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Woodside Beach (Eastern Victoria) is situated on the Ninety Mile Beach in Gippsland, and is a site that has been known about for some time but until now had not been fully explored. Back in the 80's Dave Onley and Craig Edwards organised a couple of trips with interesting results. I also made a few trips down there with Chris Rogers, Harry Weatherley, Sam Dellit and James Niven on various weekends. The original listening location is now the site of a large house on
private property, however what used to be property owned by Woodside Petroleum
just a few hundred metres up the road, has now been turned into an environmental
park maintained by the National Parks service.
Woodside Beach seems to have potential for Latin American DX as well,
although nothing yet has been logged from this area.
During the past 2 years one of the local farmers down that way has been kind enough to let us use an old hut on his property (thanks Kevin!!!), which is adjacent to the environmental park. This is absolutely ideal for DXing, as it is miles from the nearest domestic power lines and the land is cleared, making it quick and very easy to erect an antenna 600 metres or more in most directions. Accomodation is basic, with a table and chairs, and 2 bunk beds. In the winter you sit there glued to the radio with the cold southerly wind straight off the Antarctic blowing through the cracks in the walls and floor boards, and in the summer you are fighting off the mozzies who are intent on getting to any exposed piece of skin they can find! But the signals that are heard make it all worthwhile.
It is essential to erect the antennas on poles 6ft or higher, to avoid not only the sheep grazing on the property, but also the odd kangaroo or two. On many occasions we have run out a wire along the ground and found next morning that some animal had tried it out thinking it was a new form of food, leaving it in a tangled mess of many pieces!
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