VK1/AC-037 Mt Taylor - 46 QSOs and a mast split

Activation Reports
1

I keep saying it, another weekend and another summit!

The VK summer is definitely coming to an end, the weather is Canberra has started its usual turn for the worse in April. That being said yesterday it was a rather glorious day on the summit of Mt Taylor, VK1/AC-037 one of the tallest summits located within the ACT residential area at 850m ASL.

Taking Andrew (VK1AD)'s advice I stayed clear of the trig point as it gets VERY busy with walkers of all descriptions. This gave me a chance to test out not only my new 7m squid pole which was much lighter than my 10m one but, also my DIY free standing guying system. Up until now, I had always had the trig or another structure to strap the squidpole to.

##Activation:
Another HUGE (by my standard) day with the summit qualified on HF 40m in under 5 mins!

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Longest distance was over 950km just north of Brisbane (VK4).
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I had not looked much into the WWFF or Parks program however the last 2 summits were also in parks. My (limited) understanding is 44 contacts are needed to activate the park over a UTC year, I managed to activate both parks in 1 sitting each!
###4 2S2
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###Working VK1DI, Ian on 2 summits in one day!

DIY guying system:

I had been looking for a super lightweight guying system. I had seen some operators using 3D printed collars etc, but as I was building it on a Friday prior to a Saturday activation (I am a bad planner) to a trip to the local hardware was in order.

I managed to put together a system using a plumbing collar and 3 stainless steel wire key ring loops.
How did it work? PERFECTLY. It sits about 3m up so gives a good stability point.

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###Resources:
Log to Map: ON6ZQ | www.on6zq.be
Summit logging, I use a Lenovo tablet ($90AUD) and VK-Port-a-Logger

Hope you enjoy, look forward to hearing you on the air.

Wade
VK1FWBD
VK1FWBD.com

1 Like
2

Congrats on the highly successful activation!

If you ever decide to lighten your freestanding guy system, you can make a similar collar arrangement using zip-ties alone. One to go around the squid pole, and 3 more through the main tie as the attachment loops. The main tie rests on the joint of the pole very nicely. No need to overtighten, just enough to keep it from sliding down. Plenty strong with decent sized zip-ties. I like to clip off the tail of the ties to about 2mm and then melt/mash it back into the locking body using a hot knife to secure everything in place.

Bruce
WB8OGK

3

You know what - I didn’t even think of zip ties! That would have worked great!

Thanks for the idea.

W

VK1FWBD