PORTABLE AMATEUR RADIO
- FAMPARC
- Oct 12
- 2 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
OCTOBER 18TH GUEST SPEAKER
TOPIC: Portable amateur radio
PETER VK3PF
Parks On The Air extraordinaire
DONE!
Thanks to Peter VK3PF for his time at the club.. Peter covered many areas of Portable Amateur Radio operation and setup. Again.. we thank him for his time and effort.

We have another amazing guest speaker and event at the Famparc Club Rooms. We are pleased to welcome Peter vk3pf, a leading parks activator enthusiast.
Peter will be sharing his extensive knowledge about this wonderful hobby of working from the thousands of parks, peaks, and silos scattered across Australia.
Discover numerous ideas and suggestions to enhance your Amateur Radio hobby. Peter possesses extensive knowledge about park activating, including essential requirements and excellent tips. What you need!
Featuring:
The basics
How do I start?
Software
Posting
Setup
& much more..
Peter VK3PF is located in the Latrobe Valley, about 140 km ESE of Melbourne CBD.
My home station has only simple antennas: a 80/40 m fan inverted V plus a vertical with an IC AH-2 tuner at the base.
ABOUT Peter:
I enjoy chasing/hunting SOTA and WWFF stations, mostly around Australia due to the antenna situation.
I occasionally get out into the field to activate SOTA summits, VKFF Parks and Silos. In fact, almost any outdoor radio activity! Most VKFF Parks also count for POTA.
And for something different to SOTA, there is HEMA. We also have SiOTA - Silos On The Air. Earlier in 2022, I spent quite some time studying digital mapping for the eastern third of Victoria to develop a list of candidate HEMA summits.
That list is currently being checked by the VK3 coordinator, so hopefully I will have some HEMA summits to activate closer to home in the future.
The typical SOTA station has been an FT-817 (5 W) to an inverted V link dipole held up with a squid pole. Of late, I have been using an Elecraft KX-2 or an IC-705 and a ZS6BKW doublet.
Park activations may use the SOTA station, an IC-7300 with a portable antenna, or occasionally I use the IC-706MKIIG mounted in my vehicle with a ZS6BKW doublet.
Visit Peter's website, which showcases the numerous parks in operation. Click Here
Additional images of Parks in action:

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