA broadcast in the '80s I remember an item from the Southern Electronics Group saying that there was something like 60 amateurs in or near Albany, a town of under 20 000. That was the largest concentration of hams outside Perth and probably one of the highest ratios in Australia. Not sure if anyone's checked 6330 in the ACMA database, but I doubt it would still be this high.

This is an easy thing to do, only taking minutes.
http://web.acma.gov.au/pls/radcom/regis ... .main_page
Doing a postcode search on 6330, we get 80 results.
Having drilled down on each entry, we find 22 hams in 6330.

VK6UN
VK6CB
VK6RD
VK6BE
VK6XW
VK6NHI
VK6RJ
VK6DM
VK6JL
VK6TR
VK6KRW
VK6OB
VK6JY
VK6AGT
VK6YAU
VK6LG
VK6PEJ
VK6LLL
VK6PBV
VK6KJ
VK6FMUZ
VK6BPS

I wonder how many of this lot are really active?
And on any band?

It does support my theory that debunks this Alice in Wonderland notion that there are 15,000 active hams, who can collectively justify the massive amounts of spectrum we currently have.
Whilst there may be 15,000+ licenses issued, I reckon less than 2,000 of this 15k would be active.

Postcode 6330 and VHF is just one example of why the WIA should be more pro-active in encouraging younger people into the hobby.
Before too long, the death of activity won't be limited to just postcode 6330.

[VK3ALB]

Wow only 22 and probably falling. My count of 33 came from the radcom database of August 2012. That's a significant change over a year.

[VK4GHZ]

...That's a significant change over a year.

Lou, amateur radio is literally dieing of old age.
And it's happening on our watch.

Having dug a bit, I present the following rough 'n ready research.

So how many VK6's are really active?
How could this be measured?

Well, as crude as this is, I am using the search results from DX Summit for 2013 YTD.
(And we all know what we are dealing with, when it comes to spots on open clusters. )

VK6-2013.txt

DX Summit search on VK6 for 2013

(259.97 KiB) Downloaded 363 times

Now, when I import that into an Excel Spreadsheet, and sort on VK6 callsign, and remove repeaters, beacons, and obvious idiotic entries, I get 119 unique VK6's spotted so far in 2013.
Yep, only 119 in the entire state of Western Australia so far this year.

VK6-2013.xls

DX Summit search on VK6 for 2013 as XLS, sorted on VK6 callsign

(352 KiB) Downloaded 701 times

The ACMA database doesn't allow a VK6* wildcard search, so I don't know how many VK6 hams are licensed, and therefore calculate a suitably rough % figure on real activity.
Even without doing that, real activity appears to be alarmingly low.

Now extrapolate that across the rest of the country.

My guestimate of 2,000 active hams may even be too generous?

[VK3YE]

To be fair I should probably also have mentioned Albany region postcodes, such as those covering Mt Barker, Denmark and Walpole. These are much smaller than Albany and together might boost numbers by maybe 30%.

Esperance is the only other significant settlement along the south coast. For a while there was a radio club but some of the more active amateurs have either moved or passed on. I'm not sure if there's any amateurs in Augusta (Cape Leeuwin) though there is at least one (HF DXer) in Margaret River.

One area where VK6 punches above its weight is in the RD Contest. Particularly on VHF. It submits more logs each year than some if not all bigger states and often wins. Some complain that the rules are biased but to me the results are fair - ie the most active state wins the prize.

As for 2000 active hams, there's around 4000 WIA members so that estimate is probably on the low side. Not all WIA members are necessarily active amateurs but it's unlikely that amateurs that have completely lost interest would retain membership. There would also be a body of amateurs with even less interest that have let their call lapse.

After considering the number of bands and modes we have (plus all the non-operating activity eg listening, foxhunting, programming & construction) and you'd only have a few hundred active per specialty nationwide. Out of 22 in Albany you'd be lucky to get more than one or two that shares your interest/band/mode.

[VK6ZGO]

We are obviously not going to get the amount of activity on 2m,even in proportion to the reduced numbers,that we got before "Z" calls got access to HF.
I can chuck up a "glorified clothesline" for 20m & work the world,but to do anything serious on 2m or 70cm,I need to stick up a Yagi,with something to turn it,

A vertical Omni doesn't quite hack it these days,as there are less people to talk to on 2m FM than in the old days,& you have a fairly large cross polarisation loss on 2m SSB with others using horizontal polarisation.

That said,I had occasional contacts with VK6IQ & his crew,before my 2m multimode croaked.
After I get it & the 70cm rig fixed,I have 2 Yagis to refurb & mount on a rotatable pipe hanging off my patio.

[VK6ZFG]

Hi All

Current population of Albany is about 30,000. According to the the current Australian amateur numbers and population, Albany should have about 21 amateurs. This somewhat matched the 22 mentioned earlier. mmm statistics!

To place things into perspective most of the population in VK6 is in Perth. Outside that there are not many large population centres. That is, large by VK6 standards, but small by eastern states standards.

Below is a list of the major VK6 population centres. It is not quite up to date, as the populations listed are a bit on the low site. Mandurah, Rockingham, Kwinana and Ellenbrook form part of the greater Perth area so need to be discounted.

Mandurah – about 68,000
Rockingham – just over 67,000
Bunbury – almost 55,000
Kalgoorlie-Boulder – just over 28,000
Geraldton – about 27,000
Albany – just over 25,000
Kwinana – roughly 20,000
Busselton – about 15,000
Ellenbrook – nearly 12,000
Karratha about 11,000
Port Hedland – around 11,000
Broome – about 11,000
remainder below 10,000

This means that one has to be rather keen to chase VHF DX, as the prospects of working some are somewhat low in VK6! Not only local VK6 DX, but also to the nearest other state, as is a 2000km+ haul. VHF DX to the West - well the Indian Ocean is noted for its thriving active amateur population!

73s

Igor

[VK6ADF]

Hi All

Current population of Albany is about 30,000. According to the the current Australian amateur numbers and population, Albany should have about 21 amateurs. This somewhat matched the 22 mentioned earlier. mmm statistics!

I know of at least one call missed on the list so that makes 23 so the stats get better . I also know of another F call not listed but I can't find him listed on the database either so he may have let it lapse, will have to check further. I was hoping to entice him onto VHF, which would make 24 listed hams in the area.

I was surprised, when I looked it up, that Esperance has less than 10000 population. I thought it was more than that.

I recently moved QTH and from a population of 2700 there are at least 3 amateurs in town. So not doing too bad

[ADMIN]

... which would make 24 listed hams in the area.

But only 22 are listed on the ACMA database.
I know of two VKs that (accidentally) let their licenses lapse in recent months.
They only became aware of this, when I did the usual ACMA cross check when processing Forum registrations, and let them know about the situation I discovered.
Renewals get misplaced. It happens.

I would suggest you contact this mystery operator and get them to verify their license status.

[VK6ZGO]

Back in the day,prior to "Economic Rationalism",Wagin ,with a population of around 1600 (a guess,as it was a bit larger than the current 1427), had,just from the 6WA staff,around 3-4 Hams,with a floating population of 1-2 others.

There were other Hams in the district,but I didn't know much about them.

Collie had a couple of Hams,too.
Not a great place for 2m,though,------lots of hills.