| Callsign |
VK3BJM |
| Name |
Barry Miller |
| Location |
5km NW of Kyneton (QF22es) |
| DOB |
1967 |
| Years licenced on AR |
14 |
| What VHF+ bands are you active on |
144MHz, 432MHz, 1296MHz, 2.4GHz;
and partially built equipment for 3.4, 5.7, and 10GHz. |
| Favourite VHF+ band |
144MHz |
| Favourite VHF+ mode |
SSB |
| Favourite VHF+ propagation mode |
Anything that gets through gets the
thumbs up from me... |
| I got started in radio when |
I was given a 1940's AWA broadcast
receiver at age 9, and started hearing voices from far away places (they
were coming out of the speaker, honest...) |
| What I like most about VHF+ DX is |
It ain't easy. |
| Toughest thing about VHF+ DX is |
Being in the right place at the
right time, to catch a propagation opening. |
| The best set up I have had for VHF+ DX is |
So far... My current one.
2m: 14el DL6WU yagi, BF981 M/H pre-amp, Phillips AM-17 power amp (320w).
70cm: 22el DL6WU yagi, Siemens CF300 M/H pre-amp, RFC 100w power amp.
Still rebuilding 23 and 13cm home stations after shifting QTH last year. |
| Favourite station to contact |
Yes. |
| Most memorable contact and why |
Could name about 5; too hard to
pick just one. My first contact (2m & 70cm) over the Australian
Bight with Wal VK6KZ; my first meteor scatter contact ( with Glenn
VK4TZL), using my mobile station in the Blue Mountains; working into both
Melbourne and Sydney from Fowlers Gap (100km N of Broken Hill) on 2m, at
distances of 813 and 923km respectively... The list goes on. |
| Most memorable propagation opening or condition and why |
Could be either my first experience
of auroral propagation, or the first AEP contact in far western NSW
(Mt Manara, April 2001). |
| People most admired in AR |
Those who keep trying after an
initial failure; those who can give advice in a form that encourages
rather than discourages; and the ground breakers. |
| I'm really good at |
Avoiding profile questionaires. |
| I'm really bad at |
Profile questionaires. |
| Favourite music |
I avoid pigeon-holing my musical
tastes wherever possible. |
| Favourite TV show |
TV? What's that? |
| Favourite food |
Too much good food available to
have a favourite. Mmmm, food... |
| Favourite drink |
Almost any fermented product from
the House of Coopers, or a good red wine. |
| What really annoys you |
Equipment failure. |
| I wish I could stop |
My equipment failing. |
| Biggest regret |
All the equipment that I've allowed
to fail... |
| I hope I never have to |
Sell my body parts in order to pay
off my mortgage. |
| Smartest thing I've ever done |
At age 11 I somehow managed to pull
the chassis and HT power supply of an AM receiver out of a
Phillips Radiogram (which was stored under our house in Warrnambool), and
reconnect it all together in my bedroom so that it worked. |
| Dumbest thing I've ever done |
Having reconnected the naked
chassis and HT supply, I then shifted it up into the bunk bed I slept in,
so that it lay on the mattress alongside me for the best part of a year.
I would listen to the AM DX late into the night, before going to sleep.
No, I can't explain how I survived the electric shock and fire risk.
Nor did I do this in order to make everything else I've done since look
smart - that's just the way it's turned out. |
| Best advice I've ever had |
"Put that bloody chassis and
HT supply back in the Radiogram" - my dad. |
| Advice to new VHF+ DX'ers |
Ask questions. Call CQ.
Remember that the hobby is what you put into it. |
| Future VHF DX goals |
Break the 1000km barrier for a 2m
mobile meteor scatter contact. Break the 700km barrier for a 2m
mobile AEP contact. Break the 600km barrier for a 70cm mobile AEP
contact. |
| Other Hobbies/Interests |
Geology, history of the Victorian
Goldfields, camping/travelling, playing the drums (well, that's what I
like to call it), maps, photography, writing(?). |
