Goorooyaroo VK1/AC-036 has been of those summits I have looked at time and time again and wussed out of each time. Its only 5km from my front door, yet proved elusive UNTIL YESTERDAY.
When I saw VK1DA posting he intended to activate it for the VK1 SOTA Winter QSO party, I couldn’t resist tagging along. Why was I so sooky about it??
That’s the sign that greets us as you leave the vehicle. Not a worry, no exploded kangaroos or fallen trees to be seen, and stick to the trail - sorted.
This big klutz here forgot his 7m squidpole in his car, luckily @VK1DA is a massive sota tragic and had a variety of spares in his car and could lend me a spare.
Temps on the summit swung from the balmy 1.5 degrees to the shivering -1.
We set up 2 stations running cross polarised from each other so we limited the interference.
NB: before frantic emails are flung around re the DO NOT ENTER sign, NSW Park Rangers have authrorised access and explained the vehicle management track was safe to follow. The summit also hosts mobile phone repeaters
Hi Andrew, In preparation for Bimberi, I upgraded from the tablet that we all use/d - the lenovo as I wanted to put a telstra sim in etc, I am using a cheapish, Samsung Galaxy Tab A. A bit low spec but chugs along.
Indeed. But it was bloody cold and our gear and our bodies were suffering. Fun watching @vk1da have a ht qso without pushing the PTT and wondering what is happening.
Ironically for the VK1 SOTA Winter QSO party, I couldn’t hear any VK1 activations well enough for a S2S contact on the day, but several other VK & ZL summits.
Pleased you guys got a bang out of the day without getting a bang out of it. hi hi.
Nice video, Wade.
The noise you mention is due to de-sense from a nearby transmitter on another band, probably Andrew on the other radio. Switching on the RF attenuator can sometimes eliminate it. Otherwise, set up further apart and run antennas perpendicular to each other. 100m separation is usually enough when running low power rigs.
73, Gerard - VK2IO
I agree that is likely to be the source of the crud. If I was on 80m and running the 40w amp it would be pretty tough conditions for any receiver. The antennas were only separated by a few metres but were 90 degrees offset.
Measurements would be needed to work out whether the harmonics were being transmitted or were generated in the receiver front end. Turning off the rf amp (IPO option) and turning on the attenuators are other options for assessing the situation.
