Greetings fellow Hams and Short Wave Listeners (SWL's).

I live near the rural township of Beechworth, 300km north east of Melbourne in the State of Victoria, Australia. The town of Beechworth (population 3000) is located 1500ft/ 500m above sea level and is an historical town, having been established in 1852 because of the discovery of gold.

Many of the public buildings and private houses built at that time are still standing and in use today. Because of this, these buildings are classified by the National Trust with the township considered as being a truly representative gold mining town of the 1800s! Consequently, we get many visitors from overseas, I invite you to visit the area.

Amateur Radio:

My interest in this hobby stems back over 50 years, well before my teenage years, mostly as a SWL. It wasn't till the changes in the license structure in Australia that I got on the air. I love constructing radios and antennas, DXing (DXCC- 0365), and collecting qsls.

QSLs:

Please mail DIRECT- I reply to all QSLs I receive in the first instance. If you want a QSL quickly for a contest or DXCC, for all overseas hams, please include a SAE, One Current IRC or US$3.00.

OQRS - On-line QSL Request Service is now available for all DX. Check if you're in my log (below) then follow the links. Payment is for the postage and is via PayPal. Just send me your qsl and SAE only, no need for IRC's or Green stamps! I will respond immediately after receiving your qsl and the OQRS is processed. Please note- logs are updated in either real time or weekly.

For Australian hams, please include a SASE.

I will respond immediately upon getting your QSL. Any contribution towards mailing costs is a great help to me as my only income is a pension. I would like to thank all who have done this to date.

SWL's:

I would welcome any reports from all SWL's, either by mail or email. I will reply to your report with a QSL. I would also, if you live in Australia, encourage you to get an "F" license. It is not that daunting. It can be completed over one week-end or even less. It is a good start in becoming an amateur operator in order to learn the ropes and to upgrade from. Just contact either the WIA or any radio club nearest your home. Hope to catch you on the air in the future.

My Radio Equipment:

* Yaesu FT2000- HF/ VHF (6m) with MD100 mic; DMU2000 -base use only.

* Emtron DX1-d Linear Amplifier- base use only.

* Palstar AT2KD Antenna Tuner.

* Icom IC7000 base use.

* Kenwood TM-V71A VHF/ UHF - mobile use only.

* Signalink USB: for PSK31 mode.

Antennas:

* 80m/ 40m Inverted V.

* 5 Band Hex Beam (supplied by K4KIO).

* 10 element long boom yagi for 2m.

* Diamond 2m/ 70cm ground plane up 30ft

Operating Modes :

Main operating modes I use are SSB and PSK31.

I look forward to making your acquaintance on the air in the future.

73s de Geoff VK3AHT (DXCC).

Member of: Shepparton and District Amateur Radio Club; Albury/ Wodonga Amateur Radio Club; Eastern & Mountain District Radio Club; Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA); WICEN (Vic.); Collins Collectors Association (CCA); European Phase Shift Keying Club (E.P.C); CDXC (Chiltern DX Club).

(any problems processing or log corrections, please email me.)