Once we had lunch sitting under a nice  Southern Cyprus Pine, we got Mitsi under way as best we could on the station tracks mostly around 60km per hour across blue bush country. It was probably 50km of these tracks with gates to get up as far as Yunta before we could hit the Black Top. The mobile phone had been on flight mode for quite a while in the morning so once we got back to service we had to deal with emails and txt messages re what time we may make Nackara Hill. Hugh had Mitsi on the speed limit + on the black top to catch up some time as we had to travel about 40km back down south again then head out west this time to the hill. It was a over grown track into the base of the hill and a big steep climb to the top which we had to walk because a lot of wash outs prevented us from getting up to a saddle which would have been a good launching spot.

Great view out to where we were in the morning I think the bump way off in the distance is Pualco Range.

After much leg burning we made the top, it sure pays to zig zag as best you can and some times you pick up on a contoured sheep track .

 Not sure what happened to this trig point but it is a bit knocked around .

 There was a big mob of flies around here so we moved back a way to get protection and find a sheoak tree to put up the squid pole.

 This old tree has seen it all.

Hugh went first this time and made a nice score then I did also with a nice amount of 40m cw chasers but still no short skip . We both made a S2S qso with Andrew VK1NAM who was keen to pick up our unique summit for the first time and that was the only S2S we made on this trip.  These differing propagation events are becoming a problem for chasers inside the first 100 km or so, we just can not hear one and other .  40m was really good to vk 1 2 3 4 and only stations several 100km away were able to be worked. I worked Amanda VK3FQSO with a perfectly readable signal and she was running 1 watt of power which was an opposite extreme to others we could not hear with higher powered stations. Really hard conditions lately and I hope it is not a sign of what is to come as the cycle really starts the down turn.

 Typical view of the area rocks, saltbush, spinifex and low mallee scrub where it is not as windy and can survive is this harsh old land of ours.

Thanks to all the chasers for giving us the contacts sorry to those who missed out even though we knew you were out there trying. Thanks to Hugh’s good work for liaising with land owners re permission, and off course said land owners for the tracks and hills.

cheers for now

De Ian vk5cz ..