After our activation at Mount Ainslee, we ventured over to Black Mountain, VK1/ AC-042, just a short drive across Canberra from Mount Ainslee
Above:- Map showing the location of Black Mountain. Image courtesy of mapcarta.com
Black Mountain is 812 metres above sea level and is worth 1 SOTA point. It is situated to the west of the Canberra CBD and is on the northern shores of Lake Burley Griffin. The summit is part of the Canberra Nature Park and is predominantly covreed in native bushland. It is a haven for native wildlife. Also on the summit is the Black Mountain Tower, a broadcasting tower rising a further 195 metres above the summit. The summit was originally known as Black Hill.
Above:- Black Mountain. Image courtesy of mapcarta.com.
It was no less cold and no less windy here on Black Mountain to that of Mount Ainslee. In fact there was a lot of banging going on from something loose on the tower. But we had dodged a bullet again, as there was no rain. As we were setting up the gear, a very suspicious car approached us slowly and then pulled up in front of us. It was Heath VK3TWO and his wife Monique.
We took it in turns to operate on the radio again, with John VK5BJE firing up first with me acting as scribe as it was very windy and cold and trying to hold the mic and write at the same time was a challenge. Plus, us guys can only do one thing well at a time!
My first contact on Black Mountain, which was another unique SOTA summit for me, was Michael VK2CCW who was portable on SOTA peak, Mount Elliot, VK2/ HU-093. A nice start to the activation….a Summit to Summit contact. I worked another 9 stations and was then called by Keith VK5OQ/1 who was portable on SOTA peak, Mount AInslee, VK1/ AC-040.
After packing up we all ventured inside Black Mountain Tower and enjoyed a nice cup of coffee in the warmth of the cafe. This was another great activation and a lot of fun with Andrew, John, Heath & Monique.
I worked the following stations:-
References.
Wikipedia, 2015, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mountain_%28Australian_Capital_Territory%29>, viewed 16th May 2015
