Following the July 2026 Buildathon at the club, some members stayed on to take part in the Trans Tasman contest. In previous years we have travelled to Berrima and the Watagans for this contest held Saturday 18-Jul-2026, however as it clashed with the Buildathon, it was decided to run the contest from the club house.

The Trans Tasman contest runs from 6pm to midnight Sydney time and is on the 160m, 80m and 40m bands. Stations can be worked in each of the two segments starting at 6pm, 8pm and 10pm. An attempt earlier in the day to put up a 160m dipole had not worked and so our efforts were restricted to 40m and 80m.

Those taking part in the contest from the club were:

  • Greg VK2XE
  • Jeff VK2MZZ
  • Nick VK2FS

A short video clip of Greg and Nick in action (Jeff was behind the camera).

In total 142 contacts were made on 40m and 80m with stations in VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5 and VK6 and from ZL1, ZL2, ZL3 and ZL4. Also many thanks to members of the club (VK2WA and VK2ZZM) who called in to make contacts with us. On another QSO, one participant also advised that he used to be a club member before moving interstate.

Also thanks to Jeff who took some time out of the contest to tidy up the club house after the Buildathon including all the washing up – it was great having hot water! Also thanks to Tim VK2TIJ for providing plenty of firewood to keep us warm.