Today I climbed and activated Mt Torbreck with Peter VK3ZPF. This capped off another great SOTA weekend where I passed 100 activator points and also the halfway mark to achieving Shack Sloth status.
Errecting the antenna Mt Torbreck VK3/VN-001
Activated 30th June 2013
Day was breaking as I drove the Black Spur with only a few foggy patches along the way. I met up with Peter at Snobs Creek at our scheduled 8.00am meeting time and we set off to our parking spot at the intersection of Barnewall Plains Road. and Con Gap Road. By this stage, any fog was lifting rapidly as perfect mild midwinter conditions greeted us. We were well prepared for much harsher weather but we couldn't have had it any better. It is an easy walk up to the picnic area at the start of the walking track to the summit. There has been recent work done to clear the blackberry infestation on the lower parts of the walking track and it was a pleasant walk to the top, with some great views and a little bit of rock hopping along the way.
A prominent rock cairn marks the summit with an old battered trig point nearby. Plenty of rocks to sit on and use as a radio bench with a few stunted trees for limited shade but not high enough to string an effective dipole from. We were very fortunate to have a perfectly clear day to take in the views around us and although it was cool, we were not cold and I enjoyed the activation with the sun on my back. Being a 10 point activation with 3 bonus points for the season, neither of us wanted to rush this activation.
Activated 30th June 2013
Day was breaking as I drove the Black Spur with only a few foggy patches along the way. I met up with Peter at Snobs Creek at our scheduled 8.00am meeting time and we set off to our parking spot at the intersection of Barnewall Plains Road. and Con Gap Road. By this stage, any fog was lifting rapidly as perfect mild midwinter conditions greeted us. We were well prepared for much harsher weather but we couldn't have had it any better. It is an easy walk up to the picnic area at the start of the walking track to the summit. There has been recent work done to clear the blackberry infestation on the lower parts of the walking track and it was a pleasant walk to the top, with some great views and a little bit of rock hopping along the way.
A prominent rock cairn marks the summit with an old battered trig point nearby. Plenty of rocks to sit on and use as a radio bench with a few stunted trees for limited shade but not high enough to string an effective dipole from. We were very fortunate to have a perfectly clear day to take in the views around us and although it was cool, we were not cold and I enjoyed the activation with the sun on my back. Being a 10 point activation with 3 bonus points for the season, neither of us wanted to rush this activation.
Peter's operating position Peter erected his squid pole and propped himself against a rock and started working the higher HF bands with his FT-817. I climbed the cairn and erected my HF vertical antenna on top of it, draping the counterpoise wires around the edge and finding a relatively comfortable rock seat and radio bench nearby.
My operating spot I fired up on 40 metres at 0024 UTC and my first contact was with Andrew VK1NAM on VK1/AC-039 followed moments later by Al VK1RX on VK1/AC-027. All up I logged 29 contacts with the last three being S2S contacts with Allen VK3HRA and Peter VK3PF both on VK3/VT-010 and Brian VK3MCD on VK3/VE-073.
After almost two hours on the summit, we packed up but before descending, we found a few small clumps of hardened snow and built a rather lumpy and distressed looking pint-sized snowman. Hopefully on any future summits with better snow, we can improve our snowman crafting skills.
Thanks to the chasers who found us today and Peter for his company and helping make this a most enjoyable activation.
Thanks to the chasers who found us today and Peter for his company and helping make this a most enjoyable activation.
