With the long hot summer this year I have done a lot of my SOTA chasing from the back yard using several antennas so I decided to revisit the 52 foot end fed random wire. The MT1 You Kits LC tuner tunes this combination easily and it seems to work very well on bands above 40m with the FT 817. Just using my shortest 5m squid pole as a support it makes a very light weight combination for portable work. I set up with about 15 feet vertical up from the ground and the other 37 feet horizontal across the yard in an inverted L config. Straight into the MT1 and the tuner works nicely with the FT 817 combo giving good results chasing VK ZL and JA activators from 40m to 15m, and the rig seems happy to give full power on all bands. I even worked Tom M1EYP on a summit in UK on 30m cw with this antenna during the EU SOTA Party.

 

Set up in the Yard to chase SOTA and VKFF Parks.

My first solo SOTA was for the VK S2S QSO Party organised by some of the VK1 activators so it was a good opportunity to score some S2S points. Tothill Range vk5/se-010 was my choice for the activation, not far to drive there and about a 1 km hike to the summit. My time on the summit was limited but I scored 5 S2S qso and several other chasers on 3.6 ssb 7 ssb and cw, best qso was with Wade vk1mic on 3.6 mhz ssb during the afternoon.

   

Views from Tothill Range.

Next SOTA trip was to Brown Hill Range vk5/se-004.

During my cycling or walking on the Riesling Trail I have got to know some of the regular walkers who use the trail. I have come to know M&M or Michael and Margret who are regular walkers and of course I tell them of my SOTA exploits, so they came with me to Brown Hill Range to see what’s involved in a SOTA activation. It was quite cold at the summit and we spent some time behind the rocks out of the wind and M&M enjoyed the views from up there and I was able to point out the surrounding distant summits.

Another S2S with JP1QEC on 18 mhz which is proving to be a good band to Japan during the mornings, then lots of regular chasers on 80/40m ssb or cw.

   

View to the north and hard at work on cw.

Hogshead vk5/ne-051 and Coomaroo vk5/ne-088 were the next two summit trip and this time Ian vk5is joined me for the joint activation for both summits. Ian went first before utc roll over that way we could count both activation’s as separate days on the hill enabling the chasers to score us both. We both made  an S2S qso with Glen vk3yy on vk3/ve-004 before roll over then after Ian finished working everyone it was the new utc day so I worked them again. No dx this time but a good score on 80/40m. Hogshead is a tough climb to get to the top even though it is only about 1 km to hike up it’s a good to test our form on our summit climbs.

 

Ian vk5is at work, very dry up north still.

After a nice coffee and lunch break in Orroroo we headed for the afternoon activation at Coomaroo vk5/ne-088. This summit is a steady 2km hike to the top but not too hard so good to have some quality hiking instead of a slog to the top.

We only managed a few qso’s in the afternoon but enough to qualify then hike back to the SOTA transporter to meet a dead line invitation for coffee and Cake at The Fullerville Coffee and Radio Store.

Down out of the wind on Comaroo.

I had a STOP!! to my SOTA activities for a while as I needed to go to Hospital and get a Pace Maker fitted, I have been in denial for some time over my dizzy spells and really low heart rate. But now all fixed so next thing to do is test myself out on a steep climb to see how I go. First activation was only a 1km hike easy to vk5/ne-058 Mt Nadjuri. While I was having coffee before I headed off on the hike I checked SOTAWatch2 to see if Mot was on his summit and found JP3DGT out on a summit and I was able to work him from my Ute radio and the whip on 20m. Did not score a S2S if you’re wondering. Seeing Mot was on 20m I had the pressure on to hike over and set up antennas in time to catch him. The wind was very strong so I set up behind a rock shelf and got the antenna on top. Mot was a very good signal on 17m again and I worked him with the Accidental OCF antenna I discovered one other time which works very well on 17m.

 

SOTA Flag flying in the wind, Good qso with JP1QEC S2S again.

 

Rain Clouds first in a while.

I headed to Jamestown for a lunch break then off to hike to New Mount Campbell my test for the heart rate. Lots of sheep lambing in the pine forest so I made a detour around them as best I could before getting back on track. Now this Forest area has been split in half and sold I need permission from the new land owner who was good and granted permission to hike my similar track to the summit. Because the land has been split the new fence is hard to cross so I needed to hike up the fence line to a gate right on top of the ridge. This was the test for me but with lots of recovery stops I made it and did not seem to feel so much pain in my legs as usual. I had a chance also to test and use my new Man bag as I can’t have a back pack strap over my left shoulder where the pace maker is until it heals up more. I need to modify the wrap around strap as it seems to be in the wrong place to stop the bag from sliding around to the hip side of my body. More experimenting. I managed to fit enough gear in my bag for the activation but need to cut down on some spares and a smaller water bottle to fit. Coax and wire winders do not fit very well so I wrapped coax and antennas up differently to pack without the winders. I only took 1 battery, no rest board and a separate clock for timing, cw key and leads and mic in a bag of their own. It all fits nicely with these changes so once I get this strap issue worked out it should be good. I found out it is not really water proof as it rained when I was hiking back to my Ute but nothing got wet inside the bag.

 

This is the Steepest part and that’s the goal along the stone wall to top.

Rain clouds building and I just managed to get some qso’s in the log then quickly pack up, sorry to any chasers I missed I did not want to get my gear too wet. I had a heavy shower of rain to walk back to the Ute, can’t remember the last time it has rained me out, this drought has been so long.

 

R&D on the perfect SOTA Man Bag goes on. She’s right not guna rain.

This Summit is a great place to visit but I recon next time I will do it later in the year when all the sheep have finished lambing so they are not disturbed by me walking through the paddock. The Farmer made a visit to fill there feeders while I was there so they are used to having people around them but I would feel better not to disturb them while they are doing it tough in this drought.

Thanks to the land owners and chasers, thanks for reading my Blog.

Ian vk5cz ..