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Stand back, here it is, fasten your seat belt. This information is not for the faint at heart, if you have a history of frailty, shock easily or are given to dizzy spells, please consult your family doctor before reading on.
For generations now, ham radio operators have always been known as that "radio freak" who lives up the road. And why does he need all those antennas? I'm sure he talks to the "martians". Well, now the bill of rights seems to have finally filtered through to the ham ranks. We're now recognised for our contribution to society. Our magazines are proudly displayed on newpaper stands, we can even have our call sign as our vehicle registration number. So the next step had to come.
Every other special interest group have their vacation time especially catered for in full detail, we have ski lodges for the skiers, hunting lodges for the hunters, fishing lodges for the fishermen and now a Ham Radio Lodge for the DXers and Contesters. And, it's about time. But you won't freeze your finals off at this lodge, it's only 50 mins drive north of Brisbane in Queensland's temperate zone. In fact the weather is similar to Southern California.
So, what does one do at a Ham Radio Lodge?
One does as one pleases. And yes, I hear you cry, that's alright in theory, but there's no way my XYL would ever consent to staying at a HAM RADIO LODGE on our vacation, she's knows how hard it is to get me out of the shack at home. But here's the difference. At home, she doesn't have a hostess to entertain her, to take her shopping, sight seeing, a friend to have a chat with. But here at Fox Mountain Lodge the ladies seem reluctant to leave us or should I say, Julie.
This is NOT just a Ham B & B, we're talking about a 20 acre mountain retreat, with the most incredible panoramic views, 2 ham shacks, 3 towers (soon to be 4), monoband yagis for 10m, 15m, 20m, 40m and 75m but only a dipole for 160m. If you get the time, there's the heated spa, with a turbo seat recessed in the BBQ deck.
Imagine, relaxing in the "under the stars" spa, with a drop of your favourite poison, soaking up the multi coloured lights of civilization up to 60kms away. Or closer to home, gaze into the embers of the open fireplace. Keep an eye skyward for our flying possums or marauding mo poke owl. Have you ever the seen the "Southern Cross", it burns bright from here.
Like I said, it's no ordinary Ham B & B. We have 3 new model 4WD wagons to take you on our Adventure Day Tours for a taste of the real Australia. Did you know, our World Heritage listed Cooloola Coloured Sands has 200m high cliffs of weather scuptured multi coloured sand strata, with 72 different colours?
So with all this sight seeing Australiana, kangaroos to feed, koalas to cuddle, getting plastered in the spa, What I want to know is, when are you going to find the time to fire up the rig, warm up the linear and call CQ?
So there it is, Ham Radio operators go on vacation too, just like everyboby else, so why go to another country and stay in a hotel room, that's the same as any other hotel room any where else in the world. So now you have a choice, you can still see the sights and be accommodated, but with personalized service and also check out the DX from Down Under. Makes alot more sense doesn't it.
Since we started Fox Mountain Lodge a couple of years ago, we have had interesting guests from all walks of life. If you enjoyed this article, e-mail the editor, he may have us back to do another article with a guest profile. I'm sure you've all heard of the Kenwood TS-50 and Ts-60 transceivers, well, one of our guests was Rocky Sasaki JK1QHK who is the Kenwood RF design engineer who gave birth to these little babies. Or what about Steve AA8JK who represented the USA in the World Police and Firemans Games, won a couple of medals and spent the next two weeks with his wife Andrea KB8LBQ sight seeing by day and DXing by night from the Lodge.
So now you have your own specialized holiday destination Down Under, check out Fox Mountain Home Page on URL http://sv.net.au/fml Leave us a little e-mail to say, G'day Mate.
73's from the land Down Under. RICK VK4HF/VK4FML & JULIE.
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