40th ANNIVERSARY - VK3BVW

The radio shack today.

40th ANNIVERSARY - VK3BVW

40 years? 

Well......where did the time go?

I couldn't believe it when, several months ago, I came across my advanced licence class, issued on March 21, 1980. The call sign, VK3BVW, has remained mine from the day of issue. There was no prior use of this call. Over the years, there were probably opportunities to change to a five-character call when they became available, however, I never bothered chasing another call sign.

Of course, like many amateur radio operators, my start in radio was as a 14-year-old shortwave listener - interests and activities that I have continued all these years to this day. For me, being a radio listener and an active DXer of the shortwave bands underpins what I also do and an amateur operator. My principal interests in SWL have been to hear, monitor and document new countries, new stations, and new frequencies. I have also spent time researching the characteristics of radio wave propagation. In the early decades, I maintained a very active interest in acquiring QSL cards. However, collecting cards and eQSLs from shortwave broadcasters is not of much interest to me these days.

An extract from my shortwave listening logbook from1972.
Almost all of the stations listed here have left the shortwave bands.

A 20-year-old long-haired, weirdo kid at the High Park High-Frequency Receiving Station
in central Victoria! (c. 1974) 😁

In my early 20s, I operated on 27 MHz citizens band (CB) before that band was legal in Australia. They were fun times, with CB radios and antennas being imported and sold on the streets of the Melbourne central business district, despite being totally illegal to operate on the 11-metre band. Faced with overwhelming public demand and lots of CB radios on the market, the Australian Government were virtually forced to open up that band.  Prior to legalization, the majority of CB operators were people like myself who had a technical interest in radio broadcasting but did not necessarily have or want an amateur radio licence. So, working that band saw many like-minded people interested in radio. After CB was legalised in Australia, I was issued with a CB "licence", which was largely a forlorn attempt by the federal government to try and keep some sort of control over the usage of the 11-metre band. Oh....and to charge us a fee, of course!! Power amplifiers were banned but in wide use amongst operators! 27MHz beam antennas popped up over household roofs in increasing numbers. My CB radio was the Kraco SSB Deluxe, which proved to be a very good performer for me.

The Kraco SSB Deluxe CB radio. It also worked well on the 10m ham band!

The radio shack (c.1983)

Within a few months of the 27 MHz CB band being legalised, the quality of users dropped significantly as the band became crowded with foul-mouthed clowns who wanted nothing more than to impress their girlfriends and annoy the technical types amongst us. It soon became clear that it was time to move on! The national amateur radio body, the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) saw an opportunity to conduct novice and advanced classes for refugees of the CB band. Hundreds of us eagerly enrolled in the courses and sat the exams for theory, regulations and morse code.

In my time as an amateur radio licensee, I have only ever had two call signs. The first was the novice call, VK3NQJ, issued on August 17, 1978 with limited spectrum privileges on 80, 15 and 10m plus VHF and a max of 30w SSB. My first novice rig was my CB radio, which I converted to the 10m ham band. This involved simply importing and installing some new some crystals from the USA and tweaking the rig a touch to get her really humming.  My first real DX contact on that rig was KH6JAO in Hawaii, using 12w and a low slung dipole. It is one of my favourite QSL cards. See the story behind that QSL card here.

Later, I bought a Yaesu FT-7 transceiver, another low-powered rig with an output of around 10w (I think, but I could be wrong about the power output!) and covering all the available HF amateur bands of the day. I loved that rig! It was great as a mobile unit for the car as well as at home. But I foolishly sold it to upgrade to a radio capable of emitting higher power. On reflection, I should have kept the FT-7 AND purchased that new rig. DOH!

The Yaesu FT-7 - a great little rig! Why, ohh WHY did I sell it?

So what was this "new" rig? Well, it was the IC-701, Icom's first-generation HF transceiver. This radio did not have a general coverage receiver and no new WARC bands, but it worked very well for me with its 100w max output and digital readout. Being Icom's first HF rig, it was a bit clunky and so the company quickly replaced it with better-designed transceivers. However, I hung onto my IC-701 for many years and found it very reliable.

The IC-701, ICOM's first venture into the HF transceiver market.

As much as operating as a novice using VK3NQJ was fun, I realised that I needed to upgrade to the "full call" to get more bang for my buck! And so, the morse code, theory and regulations examinations were studied and passed. 18 months after obtaining VK3NQJ, the new advanced (AOCP)  call VK3BVW went on the air. I picked up a pre-loved three-element tri-band beam antenna made by Western Electronics (I believe this antenna was manufactured in England?) and had some great DX success on 10, 15 and 20m. In those early years, I was very active on the bands, both at the home QTH and portable.

Radio shack in a cupboard (c. 1996)

But in 1984, a move to a new home QTH with a much smaller backyard meant that the beam had to come down and was never erected again. So I have used wire antennas from then on until today. Then followed several periods of inactivity while our family grew, I pursued my teaching career and operated a small print music import and retail business.

During that time, I would continue my shortwave listening activities, but only occasionally transmitted on the amateur bands. The increasing man-made electrical hash near that home resulted in both ham and SWL activities being severely curtailed and increasingly undertaken in the car or out in the bush.

Some years later, in the early 2000s, I sold the IC-701 and purchased a second-hand Kenwood TS2000, which I still have in the radio shack today.

The Kenwood TS2000 transceiver, still on the shack bench today.

An extract of the VK3BVW logbook from 1983.

The Yaesu FTDX3000 has a very low noise receiver.

Our next QTH move to the current location of Mount Evelyn in 2012 saw a return to a larger backyard. However, the lay of the land is such that it still does not allow for a big beam antenna installation. BUT....this urban fringe/semi-rural location is electrically much quieter than the previous location, so it has been beneficial for both SWLing and ham activities. Another new transceiver, the Yaesu FTDX3000, was added to the radio shack back in 2015. The arrival of the new WSJT-X digital modes dragged me back to the amateur bands again, and VK3BVW is now once more being heard on the digital portions on 10, 15, 17, 20, 30 40 and 80m.

The AOCP, March 21, 1980

The mug shot on the back of the certificate!

The VK3BVW station licence issued on March 21, 1980.
Notice the "white-out" covering a mistake made in call sign allocation. I wonder what call sign was first allocated!

As I have said on previous occasions, shortwave listening has been and continues to be a major part of my radio activities. I don't spend too much time listening to actual programming, preferring to monitor as many stations on as many frequencies as possible, observing HFBC band spectrum usage and researching propagation characteristics. But, the callsigns of VK3BVW and VK3NQJ have brought me much pleasure over the years, allowing me the opportunity to continue learning many aspects of radio and electronics. For this, I am truly grateful. Thank you for taking the time to read about part of my radio story.

73 and best wishes to you all,

Rob Wagner VK3BVW

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