Mount Dundas, VK3/ VS-045 was my second activation for the Summits on the Air (SOTA) program for Monday 17th November, 2014.  Mount Dundas is located about 309 km west of Melbourne, and about 16 km north west of the little town of Cavendish.

Image courtesy of mapcarta.com

Mount Dundas is 459 metres above sea level, and is worth just 1 SOTA point.  It is an easy summit to access, with a dirt road, leading all the way to the top where there is a large array of telecommunications equipment, including a digital TV broadcast site.  According to SOTAWatch I am the only operator to have activated this summit, which I’m a little surprised by considering the easy access.

Image courtesy of mapcarta.com

Access to the summit is via Dundas Gap Road, which runs off the Natimuk to Hamilton Road, just out of Cavendish.  There is a dirt road leading to the summit which is suitable for 2wd vehicles.  I parked the car a little down the dirt road, and walked a few hundred metres to the top of the summit, so that my final access into the activation zone was by non motorised means.  I set up on the eastern side of the telecommunication equipment, and was pleasantly surprised when I turned the radio on to find that there was not a lot of interference from the conglomerate of antennas at the site.  There really aren’t too many other options here, as the terrain drops away quite dramatically from the summit peak on all sides, and the surrounding scrub is very thick.

Map courtesy of mapcarta.com

As I left my car I heard Rob VK2QR operating from a summit, so I quickly set up my gear and gave Rob a call on 7.090.  Rob was a good 5/8 signal and was sitting on the top of VK3/ VE-023, a 10 pointer in north eastern Victoria.  I received a 5/8 signal report back from Rob.  It appeared that the 40m band had improved since my activation at Mount Rouse.  Amen to that!

Rob kindly gave me the frequency following our QSO, and it wasn’t long before I had a good flow of callers from VK2, VK3, & VK5.  My second contact was with Peter VK3PF, followed by Bernard VK2IO, and my fourth qualifying contact was with Bernard VK3AV.  It was certainly not as hard going as Mount Rouse, which was great.  Although there was still a bit of QSB on the signals.

A few contacts later, I was called by John VK2AWJ/3 who was portable in the Burrowa Pine Mountain National Park, VKFF-069.  John was a good 5/4 and I received a 5/5 signal report from John.  This was followed by a contact with Rick VK3EQ, who was on top of McCarthy Spur, VK3/ VT-039, a 6 pointer.  Although Rick’s signal was very weak (5/1), I was able to copy him without any difficulty.

I went on to work a further 14 stations on 40m.   I didn’t try 20m as promised, as the weather was less than ideal, and I still had two planned park activations, and a big trip ahead of me to get back home to the Adelaide Hills.  So I am sorry to any of the VK6’s.

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After 35 minutes on the summit, I had a total of 26 contacts in the log, including two Summit to Summit (S2S) contacts and one Victorian National Park contact.

The following stations were worked:-

Below is a video of the activation…..

After getting mobile from the summit, I worked Rob VK2QR/2, who was portable on Mount Murray, VK3/ VE-025.  I was just about to enter the little town of Cavendish when I spoke with Rob, who was a good 5/7 into the mobile (5/7 received from Rob).

My first activation for Monday 17th November, 2014, was Mount Rouse, VK3/ VS-048, which is located near the town of Penshurst, about 275 km west of Melbourne, and about 30 km south east of Hamilton, in western Victoria.

Map courtesy of mapcarta.com

There are some activations, when you just wished that you had stayed in bed.  This was one of those activations!  Other than the weather being less than ideal (it was wet and windy), the 40m band was in very poor condition.  I managed just 7 contacts from this summit.  But out of everything bad, comes something good.  To my surprise, I was called by a station in the Azores on 20m, who was 5/9 and gave me a 5/7 signal report.  And yet I wasn’t even able to make contact with a single VK3 on 40 metres.  I guess that is one of those interested aspects of this great hobby of amateur radio.

Map courtesy of mapcarta.com

I had activated Mount Rouse once before.  That was back in September, 2013.  For more information on that activation and information on the summit, including its history, please have a look at my previous post……

https://vk5pas.wordpress.com/2013/09/13/mount-rouse-vk3-vs-048/

Map courtesy of mapcarta.com

This is a very easy summit to access, with a road leading all the way to the top of the summit through the Mount Rouse Reserve.  A set of steps takes you up to the trig point.  Although only a little one pointer, this is a great little summit, with a bench awaiting you once you reach the trig point, and fantastic views of the surrounding countryside, and the little town of Penshurst below the summit.

On the subject of Penshurst, please take the time to have a look around this little town.  It is full of history and as some very historic buildings.  There is also the Volcano Visitor Centre which is well worth a visit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penshurst,_Victoria

http://www.volcanoesdiscoverycentre.com.au/Volcanoes%20Discovery/home/index.html

As mentioned, the 40m band was in very poor shape.  There was absolutely no propagation locally around VK3.  I managed to squeeze 5 contacts into the log on 40m with Nev VK5WG who was my first taker, Larry VK5LY, Mark VK7MK, John VK5FMJC, and finally Allen VK5FD portable at Port Victoria.  I did hear Peter VK3FPSR trying to call, but Peter was so weak, that it was impossible to make the contact.

So after 10 very frustrating minutes on 40m, I lowered the squid pole and removed the links in the linked dipole, for operation on the 20m band.  My first contact there was with Mike VK6MB who was a good 5/7 (5/7 signal report received in exchange).  And I then received a call from Joan, CU3AA, in the Azores Islands, in the North Atlantic Ocean, to the west of Portugal and the west African coast.  Joan was an excellent 5/9 signal and he gave me a 5/7.  But that was the end of that.  I had no more callers on 20m.

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As the weather was lousy, and the band was lousy, I decided to head down and head off to my next summit, Mount Dundas near Cavendish.  I had the very low number of 7 contacts in the log.  One of my worst SOTA activations as far as callers is concerned.

The following stations were worked:-

My first activation for Sunday 16th November, 2014, was Mount Napier summit, VK3/ VS-046, which is located near Hamilton in western Victoria (13 km south of Hamilton).  This was my second activation for the 2014 Summits on Air (SOTA) Spring Activation Weekend.

Map courtesy of mapcarta.com

map courtesy of mapcarta.com

I first activated this summit in September, 2013.  For more information on that activation, and some history of the summit and its surrounds, please have a look at my September 2013 post…..

https://vk5pas.wordpress.com/2013/09/13/mount-napier-vk3-vs-046/

I entered the Mount Napier State Park via Murroa-Buckley Swamp Road, which runs off the Hamilton-Port Fairy Road.  The dirt road traversing the park is in good condition and is easily negotiated with a 2wd vehicle.  I parked my car at the Mount Napier walking track, and commenced the 30 minute walk up to the top of the summit.  This is a nice easy walk to the top, with a well marked path and a few benches along the way.  The walk is spectacular taking you through the beautiful understorey of the Mount Napier State Park.

Following this activation I received an e-mail from Nick VK3ANL who stated:

“Mt Napier gets my vote for being “Essence of SOTA”  – it’s a genuine walk to the top, but not too hard or long, and through some great Aussie bush, and then it opens out to a summit with real character, and with $million dollar views.”

I think Nick is spot on with his comments.  Although only a one pointer, the walk up to the summit is very pretty and the views from the top of Mount Napier are really impressive.

map courtesy of mapcarta.com

The weather was not fantastic when I arrived at Mount Napier.  It had been drizzling with showers from the time I got up.  But there was the occasional break in the weather.  So I ‘donned’ the jacket and my backpack, and headed off from the car, hoping to miss the worst of the weather.  As mentioned, this is a really pretty walk.  And I encountered a few wallabies on the way to the top/

On my way up, I received just a sprinkle of rain, but by the time I had reached the trig point, the weather had taken a turn for the worst.  The summit itself is very exposed, with no trees, so it was incredibly windy, with light misty showers.  I secured the squid pole to the concrete base of the Major Thomas Mitchell memorial which is located on the summit.  It was so windy, it was quite difficult trying to keep the squid pole in place.

After setting up I put a CQ call out on 7.090 and this was answered by Rob, VK3EK, and then Peter VK3FPSR, followed by Peter VK3PF portable in the Coopracambra National Park.  More information on Peter’s activation can be found on hsi WordPress site at…..

http://vk3pf.wordpress.com/2014/11/19/krmnpa-weekend-2014/

I then spoke with Darrin VK3FDAP operating portable and QRP at Moorabin.  Thankfully I had my 4 qualifying contacts.  I pressed on and worked a further 12 stations in VK1, VK2, VK3, & VK5 before the UTC rollover.  There was very severe QSB on many of the signals.  One of these contacts was with Julie VK3FOWL who was operating portable with her husband Joe VK3YSP, in the Wilsons Promontory National Park.

After the UTC rollover I worked a further 7 stations in VK1, VK3, & VK5.  It was quite a struggle, with the band not in great shape.  There was lots of QSB on the incoming signals, and the same was being reported back on my QRP signal.  Gary VK2GAZ called me a number of times and although I was able to hear Gary, clearly he could not pull me out of the noise.  Sorry Gary.

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The weather had not improved, so I had a quick tune around the 40m band and found Nigel VK5NIG who was operating portable from the top of Mount Gawler summit, VK5/ SE-013.  Nigel had a good 5/5 signal (5/5 received back from Nigel).   I then found John VK2AWJ/3 operating portable from the Chiltern Mount Pilot National Park, with a good 5/7 signal coming in to Mount Napier.  With a little bit more tuning around the band, I was rewarded with a contact with Joe VK3YSP, portable in the Wilsons Promontory National Park, and then Tony VK3CAT who was portable on SOTA summit, Sugarloaf Peak, VK3/ VN-011.

It was time to dash back to the car.  I had a total of 28 contacts in the log.

The following stations were worked:-

Whilst still on my way out of the Mount Napier State Park, on my way to Mount Eccles National Park, I spoke with a few stations from my mobile set up, which is a Icom IC-7000 and a base loaded whip antenna on the boot of the car.

My first mobile contact was with Peter VK3ZPF who was portable in the Yarra Ranges National Park, then Peter VK3PF in the Alfred National Park, followed by Allen VK3HRA portable on SOTA peak VK3/ VG-029 which is located in the Alpine National Park.

Below is a video of the activation of Mount Napier…..