A spring day of SOTA September 2026
I decided on Saturday morning to head out for a multi-summit day. The forecast was for a fine Spring Day, but with some stronger winds. The plan was to attempt 4 summits, with a longer WWFF activation at the second summit. The other 3 summits are located in State Forests.
The first summit was VK3/VT-083, reached after a drive of just under 2 hours. I made a total of 68 contacts, with 13 contacts on 2 m SSB, plus 3 contacts on 2 m CW. This included 2 S2S contacts on 2 m SSB, and finishing off by chasing ZL1BYZ on 15 m CW and JP3DGT/3 on 10 m CW for S2S contacts. I closed at about 0045Z, to pack up and head to the next summit.
Next was Mount Useful VK3/VT-016, and 8-point summit in VKFF-3800. I was set up and ready about 50 minutes after going QRT on the first summit.
Here I made 112 contacts, with 18 on 2 m SSB. The tally included 7 S2S and 10 P2P contacts. I closed at 0345Z.
Next was Mount Selma VK3/VT-013. On arrival, I found Peter VK3ZPF still on the summit and working a station to the west. Peter and I had a chat about some of his and my antennas. I helped Peter to pack up his station and then started to set up my 2 m station: an IC-9700 to an Hourglass antenna. Peter departed for Mount Lookout.
My first logged contact was at 0502Z. Despite the Spring VHF/UHF Field Day Contest being in full swing, it was difficult to attract attention from the contest stations: they did not leave any breaks between overs when chatting amongst themselves! I made 14 contacts on 2m SSB over about 45 minutes before I gave up and packed up to head to the final summit for the day. Peter VK3ZPF had still not reached his next summit, and I hoped that I could catch him from my next summit before he closed.
Connors Plain VK3/VT-022
Once on the summit, I immediately set up the 2 m station. When I switched on, I was rewarded with hearing Peter VK3ZPF on VK3/VT-30 in the middle of a contact. Peter was soon in the log at 0633Z. I moved up the band and soon had more contacts logged on 2 m SSB. I looked on 2 m and on HF for other stations in the broader VK1 region, but none were heard. In between contacts on 2 m, I tossed a line over a tree branch and strung up the doublet antenna for HF, running roughly N-S. Several minutes on 40 m SSB produced 7 contacts. I could see from the Spots page that 20 m was busy, so I quickly moved to 20 m and started looking for spotted stations. First worked was Simon G4JXP/P on G/WB-012. I looked for other current spots, but could not hear the stations due to QRM on what was a busy band. I moved up the band and spotted. The callers were soon calling over each other… Amongst the 14 worked was Tim G5OLD/P on G/SC-003. A Spot dragged me back to 40 m SSB to hunt Jim VK7JZ and Travis VK7VXT, both on VK7/WC-003 in VKFF-0347. I changed to a clear frequency, and worked 18 stations quickly. One of the callers was keen to try 2 m SSB, so I moved back to that band. In my rush, II incorrectly spotted as 14200 kHz, instead of 144200 kHz. Apologies for those that went looking for me on 20 m! I soon had 3 contacts logged on 2 m. I then hunted Naoto JF7RJM/p in JAFF-0161 on 15 m CW. I then tried 40 m CW, making 12 contacts, including S2S with Ian VK5CZ on VK5/SE-015. When the callers dried up, I spent a few minutes calling on 2 m SSB, working one contest station only. I switched off at 0810Z, with the light fading.
I finished with a total of 74 contacts from the summit. After packing up, I had a long winding road until I reached the flatter lands, and reached home at around 0830Z.
The entire day had been fine, but was cool in the morning – around 11 C when I reached the first summit. The wind was strong all day, making the apparent temperature much lower. At Mount Selma, it was around 13 C without windchill. As the sun approached the horizon in the afternoon, the temperature again dropped rapidly.
Thanks to all who called. It was a fun day out in the hills.
QSO Maps for Connors Plain below courtesy https://qsomap.m0trt.radio/
