About Rob

About Rob
My involvement in the hobby began some 48 years ago (I think!) when I tuned into the legendary HCJB in Quito, Ecuador. A reception report to the station resulted in my first QSL card, taking 5 months to arrive by the slow boat. It was a real buzz tuning into mysterious voices on the SWBC bands using my parents' old Stromberg Carlson Radiogram and a short length of wire on the lounge room floor. My uncle was a radio repairman and so he kept me supplied with a steady stream of other old valve radios as well.

For many years, I DX'ed the shortwave and mediumwave broadcast bands, sending reception reports, collecting QSLs and monitoring the changes to the SWBC bands on a daily basis. I was also a monitor for Radio Japan (NHK) for some years. I held a variety of editorial and committee positions with the Australian Radio DX Club. I was awarded Life Membership of that club.

The CB Radio era came along and I explored that medium for a while. And like so many young radio hobbyists at the time, the lure of Amateur Radio was the next logical step. The Wireless Institute of Australia was there to help. I attended novice classes and secured a licence under the call VK3NQJ. Several years later, I upgraded to the present call - VK3BVW - and was active on HF for many years, with a special interest in DX contacts.

My career as a professional musician and music educator was well established and life was very busy. While the family grew up, I also started a print music importing business. So, by necessity, radio went by the wayside for some years. However, long service leave in 1998 revived my interest in radio. I dragged out the old ICOM 701 HF transceiver and was delighted when it fired up without a hitch. I have now retired and spend much of my time in radio and photography pursuits. These days I spend much of my time in listening mode on the SWBC bands or operating on the FT8 digital mode.

Transceivers: Yaesu FTDX3000, Kenwood TS2000 transceiver, and Yaesu VX5R 
Receivers: Yaesu FRG100, FRG-7, Kenwood R5000, Tecsun PL-680 and Sangean 909 
Antennas: Double Bazooka antennas for 20, 40 and 80 meters, horizontal skyloop antenna, a PAR End-Fed SWL antenna, a 5 element Yagi on 2 m and 70 cm 
Favourite Radio Activities: Monitoring of spectrum usage by broadcasters in the international shortwave broadcast bands, operating FT8/FT4 and other digital modes on the 80-10m ham bands, listening on 60 and 90-metre Tropical Bands (SWBC), antenna experimentation, and more.


This set of pages will take you to:

• The radio shack of VK3BVW 
• A QSL Photo Gallery
• An archive of QSL cards and letters 
• Some audio links of shortwave radio stations in the 1970s 
• Many articles and resources relating to old radio equipment, antennas, radio spectrum surveys, and other items. 
• A PowerPoint presentation on Amateur Radio for those wanting more information on this fascinating hobby. 

I hope you find these resources of interest and use.

About Mount Evelyn

Mount Evelyn is a combined residential and rural community, approximately 45 kms east of Melbourne. It is nestled in the foothills of the famous Dandenong Ranges - about 10 minutes drive from the summit of Mount Dandenong (650 metres ASL) - and is the gateway to the rich and fertile food bowl of the Yarra Valley.

At 225 metres above sea level, Mount Evelyn has 9,100 residents making it the fourth largest town in the Shire of Yarra Ranges.

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Part of the fabulous Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail
walking track near Mount Evelyn

Rhododendrons flowering in October

Along the Rail Trail, take a break at the Carriage Cafe
 in Seville, near Mount Evelyn

Brightly coloured parrots abound in our garden.

About This Blog 

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog does not accept any form of advertising, sponsorship, or paid insertions. We write for our own purposes. However, we may be influenced by our background, occupation, religion, political affiliation or experience. The owner(s) of this blog will never receive compensation in any way from this blog. The owner(s) of this blog is not compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog owners or any guest contributors. If we claim or appear to be experts on a certain topic or product or service area, we will only endorse products or services that we believe, based on our expertise, are worthy of such endorsement. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest. (This policy is valid from December, 2016 )

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