After getting my license in Feb 17, I have now activated 5 summits, even if they are only 1 pointers!
The main reluctance I have had to get out further has been wanting to get my antenna situation sorted, I can say I think we have reached that point. My SOTA BEAMS linked dipole arrived the day after the last activation (always the way). I was keen to get out and give it a whirl - and what a whirl it was!
This activation coincided with the opening of a VK contest that centres on portable operation, I was being cheeky and hoping to pick up some stations tuning up.
Firing up about an hour before UTC roll over (comp started at 0100) I was almost immediately flooded with calls and they kept coming right up for about an hour after rollover, the band started dropping away about then too.
Good results from Issacs Ridge, helps if there is a contest running sometimes. Other times you just get trodden on in the mad scramble by the big guns after points.
I use a home made linked dipole with good results although have to admit at times changing bands in a hurry can get exciting.
Very cool - it’s nice to see a fellow beginner having fun. I just started adding HF to my activations and it is indeed fun to have everyone calling. Never came back with a log like yours though. That’s impressive! I’m going to to have to go activate something during Field Day here in the US, lol.
73,
Brandon, N6BSC
Was great to make contact with you at last. QRP takes patience for sure. When you first came up you were barely readable 1/1 only just catching the callsign but a few minutes later the contact was easily readable.
Here is a picture from the VK2BV portable site for JMFD. You can spot my grey squid pole on the left of the antenna farm. We were setup ~60km south of Warumbungle national park. I was keen for activation but Saturday mornings weather was absolutely terrible so no S2S this time
with HF, I make sure I assemble my kit at home, then pack it away on the spot. Nothing worse then hiking up, getting sunburnt and bitten by bugs to find the bloody connector missing for X or Y.
It would have to be 15m for a foundation call in VK. 20m is not included in their band coverage, to the sadness of many. It’s an incentive to upgrade and I somehow think that is likely to be on Wade’s to-do list.
15m is producing a few surprises though, so it should be proposed and tested whenever possible.
[quote=“VK1DA, post:9, topic:14826”]15m is producing a few surprises though, so it should be proposed and tested whenever possible.[/quote]…especially as a 40m dipole can be a tolerable if not wonderful match on 15m…
One of the benefits of a linked dipole using alligator clips is that it becomes very easy to add inductance/capacitance to drop the SWR even more. I found that a couple of 1.1 uH coils (made from some 22 awg wire formed on a pen in the field, try 15 turns) really dialed things in.
