30062013 – VK3/VT-010

Activated VK3/VT-010 (Talbot Peak) 30 June 2013

Dipole Yes. APRS Yes.

Seasonal Bonus Yes ! 10+3

Joined by VK3PF Peter for this trip. Enjoying having company. So far its been easy as only have had to learn one name.  

It was a good walk up. Patchy snow around but was not as cold as Mt Richie as only went down to 4C.

This is very attractive bush. Good clear tracks. Excellent camping spots. 

Meet up with Peter at Moe. The drive took 40m to Mt Erica car park. Dirt tracks but very good condition. There are tables and toilets at Mt Erica car. 

APRS repeated through VK3VHF-1 – Bairnsdale, East Gippsland (37°47.53′ S 147°33.29′ E). Limited but enough to encourage further use in this area.

My dipole failed. THe FT817 would shut down due to high SWR.   

Frontally had a redundant activator (VK3PF) present so able to quality the summit.  Peter had setup and qualified the summit in minutes. I was able to use his setup and qualify the summit. Would have been a frustrating trip alone. Able to work VK3MRG on 2M but no other simplex.

Worked VK3ZPF and VK3MRG on VN-001 40M and 2M, VK1NAM on VK1/AC-039 and VK3MCD/P on VK3/VE-073.

Limited other contacts (VK3TCX,VK3FPSR,VK5LA and VK3AMB) due to antenna issues.

Getting the hang of the Garmin eTrex 30. Its not just the route planning on BaseCamp, but the data it collects is quite interesting.

 You could activate this summit in harsh weather. Recommend activating during the bonus period because this is as good as it gets.

Allen

VK3HRA