Well, my activations didn’t go nearly as planned, but it was great to see so many activators out on the weekend - by my count, 97 different summit/activator pairs were activated across VK, ZL, JA and YBJ.
I managed to get a leave pass to head out early to grab a bunch of summits up around Hotham, so I packed my gear up, loaded up the car, and headed out. I made good time to Mt Hotham, and although the Loch car park is closed, I parked a bit closer to the summit and walked the 4km or so out to Mt Loch. As I neared the summit, I started to have a nagging feeling something was missing, and when I got to the top, I realised what that something was: my LiFePO4 battery for the HF radio. That left me with a handheld and miles from anywhere, and all my weekend plans basically in tatters.
Being there, I put out a call on 2m to see if by some stroke of luck anyone was listening.
By a big stroke of luck, the ham family of Andrew @VK3BQ were descending from the top of Mt Feathertop VK3/VE-002 and were able to give me three callsigns - firstly Nathan VK3DNS, his mum Christine VK3EEK and dad Andrew as well. Now for Toby to get his callsign and I would have qualified that summit there and then 
Not to worry though, I heard Geoff @VK3SQ come back for contact number 4. Peter VK3PF was loud with his 50W, but my 5W wasn’t able to make it back to him, but 4 was enough to make the 5 hour drive worthwhile.
I stayed at Hotham overnight and in the morning climbed the main summit from the same car park, this time armed with a 6 element DK7ZB yagi, with the aim of trying to work Andrew @VK1AD . The view on day 2 was a little different, and I tried first the RH-770, then the Slim Jim and couldn’t work Andrew, although he was audible (just) on my end.
I took the time to set up the 6 element, and while that was going on, heard Andrew VK3BQ call in, so worked the family again for 3 contacts, and then went back to assembling the yagi. I will tell you it’s a damn sight easier to set up a yagi in the backyard than on a summit in the cold so it took me a while, but eventually got it functioning and put a call out.
A brief clearing in the cloud made me realise I had disoriented myself while talking with Andrew and family and was facing a different direction to where I thought, so once I fixed that, I pointed roughly Melbourne wise and worked Rik VK3EQ for number 4, and VK3ZAT off the back of the beam for number 5.
A few more attempts with Andrew were fruitless, which may have been due to niggles in the yagi, but I’ve got better plans for assembly now it’s been field tested and next time should be easier. 5 contacts, 20 points for the weekend, all on a handheld 200km from any major population centres, makes me a very lucky if poorly prepared activator.
Battery was sitting on the 3D printer when I got home, hidden by the printer head, so I guess that’s something of a defence (I do use checklists, but took the battery back out to test the yagi on the Friday).
I’m not sure at this point whether I’ll be able to do an activation or two, but I’m hoping!
