On Sunday from 0600 UTC I will try 20m SSB long path from Mt Stromlo VK1/AC-043. I will operate for ~1.5 hours.
Anyone interested in a S2S?
VK1 Sunset is at 0735 UTC.
Regards
Andrew VK1AD
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Yesterday and Today 20m LP SSB has been open from 0530 UTC through 0700 UTC between ZL/VK and EU/UK. So your timing should be good.
The problem you may get is the number of QRO stations filling the band (not only contesters but in general). This morning it was VERY hard to find a free frequency when I was activating two ILLW lighthouses.
73 Ed.
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I am already on a summit. Can be on another one at 6utc.
No dx so far… 
But many stations in Europe. Lighthouse weekend causes increased activity fyi
73 joe
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Well that was fun! 20m was open from 0600 to 0725 UTC when I closed at VK1 sunset. Propagation conditions were good. My gear; FT-891 at 20 watts into a 20m 1/4 wave GP with four elevated ground radials.
S2S with Ben GW4BML at GW/NW-022 and Herbert OE9HRV at DL/AL-137. Thanks Ben and Herbert for two new chased summits.
36 in the log for 20m SSB. Also worked special event callsign N7N at a US lighthouse.
The bonus ‘skip’ from the eastern grey kangaroos may have helped 
For Ed, no issues with QRO stations 
73 Andrew VK1AD
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Andrew,
There is a 10 dB penality for every hop however.
I’ve been working a number of Eu stations on 10 m with 70 W from home. They are not as strong as on 17 but quite a few from the UK, Spain, Germany, Italy and Scandinavia. Sometimes an African pops up
Worth a try.
73
Ron
VK3AFW.
4 Likes
Possibly not at your end but over here I listened for you on your last 4 spotted frequencies following you as you changed and each time there was someone in Europe on or very close to the frequency. (home antenna is omnidirectional - I possibly could have heard you if I had a beam).
Glad to hear it went off so well.
73 Ed.
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I heard you with pre-amp on with a 31 so I did not even try to call with EU chasers making their calls.
But I worked VK5PAS. So DX hurray 
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Great to make the S2S contact this morning Andrew @VK1AD - it was quite a surprise and you were a good 5/5 into me!
I didn’t have so good wx - but I soon perked up when you answered my S2S call
Look forward to the next!
73, Ben
GW4BML/p
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I could hear VK6IA rag chewing on 17m like he was sat next to me on GM/SS-221 this afternoon, sadly no qso though.
Andy
MM7MOX
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Ben @GW4BML is your antenna an EFHW? Nice improvisation of the walking pole.
Andrew VK1AD
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Yes @VK1AD Andrew, I use a 40/20 EFHW which also works on 15/12/10m with out tuner. Hahaa, multi tasking walking poles! 
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Yesterday from Baldy Range VK2/ST-008, 20m LP propagation was open from 0415 UTC working:
IK4IDF, OH1MM, F4WBN, UT5PI, KG5CIK, SP7MW and finally OM5DP at 0457 UTC.
My gear; FT-891 at 10 watts into a homebrew inverted V dipole antenna with the apex at 7 metres above ground.
73, Andrew VK1AD
7 Likes
On Thursday I plan to activate VK1/AC-042 Black Mountain from 0600 UTC to VK1 sunset at 0745 UTC.
My aim is to work EU chasers via 20m SSB long path. I will operate in the high end of 20m between 14.310 to 14.340. Please look for my spots.
Anyone interested in a SSB S2S?
73, Andrew VK1AD
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I’ll probably be back in the Vosges tomorrow morning… hope I can make it before you qrt… probably it will be FL/VO-080 or FL/VO-170 (…which one would you prefer?)
73 Armin
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Originally I had planned a day in the Vosges. The density of summits there is so high that I always activate several summits a day.
In any case, FL/VO-080 and FL/VO-170, which are right next to each other, were planned for today. I also wanted to be on FL/VO-002; it’s only a few kilometers away. I dropped that a few weeks ago because the crowds of tourists before the Tour de France were too much for me.
The condx this morning weren’t that bad. VK2IO reached me in CW and SSB.
Unfortunately, the chasers from VK were missing again… and JA also kept coming up on 15m in the QSB. JA1AAA was very loud (579), but didn’t hear me and JA1VVH, who called me as a chaser, was lost in the QSB, but could be heard at 449 at times.
When I was between the summits at the Col du Rothenbach the weather had deteriorated and visibility was a little over 20m meters. The cloud base has fallen massively and it was not foreseeable that it would rise again.
That’s why I stopped the activations… the Vosges don’t run away… on the way home I took some pâté and baguette with me and comforted myself with them at home.
Thank you Andrew for our S2S…you made my day.
73 Armin
2 Likes
Hi all
Thanks Armin @DL6GCA and Michael @DC8YZ for the two S2S
20m long path conditions were very good at my end of the propagation path, it would appear the traffic was one way
I started my activation of Black Mountain VK1/AC-042 (VKFF-0834) at 0555 UTC and stopped at 0730 UTC due to a sudden drop in the ambient temperature and a strong cold westerly wind with a nasty windchill effect. QSOs: Total of 58. 20m DX 35 QSOs.
Countries worked in no particular order: Sweden, Finland, New Zealand, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Ukraine, Spain, Poland, England, Denmark, France and Greece. In Australia; VK1, VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5 and VK6.
My gear: FT-891 @ 20 watts into an inverted V dipole with the apex at 7 metres, broadside south-east/north-west, not that is matters much using an inverted V. A south easterly bearing is the start of long path to EU from VK1.
Highlights: 2 S2S and M0WTR/M mobile
VK1AD on VK1/AC-042 (Black Mountain), 31 Aug 2023
| Time | Callsign | Band | Mode | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05:58 | SM5LNE | 20m | SSB | Jan s55 r55 |
| 06:00 | OH1MM | 20m | SSB | Pasi s58 r55 |
| 06:01 | ZL2ATH | 20m | SSB | Wynne s53 r53 |
| 06:03 | VK4CK | 20m | SSB | Paul s59 r59 |
| 06:04 | ON3YB | 20m | SSB | s57 r33 |
| 06:05 | VK4CEE | 20m | SSB | Jim s51 r51 |
| 06:05 | VK1RF | 20m | SSB | Jim s51 r55 |
| 06:07 | VK6LMK | 20m | SSB | Lance s52 r33 |
| 06:07 | OH6GAZ | 20m | SSB | Juha s57 r54 |
| 06:08 | SM4CJM | 20m | SSB | Hans s58 r56 |
| 06:09 | DL6MST | 20m | SSB | Klaus s55 r41 |
| 06:10 | I4RHP | 20m | SSB | Rodolfo s58 r57 |
| 06:11 | VK6HDY | 20m | SSB | Birst s59 r55 |
| 06:13 | OH5EP | 20m | SSB | Jukka s58 r57 |
| 06:14 | UT5PI | 20m | SSB | s58 r59 |
| 06:15 | DL6GCA | 20m | SSB | Armin s55 r54 S2S FL/VO-080 |
| 06:16 | EA2CKX | 20m | SSB | s57 r52 |
| 06:17 | SP6KEP | 20m | SSB | Club Stn s55 r52 |
| 06:18 | IW2BNA | 20m | SSB | Walter s57 r55 |
| 06:18 | ON7ZM | 20m | SSB | Jean s55 r44 |
| 06:19 | G0VWP | 20m | SSB | Terry s59 r55 |
| 06:20 | DL1EBR | 20m | SSB | s57 r57 |
| 06:21 | OZ30EU | 20m | SSB | s59 r44 |
| 06:23 | SQ9FMC | 20m | SSB | s57 r55 |
| 06:23 | ON3UA | 20m | SSB | s55 r44 |
| 06:24 | F1BLL | 20m | SSB | s58 r55 |
| 06:24 | IK1GPG | 20m | SSB | s58 r57 |
| 06:25 | M7CBI | 20m | SSB | Dean s58 r58 |
| 06:27 | M0WTR/M | 20m | SSB | s58 r56 |
| 06:30 | DC8YZ/P | 20m | SSB | Michael s52 r52 S2S DM/BM-160 DLFF-0058 |
| 06:36 | SV3IEG | 20m | SSB | Dinos s55 r43 |
| 06:36 | IW2BNA | 20m | SSB | Walter s58 r57 |
| 06:37 | DJ2MX | 20m | SSB | Mario s58 r44 |
| 06:38 | VK6NU | 20m | SSB | John s55 r55 |
| 06:39 | IW2NXI | 20m | SSB | s58 r55 |
| 06:41 | ZL3MR | 20m | SSB | John s59 r42 |
| 06:46 | G3IRQ | 20m | SSB | Peter s59 r55 |
| 06:49 | G4AIR | 20m | SSB | Dave s57 r56 |
| 06:53 | ZL1HIM | 20m | SSB | Ian s59 r53 |
| 06:54 | VK1MA | 20m | SSB | Matt s59 r59 |
| 06:56 | VK4OZI | 20m | SSB | Steve s59 r59 |
| 06:57 | ON4ON | 20m | SSB | s58 r56 |
| 06:59 | SP7MW | 20m | SSB | s58 r31 |
| 07:04 | VK3PF | 40m | SSB | Peter s59 r59 |
| 07:07 | VK3KAI | 40m | SSB | Peter s59 r59 |
| 07:08 | VK2IO | 40m | SSB | Gerard s59 r59 |
| 07:09 | ZL1HIM | 40m | SSB | Ian s58 r53 |
| 07:10 | VK3VIN | 40m | SSB | Ian s59 r59 |
| 07:11 | VK3SG | 40m | SSB | Leigh s59 r59 |
| 07:12 | VK2YW | 40m | SSB | John s59 r59 |
| 07:12 | VK2ADF | 40m | SSB | Bob s59 r59 |
| 07:13 | VK3CEO | 40m | SSB | Ray s59 r59 |
| 07:13 | VK5PAS | 40m | SSB | Paul s59 r59 |
| 07:14 | VK2EG | 40m | SSB | Bob s59 r59 |
| 07:15 | VK4KTW | 40m | SSB | Kelly s58 r55 |
| 07:17 | VK4TJ | 40m | SSB | John s59 r59 |
| 07:19 | VK4JVA | 40m | SSB | Jeff s59 r59 |
| 07:20 | VK4MUD | 40m | SSB | John s59 r58 |
My operating position sitting on the ground. No spiders, ants, snakes or other nasty critters today!
Thank you all chasers especially Armin and Michael who both had early starts.
Until next time
73 Andrew VK1AD
11 Likes
52 contacts on 20m from ZL3 this evening on ZL3/CB-499 Mt Barrosa. About 35 of which were Europe, though KG5CIK managed to make it in from Texas, as usual!
Band was open at 0450UTC when I switched to 20m, and seemed to be dropping off by 0530 when I went QRT (though that could merely have been me exhausting the available chasers).
A very ‘well behaved’ bunch of chasers too, stations coming in one at a time when called-in, no issues at all with stations calling over QSOs. Resulting in probably the most relaxing DX SOTA pileup I’ve worked. Thanks all.
Prefixes worked:
ZL, VK, F, K, OH, I, SP, OE, DL, G, RU, OM, UT, OG, 9A, OK
3 Likes
Thanks for hitting me last Saturday for HB75ZRH, unfortunately the only contact to you downunders there. 
Not able here to take part during the week.
73, Markus HB9DIZ
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Hi folks
I am planning two activations to work chasers via 20m LP to Europe:
Friday 15 September, Mt Stromlo VK1/AC-043, 0600 UTC to 0800 UTC (sunset)
Saturday 16 September, Mt Cowangerong VK2/ST-001, 0600 UTC to 0800 UTC.
Alerts posted.
73, Andrew VK1AD
2 Likes
Hi Andrew
I’m planning on activating FL/VO-157… and I should be able to do it by 0800 UTC… so I’m hoping for an S2S with you again!
73 Armin
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