Hi Matt,
Thanks for the heads up. I see that Andrew VK1AD, has put an alert up for VK1/AC-043, Mt Stromlo, on Thursday at 0700z. I’m pretty sure the Europeans will be listening for him, so this may give us some sort of idea of how propagation is between VK/EU for Saturdays SOTA party.
I was following the 20m band on DX maps over the weekend and there was plenty of activity, with some good DX being worked.
Good luck on Saturday…
73 Mike
2E0YYY
Live from Mt Stromlo VK1/AC-043
Thanks Mike for the S2S 
FT-857D @ 40 watts. Summit temp is 14 deg C. The HT is a 70cm DMR tuned to 439.0125 TG 505
Sunset
73, Andrew VK1AD
Sorry guys was listening didn’t hear either of you, hopefully Saturday will be better from a summit.
John VK6NU
“bagged” Andrew (thanks Andrew) at 06:40 UTC from the home QTH (which isn’t good in that direction), so it looks like propagation (at the moment) is good.
Hope the dog enjoyed the walk out - can just see him in the first picture.
Couldn’t hear Mike at all - so propagation was possibly long.
Packed the snow chains in the car and dug out the skiing jacket and trousers, so ready for anything on Saturday morning!
73 Ed DD5LP.
Hi all
Live pics from the summit included 2 posts above.
Dx chasers worked from Mt Stromlo VK1/AC-043 in order starting with Ed DD5LP at 06:43 UTC, Alexander UR7GO 5-8, OE9HRV Herbert very strong sig 5-9+, Matt VK1MA, Murray VK1UU, Mauro IW1GGR 5-9, Fred VK4FE 5-4, Yoann F4FTA 5-8, Jarso OK2TS 5-6, Jan OK2PDT 5-9, Mike 2W0YYY/p S2S GW/NW-080 5-3 each way, Don G0RQG very strong sig 5-9+, Vratislav OK1KT 5-8, Lothar DL3HXX 5-8, Michael DJ5AV 5-8, JH2NHM 5-9 and Lars SA4BLM very tough QSO finally made a confirmed QSO at 4-1 and 3-2.
Last 20m contact at 08:07 UTC, no VK chasers on 40m through to sunset @ 08:15 UTC
Sorry Karl (M3FEH) I didn’t hear you 
73, Andrew VK1AD
Hi all
Subject to a low K Index, on Friday I plan to activate Mt Stromlo VK1/AC-043 from 0700 through to 0830 UTC on 20, 15 and 10m SSB.
I’m seeking S2S QSOs with JA, SV or CT.
Anyone in Japan, Greece or Portugal interested in a S2S with VK?
VK1 sunset is 0830 UTC.
73, Andrew VK1AD
30 minutes to sunset on Mt Stromlo VK1/AC-043
So far I have worked 5 ZLs, ZL1BAT, ZL2AJ, ZL1BYZ, ZL1TZW, ZL2ATH, VK6XN, F1BLL, JI1IHV S2S, JS6SD/7, ON4BB, 9A3NM, JL1ELQ, DL/G8OFQ, DG5LAC, UA5D
I’m still calling on 14.330 MHz. QRT now 08:40.
Unfortunately nothing heard here at the home station. I can’t even hear your chasers.
Might have been possible from a quieter location (i.e. Summit).
Great to hear you are getting through though - enjoy.
73 Ed.
Hi folks,
Last evening I activated Isaacs Ridge VK1/AC-041 on 20m for JA, ZL and EU Dx chasers. The summary of Dx stations worked by country is:
Austria (2) OE7FMH and OE9HRV
Czech Republic (2) OK1FFU and OK2PDT
Japan (1) JA8RJE
France (1) F1BLL
Germany (3) DD5LP, DJ5AV and DJ8QP
Italy (4) IK1GPG, IZ1ERW, IZ5ILF and I5FLN
New Zealand (3) ZL2MRT, ZL1BYZ and ZL1TZW
Poland (1) SP2AND
VK Chasers (4) VK1DA/p, VK2CJ, VK1HW and VK4DHF
Conditions on 20m were indeed very good with majority of signal reports in the 5-5 to 5-9 range.
Unfortunately for me, a local thunderstorm complete with lightning strikes chased me off the summit well before sunset.
I plan to activate the same peak tomorrow afternoon (18:00 local) from 0700 UTC Friday morning. I will have 90 minutes on the summit, VK1 sunset is at 08:43 UTC.
For those interested, Isaacs Ridge is a VKFF reference.
I look forward to working more EU, JA and ZL Dx SOTA/Park chasers.
73, Andrew VK1AD
P.S. Ed’s callsign fixed.
The second DX SOTA session from Isaacs Ridge VK1/AC-041 on Friday 11 Nov 16 was slow going. The DX EU window didn’t open until 08:10 UTC (by then I had been on the summit for 75 minutes) for a 30 minute window before VK1 sunset.
Summary of DX stations by country:
Austria (1) Herbert OE9HRV
Belgium (2) Luk ON4BB and Danny ON4VT
Spain, Canary Islands (1) Rafa E8ARI
Czech Republic (1) Jan OK2PDT
England (1) Mike 2E0YYY S2S
New Zealand (4) John ZL1BYZ, Wynne ZL2ATH, Ken ZL4KD and Warren ZL2AJ/m.
Poland (1) SP3CME
Long haul (3200 km) with VK6: Mike VK6MB, Phil VK6ADF, Anthony VK6MAC/m, John VK6NU, Hans VK6XN and Tim VK6EI. 
73, Andrew VK1AD
Were you able to compare the two 20m antennas? with conditions poor, it would show the better one more readily.
vk1da/2uh
I didn’t Andrew, my plan was to work JA then EU. The 10m DX-Wire pole is supporting a 15m J-Pole, I left the 20m J-Pole at home. [Sad Face] No contacts on 15m, which was mildly disappointing. I had the 15m J-Pole and the Inverted V through the antenna switch ready to make comparisons. 
Andrew VK1AD
Last night’s activation of Mt Stromlo 0700 to 0900 UTC, didn’t net a single EU chaser on 20m.
I did make a number of Sporadic E 20m QSOs including: Col VK3LED, Allen VK3ARH, Steve VK7CW, Andrew VK3HDV and Andrew VK7DW. Working VK6 and ZL was a struggle with weak signal QSOs with Mike VK6MB, John VK6NU and Wynne ZL2ATH.
On the other hand propagation with VK5 and VK8 Dariwn was terrific making 5-9 QSOs with Nev VK5WG, Lou VK5EE, Garry VK8BN and Brian VK8BL, two VK8s in once session! 
Japan came on line with strong signals around 07:50 UTC working Tadashi JA1VRY, Sam JH6RON and Yama JA8XOK. 
Only one local VK1 QSO with Matt VK1MA, thanks Matt. I think the VK1s were 
after a very hot 41 degree C (106 F) weekend.
73 Andrew VK1AD
Hi Andrew I did listen but could not hear anything from you unfortunately.
The good news is that the SFI is expected to rise to around 80 by the end of the week,
The band news is that K might go up to 4 as well.
As always, we’ll just have to wait and see.
73 Ed.
Hi folks
It was pleasing to have a half decent 20 and 17m DX session (07:30 to 08:55 UTC) last evening from Isaacs Ridge VK1/AC-041. 
DX QSOs on 17m (18.144 MHz) included ZL1BYZ, ZL2AJ, ZL1WA and 3000 km west to Western Australia (VK6) to find John VK6NU. On 20m (14.315 MHz) QSOs included: EA3FF, ZL3CC, OK1DVM, ZL1BU, IK1GPG, VK6NU and SV3IEG. Signals ranged between 5-6 and 5-8, I received similar reports with the FT-857D set to 35 watts.
Surprisingly only one 20m local VK1 QSO with Matt VK1MT.
I split the 20m session with 10 minutes on 40m which netted one VK chaser Peter VK3ZPF, conditions were terrible with S8 QRN from storms over Sydney and northern NSW. Back to 20m (14.320 MHz) to work JA1VRY, JS1UEH/1 for a S2S JA/IB-006 and finally F1BLL at 08:35 UTC 15 minutes before VK1 sunset at 08:55 UTC.
30m (10.133 MHz) was a blessing, such a low noise band! QSOs included VK5SFA and VK4XJB.
Thanks everyone for calling in. Great to have a new S2S with JA.
73, Andrew VK1AD
Hi Andrew
Good to work you and at one stage on 20 metres you were as strong as I’ve ever heard you on 20 metres, but there was some heavy QSB and you were down in the mud again. I could hear some of the stations you worked from EU. It was pleasing to be so far away from you and still hearing what you were working on the other side of the country from me.
Fingers crossed for the 11th March, I had planned a SP activation but will now do a LP and hopefully get some S2S from the Eastern states guys as well as some European chasers and maybe a S2S with Europe. It was also good to get you on 18 Mhz, pretty rare band for me, I could hear you on 10Mhz but just a bit too low to work.
73
John VK6NU
Hi Andrew,
I’ve taken a look at your logs to see just how elusive VK8 is. I was surprised to see you’ve only worked it 28 times in over 500 activations, 20 of those being VK8GM! This is one tough VK state to find!
73 Mike
2E0YYY
Mostly because there are so few people on air from there Mike. pretty easy to work from most states in VK.
John VK6NU
Thanks John,
Greg VK8GM used to pop up in my log quite regularly, however, I’ve not worked VK8, since July 2015
73 Mike
2E0YYY
Hi folks
Weather permitting I plan to activate Black Mountain VK1/AC-042 later today on 17m followed by 20m for a chance at long haul VK5, VK6, VK8, ZL, JA and EU Dx.
Update: 05:15 UTC. Thunderstorms in the area, I may have to cancel today’s activation of Black Mountain.
Remember only six more sleeps to the S2S extravaganza!
Cheers,
Andrew VK1AD
