– May 15, 2021Posted in: Meet the Members

The south-eastern Australian state of Victoria is home to keen 11m band DX Hunter 43DA058 Rob who connects with our wonderful club in early May 2021.

Professional, experienced and passionate about the radio communications hobby in general, 43DA058 Rob is a licensed ham whom also enjoys the thrilling DXperience of freeband operations.

In an Aussie state which encompasses cloud topped-mountains, national parks teeming with kangaroos, koalas and other native wildlife, world renowned wineries such as Mont Rouge Estate and world-famous surfing beaches such as Bells Beach, Rob’s QTH is in the vibrant coastal capital of Melbourne.

In addition to being, arguably, the Citizens Band Radio capital of Australia, this very special city contains about 70% of Victoria’s population and is the business, administrative, cultural and recreational hub of the state.

Situated at the head of Port Phillip Bay in 43 Division’s second smallest state, Melbourne is a bustling multicultural city, famous for its live music, its sports such as cricket, AFL and NRL, its modern art, its world heritage listed Victorian era architecture, its restaurant scene and fine dining, and so much more!

The diversity of 43DA058 Rob’s station supports successful operations on regular ham bands, as well as 27 MHz frequencies…

For citizens band ops, classic old rigs such as a Cobra 142GTL with Astatic D104 mic, a President Washington (858) with a Turner Plus 3 mic and a Pearce Simpson Super Cheetah Mk1 give his shack an aura of timelessness.

Contrastingly, RT90 Full-power DMR Dual Band Mobile HAM Radio with Built-in GPS (See right), Anytone AT-6666 and Icom IC-7300 transceivers combine to equip his shack with stylish contemporaneousness, enabling access to apportioned ham bands.

Every great shack, however, deserves a combative antenna farm and 43DA058 Rob’s choice of TX/RX DX weaponry includes a Shockwave .64 Ground Plane, a homemade Moxon horizontal beam purposely engineered for 11 meters, a Diamond X30 vertical antenna for 2m/70cm and a homemade half wave dipole for 40 meters.

When he’s not in the shack, behind the mic of a rig chasing DX or rag chewing with mates, Rob enjoys getting his hands dirty in his backyard garden.

In fact, he’s a semi-retired landscape gardener.

He also loves Australian Rules Football (AFL), as well as listening to music of the 1960’s and 70’s, which always makes for a great ragchew if propagation permits.