Activated 21 April 2013
Without too much preparation I decided to officially activate my first SOTA summit, Mt Donna Buang. On the way, I dropped in at the weekend retreat of Andrew VK3FAJH at Warburton and convinced him to accompany me to the top.
We arrived on the summit with a stiff crosswind blowing and set ourselves up in the shadow of the lookout tower at a picnic table damp with dew. We quickly erected the HF vertical, tuned for 7090 and created a pileup almost immediately. We logged 14 contacts in 20 minutes, including two S2S contacts with Ian VK1DI/p on VK1/AC-041 and followed straight after by Kevin VK3KAB on VK3/VC-016. Starting to feel the wind chill and pleased by our first official SOTA activation, we then packed up and headed back down to Warburton where we warmed up again.
Without too much preparation I decided to officially activate my first SOTA summit, Mt Donna Buang. On the way, I dropped in at the weekend retreat of Andrew VK3FAJH at Warburton and convinced him to accompany me to the top.
We arrived on the summit with a stiff crosswind blowing and set ourselves up in the shadow of the lookout tower at a picnic table damp with dew. We quickly erected the HF vertical, tuned for 7090 and created a pileup almost immediately. We logged 14 contacts in 20 minutes, including two S2S contacts with Ian VK1DI/p on VK1/AC-041 and followed straight after by Kevin VK3KAB on VK3/VC-016. Starting to feel the wind chill and pleased by our first official SOTA activation, we then packed up and headed back down to Warburton where we warmed up again.
Mount Little Joe was the second summit planned for the day. After dropping Andrew back in Warburton, I headed straight out, following the access notes for this summit posted on the SOTA website by Wayne VK3WAM. The climb was exactly as Wayne had described, steep and not best tackled without a reasonable degree of fitness. In terms of exertion to get to the top, it seemed a tough summit for only 2 points compared to the leisurely 8 points from the lower car park at Donna Buang. On the plus side, it was much warmer in this summit and I was well sheltered from the cold of the wind by the forest and surrounding bush. The station was set up on a large comfortable log by the side of the track and for quick deployment, the vertical HF antenna was set up.
Before firing up 40m, I got out the hand-held and called CQ on 146.500Mhz and was pleased to get two contacts straight away, Craig VK3FZAA relatively close by in Macclesfield, followed by Ralph VK3LL, much further away in Ringwood North, both with 59 reports. After no further contacts on 2 metres, I jumped on to 40m and quickly bagged my 3rd S2S contact for the day, Al VK1RX/p on summit VK1/AC-039. All up I logged 21 contacts on Mt Little Joe before the steep decent back to the car. This summit was a good physical workout and I felt it in my legs for a few days afterwards.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable day and really got me fired up to tackle more summits.
Before firing up 40m, I got out the hand-held and called CQ on 146.500Mhz and was pleased to get two contacts straight away, Craig VK3FZAA relatively close by in Macclesfield, followed by Ralph VK3LL, much further away in Ringwood North, both with 59 reports. After no further contacts on 2 metres, I jumped on to 40m and quickly bagged my 3rd S2S contact for the day, Al VK1RX/p on summit VK1/AC-039. All up I logged 21 contacts on Mt Little Joe before the steep decent back to the car. This summit was a good physical workout and I felt it in my legs for a few days afterwards.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable day and really got me fired up to tackle more summits.