The stage was set for the 79th running of the Oceania DX Contest, and with the solar conditions a little bit favourable, we were hopeful on capturing aplenty of calls.
Bob (VK6POP) had put an expression of interest out the members at HARG about 3 weeks ago, and those who were interested, had formed an orderly queue to beat the door down at the shack in anticipation of the event. We even had a guest drop by in Andy Beales from Queensland (VK4KCS), whom some of us had previously met at Perth Tech a couple of weeks ago.
As soon as the allotted time was reached (2.00pm WST), Bob “in the hot seat” started calling CQ, with Ian as his scribe, inserting the call signs and the contact number obtained from the incoming station.
Certainly for me it was only my second foray into this new world of contests, whereas some of my colleagues where fairly seasoned. For many of my friends and colleagues in HARG it seemed that it had been a few years since we had any one particularly interested in contesting, so this renewed interest seemed very welcome.
I can understand why contesting is not to everyone’s liking, but equally I can see the appeal and as for benefits to the club I personally think it is fantastic with everyone working as a team for a common goal, doing it in a safe and supportive environment and allowing people who are new to the hobby or new to contesting to learn by having a go.
Bob (VK6POP) had come well prepared and had his caravan outside in the car park, due to the location of his QTH whereas the remainder of the team were all located around the Hills area so didn’t have that far to travel.
When I left on the Saturday evening around 8.35pm, Gary (VK6WCH) was in the chair. I had been scribing for Gary for a little while and we had taken the contact count to about 109. By the time the contest wrapped up at 2.00pm the following day, the final contact count was at 299 QSO’s.
Thanks to my friends at HARG for getting me interested in Contesting, and I think only good will come from it as far as the Hills Amateur Radio Group is concerned.
Thanks to all who attended the Oceania DX Contest.
| Bob VK6POP | Ian VK6IMG | Gary VK6WCH |
| Ken VK6KEN | Peter VK6LB | Colin VK6JE |
| Alan VK6DWD | Will VK6BCK | And our interstate guest Andy VK4KCS |