On Saturday 22nd, Sunday 23rd, Monday 24th, and Tuesday 25th May 2021, Marija VK5MAZ and myself had the special event callsign of VI100AF for 4 days.

We operated from home on Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday. At home our operating equipment is a Yaesu FT-2000, and 100 watts. The antenna for 80m is a home brew dipole, inverted vee. The antenna for 40m is a rotatable dipole at 55 feet. And the antenna for 10, 15, & 20m is a 5 element yagi at 50 feet.

On Monday I activated from the field – activating a park and two HEMA summits.

Over the 4 days we made a total of 557 QSOs on 15, 20, 40 & 80m SSB.

A total of 35 different DXCC entities were worked.

• Antarctica
• Australia
• Austria
• Balearic Islands
• Belgium
• Bosnia
• Bulgaria
• Canada
• Canary Islands
• Cayman Islands
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• England
• European Russia
• Germany
• France
• Greece
• Hungary
• Italy
• Malta
• Netherlands
• New Caledonia
• New Zealand
• Panama
• Poland
• Puerto Rico
• Romania
• Slovak Republic
• Slovenia
• South Africa
• Spain
• Switzerland
• Ukraine
• USA

On Saturday and Sunday afternoon there was a nice opening on the long path on 20m into Europe. The callsign proved to be very popular, with some very big European pile-ups. Unfortunately there was no opening at all on Tuesday to Europe.

We also logged a sprinkle of USA and Canadian stations, along with two stations from Panama (HP6DJA and HP6LEF), NP4A in Puerto Rico, and ZF1DM in the Cayman Islands.

Pedro NP4A was a huge signal on 40m.

Despite the callsign having been on air since 1st March 2021, there was a a nice steady flow of callers from Australia and New Zealand.

A number of former RAAF personnel were logged. This included:

• Frank VK1VK
• Tony VK3CCM
• Wayne VK2DWP
• Ron VK2MU
• Bernard VK3BFH

Overseas former Air Force stations who I spoke to included:

• Gerry W5RJJ
• Jack FK8GU

Jacques ‘Jack’ FK8GU and I were 15/9 to each other on 20m and had an interesting chat. He is former French Air Force.

I worked John VK4VT using a former RAAF transceiver, a Racal TRA906, which was another interesting contact.

After packing up at VK5/ HSE-042 and having a chat with John VK5HAA, the VK5 HEMA Manager, I decided to head to Heatherdale Hill VK5/ HSE-009 for another HEMA activation.

The summit is located about 71 km (by road) south of the CBD of the city of Adelaide.

Heatherdale Hill is easily accessible via Reservoir Road at Myponga. The exact summit itself is on private road, but you are well and truly within the activation zone if you operate from the side of the road.

Heatherdale Hill is 353 metres above sea level and has 112 metres of prominence.

Once at Heatherdale Hill, you can enjoy some terrific views north, back along the coastline of Adelaide and Gulf St Vincent.

And to the east there are some nice views of the township of Myponga and across the valley to VK5/ HSE-042.

During my activation I had a couple fo Wedge Tailed Eagles soaring above in the thermal currents. I also managed to snap a few photographs of a Black shouldered Kite.

It was extremely windy at Heatherdale Hill and I set up on the side of the road, right alongside of the farmer’s gate which leads into the actual summit.

First in the log was John VK5HAA with a lovely 5/9 signal, followed by Tony VK3YV, and then Marija VK5MAZ. I logged a total of 11 stations on 40m from VK2, VK3, VK4, and VK5. Contact number 4, qualifying the summit for me for HEMA, was with Nev VK5WG.

I then moved to 3.610 on the 80m band where I logged 8 stations from VK3 and VK5. This included Marija VK5MAZ who was super strong from Ashbourne (gave me 5/9 plus 50) and Tony Vk5MRT at Strathalbyn who gave me 5/9 plus 30. Adrian Vk5FANA was also very strong and gave me a 5/9 plus 25 signal report.

I decided to have a quick listen on 20m on 14.310 where I logged 3 stations from VK4, VK5, and Vk6.

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK5HAA
2. VK3YV
3. VK5MAZ
4. VK5WG
5. VK5FANA
6. VK3PF
7. VK4JAL/m
8. VK3SX
9. VK4NH
10. VK2MET
11. VK2IO

I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

1. VK5HAA
2. VK5MAZ
3. VK5MRT
4. VK5PL
5. VK5CZ
6. VK5FANA
7. VK3SX
8. VK3BHR

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

1. VK5HAA
2. VK4NH
3. VK6NU

References.

HEMA, 2021, <http://hema.org.uk/fullSummit.jsp?summitKey=59858>, viewed 27th May 2021.

After packing up at the Stipiturus Conservation Park, I headed for my first every HEMA activation, Trig Point VK5/ HSE-042.

The summit is located in the area of Hindmarsh Valley, right on the border with Myponga, on the Fleurieu Peninsula about 67 km south of Adelaide. The summit is located in between the Yulte Conservation Park and the Gum Tree Gully Conservation Park.

I travelled along Pages Flat Road from the Victor Harbor Road towards the town of Myponga, and was able to see the summit clearly as I travelled towards Myponga. The summit has a number of communication towers on the top.

The summit is referred to as Trig Point on the HEMA website, but it is referred to as Myponga Hill on a number of communication tower sites.

Myponga is an aboriginal word maippunga meaning locality of high cliffs.

The summit is easily accessible at the end of Trig Point Road which runs off Springmount Road. Trig Point Road is dirt but is in good condition and can be accessed via a conventional vehicle.

The summit is 442 metres above sea level and has 148 metres of prominence – just 2 metres short of qualifying for the Summits On The Air (SOTA) program. Yes, just 2 metres!

There are a number of communication towers on the top of the summit. This includes a digital TV broadcast site.

There is also an old trig point at the site, but it is not in great condition. Two of the blue coloured poles can be seen in the photo below, while the third is bent and buckled. A farmers bale of hay sits in the position of the trig point.

There are some great views out to the south-west, the west, and north-west from the summit. You can see the township of Myponga, the Myponga Reservoir, and across to another HEMA summit, Heatherdale Hill HSE-009. Unfortunately it was a very average day weather-wise and it was blowing a gale and it was very hazy.

I set up on the side of Trig Point Road. I used a fencepost as an anchor point for the 7 metre telescopic squid pole with the help of an octopus strap. As this was an easy drive up summit I had the comfort of a deck chair and fold up table.

First in the log was Ken VK3HKV, followed by Marija VK5MAZ, and then Adrian VK5FANA. Wal VK2WP then called from a SOTA summit, VK2/ CT-001. Wal was my 4th contact and as a result the HEMA summit was qualified.

It was quite slow going on 40m and with 13 stations in the log, I decided to head to the 80m band. I called CQ on 3.610 and this was answered by Adrian VK5FANA. I logged a further 5 stations on 80m. This included my wife Marija VK5MAZ who had a huge signal on 80m. I also logged John VK5HAA, the VK5 HEMA Manager.

To conclude the activation I headed to 14.310 on the 20m band. The 40m and 80m bands had been quiet, but there was an S5 noise floor on 20m, possibly from the communications towers. I logged 3 stations on 20m from VK3, VK5, and VK6.

With 22 stations in the log, and the HEMA summit well and truly qualified, I decided to pack up and head off to VK5/ HSE-009. I was not upset about packing up as it was extremely windy and quite cold.

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3HKV
2. VK5MAZ
3. VK5FANA
4. VK2WP/p (SOTA
5. VK3PF
6. VK3PI
7. VK5KVA
8. VK3SRC
9. VK3GTV
10. VK2IO
11. VK2KMI
12. VK3ARH
13. VK5PL

I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

1. VK5FANA
2. VK5HAA
3. VK5CZ
4. VK5PL
5. VK5MAZ
6. VK5BJE

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

1. VK5HAA
2. VK3SX
3. VK6NU

References.

1. Australian Explorer, 2021, <https://www.australianexplorer.com/myponga.htm>, viewed 27th May 2021.
2. HEMA, 2021, <http://hema.org.uk/fullSummit.jsp?summitKey=59891>, viewed 27th May 2021.
3. Oz Digital TV, 2021, <https://ozdigitaltv.com/transmitters/SA/673-Myponga-Hill>, viewed 27th May 2021.