Biography

First licensed in December 2019 as a Foundation, and upgraded to Standard in 2021.
As I am located on the Queensland Gold Coast and my callsign suffix is GCR, hence the
moniker: Gold Coast Radio.

For the benefit of overseas operators, the Australian Standard License is a mid-tier license
and offers the following privileges: - 100W max power limit (less on some bands/modes).
Bands permitted: 80m, 40m, 20m, 15m, 10m, 6m, 2m, 70cm, 23cm, 13cm & 6cm, as well
as all digital modes via hotspots & nodes, etc., and through repeaters.

I'm active from my home station/shack, which is located on the Gold Coast at my hilltop
QTH that is 138 meters (452 ft) above sea level and only 9km from the coastline (Pacific
Ocean). This gives me an excellent take-off opportunity on the HF bands via my home-brew
ZS6BKW dipole doublet antenna, which is on average about 14 meters (45 ft) above the
terrain. My grid square reference is QG61px95.

Originally from Victoria (Morwell and later Sale), I carried out my apprenticeship in
electrical mechanics, having gained my Electrical "A" Grade license at the ESSO/BHP
Longford Gas and Crude Plant. On completion of my apprenticeship, I had a brief stay
back in the Latrobe Valley at the Maryvale Pulp and Paper Mill - APM (1 yr) before
heading overseas in the international Oil & Gas Industry.

I basically spent the next 35 years working outside of Australia, with a gap working back
in at the Ballera gas field (1 yr) and 4 years in the North West Shelf (Cyclone Alley).

Whilst overseas, I spent most of my time working in Malaysia, Thailand (13 yrs), the
Philippines, Indonesia, East Timor, The UAE, Russia, & Iraq before returning to
Australia thanks to Covid and retiring on the Gold Coast.

My main interests in Amateur Radio are HF SSB DXing on 10m, 20m, 40m, 80m,
followed by contesting. I also enjoy working on the 2m SSB portion of the band.

After HF, and when there is a lack of propagation, I move onto the digital modes with
DMR, YSF, and AllStar via my hotspots and nodes (thanks to Glenn VK4NGA, who set
me up in that department), which enables me to continue communicating around the
world no matter what. I'm learning as much as I can about the digital modes now, which
will help me in the future when I eventually downsize my living arrangements and can
no longer put up those wonderful HF antennas that my neighbours love so much.

By the way, do you know that a stranger is simply a friend that you haven't met yet?
73 - Ralf Finke VK4GCR