My last Summits on the Air ((SOTA) activation for Friday 3rd October, 2014, was Brownhill Range, VK5/ SE-004, which is located about 212 km north of Adelaide, and about 5 km south east of Jamestown, in the Mid North of South Australia.  I last activated this summit in July 2013, so another 4 points as a SOTA activator were there for the taking.

Access to the summit is via Seven Trees Road.  Turn onto the Booborowie Road, from the Wilkins Highway (Jamestown to Hallet Road).  Travel about 5 km south along the Booborowie Road and you will see The Willows Road, on your right.  Travel west along The Willows Road until you reach the T junction with Seven Trees Road.  Turn left onto Seven Trees Road.  Diagonally opposite the power plant, you will see some double gates with various signs on the gates including ‘Unauthorised access.  Tresspassers will be prosecuted‘.  This is the access point to the summit.  The summit is located on private property, so please obtain permission prior to access.

The Brownhill wind farm consists of 45 Suzlon S88 turbines each of a rated 2.1 megawatt (MW) for a total of around 95 MW.  It is adjacent to an existing 180 MW gas fired peaking power plant. The wind farm construction was carried out by Suzlon Energy Australia Pty. Ltd.   This site utilises an innovative rock anchor solution to support the turbines using only one third of the concrete and reinforcement required in traditional foundations.

I travelled up the dirt road towards the top of the hills, through some gates, and then south along the ridge line to reach the remnants of the trig point.  If you do access this summit, please remember to shut the gates, as cattle are kept in the paddocks amongst the wind turbines.  The trig point now consists of three blue painted poles set amongst a clump of moss rocks.  The views from here are truly grand, with a 360 degree panorama of the surrounding countryside.  To adhere to the ‘activation zone’ rule for SOTA, I parked my car down the hill and walked up to the trig point.

Much to my displeasure, the trig point was absolutely alive with flies and bugs.  Not really sure why.  I guess they just wanted to call it home for the afternoon, and join me in a SOTA activation.  Even the ‘Aerogard’ didn’t keep them away!  The photo below is looking south east from the summit, and you can clearly see the very active flies and bugs, which were relentless!

I ran the little Yaesu FT-817nd again for this operation, running just QRP, 5 watts.  My antenna was the Band Hopper 20m/40m linked dipole which I supported on the 7 metre squid pole.  I used one of the trig point poles as an anchoring point for the squid pole, securing it with some octopus straps.  Fortunately, the breeze had dropped and it was beautiful late afternoon on the summit.  This was in stark contrast to my previous activation of this summit in July, 2013, when there was a howling westerly wind blowing.

One other thing different this time around, was that the noise floor was very low.  Last time I activated this summit, there was a terrible squealing noise on the band, apparently generated by the wind turbines.  But fortunately, the band was very quiet today.

Prior to calling CQ, I checked my phone and saw that Brian VK3MCD, was portable on SOTA peak, Mount Stanley, VK3/ VE-126, near Beechworth in north east Victoria.  So I turned the radio on and tuned to 7.085 and there was Brian with a very nice 5/8 signal.  After working Brian ‘summit to summit’, I tuned down to 7.080 and put out a CQ call and was greeted by Tony VK3CAT.  This was followed by Larry VK5LY and my fourth qualifying contact was with Greg VK5ZGY who was mobile at Mount Gambier in the South East of South Australia.

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The regular crowd of SOTA chasers then called in, from VK1, VK2, VK3, and VK5.  Band conditions appeared to be quite good, with very good signals coming in locally from VK5, and from the eastern states.  However, there didn’t seem to be the same number of SOTA chasers as normal.  However, it was a weekday, and most people in Australia were either still at work or about to finish work.

After working a total of 21 stations on 40m SSB, I lowered the squid pole and removed the links from the dipole and then raised the squid pole back to its 7 metre limit.  I was keeping a close eye on SOTAWatch on my iPhone and saw that there were a number of intended SOTA activations from the United Kingdom and Europe.  So I was hoping for some ‘DX summit to summit’ contacts whilst I was on Brownhill Range.

One of those was Klaus DF2GN, who was portable on SOTA peak, Hohenkarpfen, DM/ BW-074.  I saw Klaus had been spotted on 14.130, so I tuned down the band to that frequency and heard Klaus well, with a very good strong 5/8 signal.  Klaus had posted that he was suffering from high VSWR when operating higher in the band, and thus the reason for being all the way down here.  However, there was clearly no issue with Klaus’ antenna, as his signal was very strong.  My only problem was, Klaus had a big pile up going, from both Europe and Australia.  I called a number of times but just couldn’t break through the Australians calling him.  After about 10 attempts, I heard Klaus come back to my call.  Elation!  Klaus gave me a 5/7 signal report, which I was very pleased with considering my 5 watts.

Hohenkarpfen summit is 912 metres above sea level, and is worth 10 points.  It is an extinct volcano and is located near Spaichingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Image courtesy of http://www.panoramio.com

I then saw a spot for Barry, M0IML, who was portable on Dettling Hill, G/ SE-013.  So I quickly tuned up to 14.327.5 and I was pleased to hear Barry coming through quite well, at about 5/4.  Fortunately Barry was not quite as busy as Klaus, and it only took a few calls for Barry to respond with a 4/4 signal report for me.  I was really excited…another ‘DX summit to summit’.

Dettling Hill is 200 metres above sea level and is worth 1 SOTA point.  It forms part of the North Downs in Kent, a ridge of chalk hills.  The summit is located north east of Maidstone, and is situated in the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.  The name, taken from the village of Detling that sit at the foot of the hill, derives from Old English and means “hill at the settlement of the family of a man called Dyttel”.

Image courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org

After working Barry I found a clear frequency on 14.295 and put out a CQ call.  Much to my surprise, the first taker was Mikel EA2CW, who was portable on SOTA peak, Ganguren, EA2/ BI-055.  Mikel was coming through at signal strength 5/5.  Following Mikel, I received a call from Marcial, EA2BDS who was also on Ganguren, EA2/ BI-055.

Image courtesy of http://www.summitpost.org

A handful of stations followed on 14.295 including Viktor HA5LV, Paul VK2KTT, Dave VK4DD and Mike VK6MB.  But I then saw a spot for Mike 2E0YYY who was portable on Shining Tor, G/ SP-004.  So as it had gone a little quiet with callers, I quickly tuned to 14.285 and made contact with Mike who was a good 5/3 signal (5/3 received from Mike).  Mike is the most prolific DX SOTA activator that I have worked.

Image courtesy of http://www.knowledge.me.uk

The SOTA goat app then bleated on my i-phone, alerting me to Allan, GW4VPX who was portage on Mynydd y Betws, GW/ SW-028, on 14.280.  I put a few calls out to Allan before being answered with a 4/4 signal report.  Alan was a good 5/3 signal coming in to Brownhill Range.  Mynydd y Betws is 374 metres above sea level and is worth 1 SOTA point.

Image courtesy of en.wikepedia.com

I then went back to 14.295 and put out some CQ calls, and Adam VK2YK responded.  This was followed by Hans OE7PHI.  And then to my surprise I received a call from Martin OE5REO who was portable on SOTA peak, Grillenparz, OE/ OO-316.  Although Martin was not strong, and was only 5/1, he was perfectly readable due to the very low noise floor on the summit.  I received a 3/1 signal report from Martin.  Now I was really excited.  This was my 9th summit to summit contact for the activation, and my 7th DX summit to summit.  Grillenparz is 842 metres above sea level, and is with 2 SOTA points.  Martin was running just 10 watts into a linked dipole on a 6 metre mast.

Above: a previous activation at grillenparz by OE5REO.  Image courtesy of http://oe5reo.blogspot.com.au

A number of DX stations followed from Austria and Germany.  Sadly, an Italian station came up on 14.297 and was causing just too much QRM for me to continue on 14.295.  So I tuned around the band and found another clear frequency on 14.191 and put out another CQ call, to be greeted by Albert S58AL.  This was followed by a number of DX stations from Czech Republic, Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, and Sweden.  All probably due to Albert’s efforts of placing me on the DX cluster.  Many thanks Albert.  There was also an original spot from OO2T (vanity call of ON5SWA).  Thanks Francois ‘Swa’.  Spots on the DX cluster are always extremely helpful.

I even got a call from my old mate Marnix, OP7M, who had seen me spotted on the DX cluster.  I stayed with Marnix and his wife Martine, and son Goan, during my recent Europe trip.  So it was a real pleasure to make contact with him.  Particularly when conditions were so good.  Marnix was an excellent 5/9 signal and with my tiny 5 watts I received a 5/7 signal report from Marnix.

One of the strongest signals of the afternoon was that of Steve, G0KIK.  Steve had an excellent 5/9 plus signal coming in, and I received a 5/76 signal report.  Steve also placed me on the DX cluster.  Thanks Steve.

After the DX slowed down on 20m, I then went back to 40m and worked some of the stragglers, including Sam VK2AFA, Ian VK5CZ, Nigel VK5NIG and Rod VK5VRB.

So after 2 hours on Brownhill Range, it was time to head back to the hotel at Jamestown.  I had a total of 57 contacts on 40m SSB and 20m SSB, including 9 summit to summit QSOs.  I was very happy.

The following stations were worked:-

I have posted a short video on You Tube of the activation…..

References.

Summits on the Air, 2014, viewed 7th October 2014, <http://www.sotadata.org.uk&gt;

Wikipedia, 2014, viewed 7th October 2014, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallett_Wind_Farm&gt;

Wikipedia, 2014, viewed 7th October 2014, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detling_Hill&gt;

My second activation for Friday 3rd October, 2014, was Hogshead Hill, VK5/ NE-051, which is located about 7 km south east of the little town of Pekina in the mid north of South Australia (about 272 km north of Adelaide).  It was just a short 60 minute drive north from my first activation at Mount Ngadjuri up to the town of Orroroo and then to Pekina.

Hogshead Hill is about 770 metres above sea level and is worth 4 SOTA points.  I had previously activated the summit in August 2013 with Ian, VK5CZ.  However, this was a new calendar year, and another 4 SOTA activator points were there for the taking.  The summit is located on private property, so prior to access, please make contact with the owner (details can be found on the SOTA site under the Hogshead Hill listing).

Please refer to my previous post for some interesting facts on the summit and the nearby town of Pekina.

https://vk5pas.wordpress.com/2013/08/14/hogshead-hill-vk5-ne-051/

I accessed the summit via Hogshead Road.  I had spoken to the land owner prior to access, and it appears that last time, Ian and I accessed the summit via his neighbour’s land.  Fortunately there was no problem with us doing this, but this time I made sure I had very good directions regarding access.  This time I parked my car on Hogshead Road, opposite a farmhouse on the eastern side of Hogshead Road.  Directly opposite the farmhouse is a ‘cocky’s gate’.  This is where I entered, following the scrub lined creek, up to a 2nd gate and fence line.  As it turns out, there is a track leading through this paddock following the creek line which could be negated with care by a 2wd vehicle.  However, I decided to leave my Falcon parked on Hogshead Road.  At a recent service of my car, the mechanic had asked if I had gone off road, as there was a large build up of dirt under the car, along with some damage to the undercarriage.

The walk to the top of the summit takes between 45 minutes – 60 minutes.  There is no formal track, and there is quite a bit of fence climbing and rock clambering to be done to reach the summit.  It is a bit of a strenuous walk, particularly if the weather is warm, as it was on this day.

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The creek line and summit were alive with kangaroos and euros.  Many trying to shelter under the trees out of the sun.  There were also quite a few sleepy lizards around in the long grass.  This made me wonder, whether there were some snakes out and about as well.  I am sure there were, but fortunately I didn’t encounter any.

Again for this activation I used the Yaesu FT-817nd and ran 5 watts.  My antenna was the 20m/40m linked dipole, supported on the 7 metre squid pole.  The temperature was creeping up into the mid 30’s, so I choose a shady spot under a tree to place the radio.  I used a fallen tree to secure the squid pole with a few octopus straps.  The top of this summit is a flat plateau, so there are plenty of options for establishing your station and erecting an antenna.

Just after setting up, my i-phone bleated at me, and I saw that Justin VK2CU was on the top of a summit in New South Wales.  So I quickly tuned to 7.090 and there was Justin with a weak, but very audible signal.  Justin was on the top of Mount Kaputar VK2/ NW-001, in north eastern New South Wales.  The summit is also located within the Mount Kaputar National Park which qualifies for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program.  We exchanged signal reports (5/1 sent and 3/1 received), and I then moved up to 7.095 where I put out a CQ call, only to be greeted by the ever keen, Nev, VK5WG, with a very strong 5/9 plus signal.

It was a week day, and it was the middle of the day, so a lack of SOTA chasers and band conditions were conspiring against me.  As we all know, the 40m band tends to ‘go to sleep’ during the middle of the day.  But I pressed on and made a total of 10 contacts on 40m SSB into VK1, VK2, VK3, and VK5, before lowering the squid pole and removing the links in the dipole, for 20m.

I then tuned to 14.310 and my first caller on 20m was Matt VK1MA who had a very good 5/9 signal (5/8 received).  Mike VKMB then called me, but despite our best efforts, I was just not able to get a signal report through to Mike who was very weak (5/1), but very audible on the summit due to the very low noise floor.  If only it was like that in everyone’s homes.  I had similar problems with Ron VK3AFW who called and called and called, but sadly I just could not exchange a signal report with him for a valid contact.  Conditions however, to New South Wales, the ACT, and Tasmania appeared quite good.

I operated on the summit for about 50 minutes, before deciding to pack up and head down, and off to the next summit.  I had a total of 19 stations in the log on 40m SSB and 20m SSB.

The following stations were worked:-

On Thursday night I stayed at the Commercial Hotel at Jamestown.  The room was small and basic, but very clean and all I needed for my 2 nights stay in the town, so I could activate some of the nearby peaks for the Summits on the Air (SOTA) program.  Sadly, other than Mount Lofty and Mount Gawler and VK5/ SE-016, the nearest summits to me are located a minimum of 100 km away.  That is despite the fact that I live in the Mount Lofty Ranges.  Yes, I know, I live in the ‘mountains’ but only 2 nearby summits qualify for SOTA.  Go figure!  One of those quirky rules of SOTA….150 metres of prominence.  So after breakfast, I packed up my gear and headed north out of Jamestown to Mount Ngadjuri, VK5/ NE-058.  This was my second time to Mount Ngadjuri. I had previously activated the summit in July, 2013, and as this was a new calendar year, another 4 SOTA points were up for grabs.

Map courtesy of mapcarta.com

Mount Ngadjuri is 755 metres above sea level, and as mentioned is worth 4 SOTA points.  The summit is incorrectly spelt on the SOTA site as ‘Nadjuri’.  It is correctly spelt as ‘Ngadjuri’ after the local Ngadjuri aboriginal tribe.  I found the article below, which appeared in The News, on 12th August 1937.  Interesting how terms that are totally taboo now, were obviously commonplace way back then.

Courtesy of trove.nla.gov.au

Today, the area around Mount Ngadjuri is used for agricultural purposes.  However, prior to Europeans settling in the area, the Ngadjuri aboriginal people inhabited the area and led nomadic lives living off the land.  I would imagine that Mount Ngadjuri itself would have been an important point in the landscape for the Ngadjuri tribe.  Sadly, their numbers were decimated by introduced European diseases, including smallpox. By the 1870s few of the Ngadjuri remained on their traditional lands and most of those left had become dependent upon the white population through land dispossession.  Although there were some late attempts to arrest their decline, by the end of the nineteenth century the language group, as it had been, had ceased to exist.

As per my last activation, I accessed the summit by travelling west along Slant Road, which runs off the western side of RM Williams Way.  Slant Road is about 13 km north of Jamestown.  You need to travel up Slant Road to the hills and through the gorge.  You will reach a point at the top of the hills, where you will see a gate on your right with a rapid number of ‘730 403’ on it.  This is where you need to enter.  However, remember that the summit is on private property.  So prior to entry, please obtain permission from the landowner.  Details can be found on the SOTA site under the notes for Mount Ngadjuri.

map courtesy of googlemaps.com

I parked my car at the second gate which is a short drive through the paddock, and walked the remainder of the way to the actual summit, which is a distance of about 1.5-2 km.  The walk is quite easy and certainly not at all taxing.  This particular morning was much more pleasant than my last activation.  In July 2013, it was a cool foggy morning.  But this morning was beautiful and clear.  Even though the sun was out, I still saw quite a few kangaroos in the paddocks amongst the sheep.

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There is no trig point at the summit.  However there is a rock cairn.  There is also no shelter on the summit, and it does tend to get quite windy there.  So I tried to nestle as close as I could to the rock cairn, to get out of the blustery westerly winds.

For this activation I used my Yaesu FT-817nd and ran just 5 watts.  I powered the radio with a 12 volt 4 ah sealed lead acid battery.  My antenna was the BandHopper 20m/40m linked dipole, which I supported on a 7 metre squid pole.

I started off on 40m SSB, with my first contact being with Nev VK5WG at nearby Crystal Brook (about 68 km to the south west by road).  As expected, Nev had a very strong 5/9 plus signal.  This was followed by John VK5FMJC, also in Crystal Brook, and then Ian VK5IS running QRP 5 watts from nearby Beetaloo Valley.  Robin VK5TN was my saving grace, as my fourth and qualifying contact for the summit.  Robin was mobile near Ouyen in Victoria and had a very good 5/8 signal.  My next contact was with Mike VK6MB in Western Australia.  It is often a challenge to work Mike on 40m, but this morning, conditions were good, and Mike was a good strong 5/8 and reciprocated with a 5/4 signal received.

As it was a weekday, it was a bit slow going on 40m.  Certainly not the hectic operating conditions with the normal mob of SOTA chasers that you experience on a weekend activation.  So after working a total of 17 stations on 40m SSB, I ventured up to 20m and put out a CQ call on 14.310 which was answered by Ian VK5IS.  This was followed by another contact with Mike VK6MB, who surprisingly was weaker on 20m than he was on 40m.  I worked a further 3 stations on 20m in VK1, VK2, & VK7.

After 40 minutes on the summit, it was time to pack up and head off to the next summit.  I had a total of 22 stations in the log on 40m and 20m SSB.  Sadly, I didn’t manage any summit to summit contacts during this activation.

The following stations were worked:-

References.

National Library of Australia, 2014, viewed 8th October, 2014, <http://trove.nla.gov.au&gt;

Wikipedia, 2014, viewed 8th Oct 2014, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngadjuri&gt;