A report on the RD contest station VK3WIA at Scienceworks

A team of WIA members from clubs around Melbourne joined forces to activate the Remembrance Day contest station VK3WIA from the Scienceworks Museum in Spotswood. Scienceworks is a public museum featuring hands-on exhibits, live demonstrations, tours, activities and shows for families of all ages. It was decided to activate VK3WIA from a caravan outside the museum on the Saturday night, then move the station inside the Museum on the Sunday as a public display of amateur radio. A fair amount of effort was invested to make sure the antennas performed well, the last thing we wanted was for a public demonstration of our hobby where the equipment wasn't fully functional with difficulty in hearing or making contact with other stations.
With the assistance of Scienceworks management, we were able to mount two Diamond 2m/70cm colinear antennas to the very highest point of their roof, we also installed 20m and 40m dipoles between the museums turrets and a longwire was strung between the museum and flagpoles out the front. We used a total of no less than 150 meters of low loss ( Belden 9913) cable from the antennas on the roof to our operating position below. The performance of the station was very impressive providing excellent coverage around Melbourne and interstate resulting in over 650 contacts being made for the RD contest. The day was indeed a great success and a great opportunity to promote amateur radio and to tell others about the hobby. We prepared a special handout for the event, which you can view online here. Most of those assisting with the station indicated they would be back next year for an even bigger and better weekend. Thanks are extended both to Scienceworks for allowing us to operate from the museum and to those amateurs who contributed to the setup and operation of the station. Included are several photos of the weekend

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