VK8CS

Darwin - Northern Territories

Australia

While working for the World Food Programme of the United Nations during the East-Timor crises in the late 1999 I had some oportunities to travel to Australia.

Working radio was never my main objective but as free time would allow I was able to use the vertical antenna in the Darwin's UN Agencies Building (the small brown building behind the Governor's house in the photo).

Not having any third-party agreement with Portugal for Licensing, the Australian Communications Authority was very helpful and cooperative, officers in Canberra were very keen to study the Portuguese License requirements and its equivalence to the Australian License, the License was issued by ACA in Darwin in the day of my arrival in a record time of 5 minutes .

Time in Australia was shared between work, visiting some nice Darwin Restaurants and Bars, (a luxury you can't get in the field) and of course some radio in the late afternoons.

You can see in the photo the "almost" straight line motorway connecting Darwin to Alice Springs (it's a long straight line road).

Last QSO made by VK8CS was in the 20th of January 2000, the day WFP was closing the Darwin office, the antennas were packed the same day and send to Dili. I was TXing with my Kenwood TS-50, 100 watt and a Codan multiband antenna.

My thanks go to the WFP staff that supported me in Darwin (and understood why I would rather prefer to talk in the radio than go to the Bar with them after work, HI !).

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