Field Day and SOTA on Mt Lambie 21/3/2015

Mt Lambie QF46xm86 VK2/CT-007 1290m 8pts

Camping at Mt Lambie trig point

The John Moyle Memorial Field Day contest presents a golden opportunity to operate portable and this year I returned to Mt Lambie for a simultaneous SOTA activation. Last year’s attempt had been scuppered by lightning storms. Driving the 2 hours west from Sydney to the summit with it raining all the way didn’t bode well, but there was no plan B.

Upon arrival, it was windy but there was only a light drizzle, and it stopped shortly afterwards. Thinking this might be the only dry window, I quickly installed my tent next to the trig point and then set up my HF antenna using the trig point marker to support the squid pole. The antenna is a ZS6BKW and was oriented NW-SE but there was nothing convenient to attach the antenna ends to so I just plonked the wire winders on the ground with a rock on top. There were certainly plenty of rocks on the top and underneath the ground and these had made it hard to drive in the tent pegs earlier. With the strong wind there was some concern that the tent would blow away so all the paraphernalia for the activation was placed in the tent early on.

Setup

The strong wind inspired use of my DX-wire travel mast that had not thus far been used since obtained last year from SOTAbeams at the UK National Hamfest. You could say I was saving it for a rainy day! The mast extends to 10m and collapses down to only 67cm so will fit inside luggage. It seemed as though it would be sturdier than my regular mast plus it does not have sections broken off at the top so the antenna can be raised higher.

Having set off late and driven slowly in the rain, stopped on the way for a SOTA contact with VK7PAK and spent extra time securing the station on the summit, my kick-off time was much later than alerted on SOTAwatch. It was nearer 5pm than 3pm so the contest was well underway (it starts at 12pm). There are 6 hour and 24 hour sections and my plan was to do a 6 hour stint. The contest is also divided into 3 hour slots. You can rework each station on the same band and mode in each of the 3 hour slots. With 1 hour to the end of a slot, I was keen to get on and make some contacts. There was no time to set up my 2m beam and the strong wind would make it difficult anyway.

VOX

Dry shack on the summit – luxury!

One of the last things I tossed into the kit bag was a headset with microphone. It had never been tried with my rig before, an Elecraft KX3. Gingerly plugging it in I found the headphone worked fine. Then the microphone and it also seemed to work. It was on a stalk so had to be positioned carefully. I adjusted the VOX gain and found a spot where breathing wouldn’t trigger the VOX, then adjusted the VOX hold time. There was no need for anti-VOX so that was set to zero. It worked very well, but at the start was a little unnerving. I’m used to pressing a button to transmit and didn’t know what to do with my spare hand. This soon passed once I started to use the computer to do the logging. Two hands was a definite bonus and I used VOX for the rest of the contest. Its the little things that make a big difference sometimes.

Contesting

I started on 40m SSB and did a half hour of hunt and peck style – there were plenty of contest stations active and I wanted them in the log. There was still half an hour before the end of the block so I switched to CW and started calling on 7032. Fairly shortly afterwards my call was picked up by the RBNgate run by Andrew VK3JBL. This attracted a stream of regular SOTA chasers and then some contesters followed. It was 0700z and the start of a new 3 hour block so back to SSB.

0700z block

Another session of hunt and peck on 40m SSB and after half an hour onto 20m SSB. There did not seem to be much activity on 20 with only 3 logged. Back to 40m SSB again. Then a spot came up for Andrew VK1DA on 20m CW at Mt Ginini. He was a good signal despite being in the skip zone. We had earlier missed a contact opportunity on 40m SSB being unable to find a clear frequency. Afterwards returned to 40m SSB and continued to hunt and peck. I found that some stations were having difficulty copying but I was only using 10W.

1000z block

Trig point label

After another hour I went to 40m CW and spotted myself, but only one contact came from it. I kept calling through the start of the 1000z block but there were no more responses. My CQ call was eventually picked up by VK3JBL’s RBNgate so I was spotted again. Looked like all the CW ops had gone to other bands or were asleep.

I returned to 40m SSB briefly and then started calling on 6m SSB then spotting myself. I worked just one contest station nearby on 6m and there were no SOTA chasers after the spot went out despite lots of calling. I was hoping to catch Andrew VK1DA, but he was having a ball working DX on the higher bands.

After about 5 hours the battery in my logging laptop was getting low. The computer’s 12V power adapter was found in the car and hooked up to a 7.2Ah SLA battery using a set of clip leads onto the cigarette lighter plug. This worked very well and supplied plenty of juice to recharge the internal battery.

Weak sigs

It was down to 80m to look for fresh activity, but there were mainly rag chewers. Called CQ on CW there and also on SSB but got no response so went back to 40m SSB. The rate at which contacts were being made was slow. Sometimes I would respond to a call and not be heard, for example when calling a VK6. other times I would have to repeat my report several times. I started to suspect there was a problem.

Looking out at the squid pole it was still sitting up there proud and strong. The visibility was poor amongst the low cloud so I could only see the bottom half of it from the tent. Unplugged the antenna from the rig and put on the antenna analyser. It was giving a VSWR dip not at 7.1 MHz but at 6.55 MHz. There had to be a problem.

Repair

Failed join in the DX-wire

Emerging from the tent with a headtorch I was surprised to find the antenna lying on the ground. I don’t know how long it had been there – probably a couple of hours. Tracing along the radiator I found that near one end there was a break in the wire. The end section anchored to the ground couldn’t be found in the dark. Another string was obtained and tied on to the wire and a new anchor point used. In the morning it was found the wire had broken at a join 40cm from the end. With one side of the antenna loose and the squid pole waving around like mad in the wind, there was enough movement to allow the centre part of the antenna to fly off the pole even though it would have started 2m down the pole or more. The wind had just been too much!

It had taken 40 mins to fix the antenna and there was less than 10 mins left of the 6 hours of contesting. I called CQ and had time to work one more station before QRT. Things were getting quiet as it was nearing 11pm.

SOTAing

With the contest over for me I could focus on SOTA contacts. I spotted on 20m CW and had one call. Then spotted on 80m CW and had no callers. Then 20m SSB but there were no callers there either. In between times I was hunting for any SOTA stations that were spotted, but there was no propagation to EU and after a couple of hours I gave up.

In the morning the weather was pretty similar – windy and cloudy. I’d stayed up pretty late so slept through the EU short path window. At 8am I put up a spot for 80m SSB while there would still be some propagation. I was happy to log 3 chasers, my first SOTA contacts on this band.

Closedown

Camping near the towers shrouded by cloud

The weather wasn’t great, but I had planned to do some more summits in the area so it was time to close down. This was carefully orchestrated so I could leave the station available for as long as possible. I knew Julie VK3FOWL was going to do an activation and didn’t want to miss out on S2S points. When the spot did come up I had already put everything in the car except for the antenna. The radio was retrieved and quickly set up for that last contact from the summit on 40m SSB. Thanks, Julie.

Equipment

Elecraft KX3 @ 10W powered by 4200 mAh LiFePO4 battery, ZS6BKW antenna at 8m on 10m travel mast. Laptop for logging using VKCL v3.11.

Results

All up there were 70 contacts (11 CW) all qualifying for SOTA. 3 S2S and 2 National Parks were worked.

For the JMMFD there were 62 contacts for a score of 147 pts. 57 x 40m, 4 x 20m, 1 x 6m so I am entered into the all-band, all-mode category with all contacts QRP. My score slightly improved on last year but no surprise there as I had operated from my car most of the time. i expect my score this time would have been a lot better if my antenna had actually been off the ground!

The computer used for logging was new to me for a SOTA activation. Also having a shelter on a hill was new and it was a lot more comfortable than being out in the open. Essential for night time activations. Use of VOX was also new for me in a contest and very useful. I will consider using it on regular SOTA activations.

Thanks to all the chasers and contesters for all the contacts. – it was a great outing!

SOTA Log (contest log is a subset)

Date:21/Mar/2015 Summit:VK2/CT-007 (Mount Lambie) Call Used:VK2IO/P Points: 8 Bonus: 0

Time	Call	Band	Mode	Notes
05:59z	VK2SF/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7100 Andrew in Nattai NP VKFF-383
06:03z	VK2PR	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7125
06:04z	VK2GZ/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7135
06:05z	VK2BV/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7138
06:09z	VK2PWR	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7150
06:10z	VK5WIA/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7141
06:12z	VK3YSP/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7160 Joe
06:13z	VK3ATL/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7170 Jenny
06:19z	VK3FMHY	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7155
06:24z	VK5PAS/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7147 Paul in Coorong NP VKFF-115
06:27z	VK2TG/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7080
06:28z	VK5SR/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7075
06:29z	VK3CNE/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7087
06:31z	VK3ER/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7090
06:39z	VK2GAZ	7MHz	CW	R599 S599 7032 Garry
06:41z	VK3PF	7MHz	CW	R599 S599 7032 Peter
06:44z	VK3HRA	7MHz	CW	R597 S599 7032 Allen
06:47z	VK2AOH	7MHz	CW	R599 S599 7032 Nick
06:50z	VK1WJ/2	7MHz	CW	R579 S599 7032
06:51z	VK2BJT/P	7MHz	CW	R599 S599 7032
06:54z	VK5LJ	7MHz	CW	R599 S599 7032
06:57z	VK3CAT/P	7MHz	CW	R599 S599 7032 Tony
07:09z	VK5SR/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7075
07:12z	VK2TG/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7080 Dave
07:13z	VK2LE/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7086
07:15z	VK3CMZ/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7090
07:20z	VK2IUW	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7103
07:21z	VK2PR	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7110
07:22z	VK4QD/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7115.5
07:24z	VK2SF/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7120
07:26z	VK2PWR	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7150
07:29z	VK5WIA/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7142 Nigel
07:29z	VK5NIG/P	7MHz	SSB	R57 S57 7142 Nigel
07:31z	VK3IL/P	7MHz	SSB	R55 S57 7180 David VK3/VE-030
07:35z	VK3ATL/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7170 Jenny
07:36z	VK2QN	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7155
07:39z	VK4LAT/P	14MHz	SSB	R59 S59 14164
07:49z	VK6WI/P	14MHz	SSB	R59 S59 14170
07:51z	VK5RX/P	14MHz	SSB	R59 S59 14179
07:54z	VK3ER/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7060
07:59z	VK1AI/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7072 Greg
08:23z	VK1DA/P	14MHz	CW	R549 S599 14062 Andrew VK1/AC-008
08:37z	VK3FOWL/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7090 Julie
08:38z	VK3PF	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7085 Peter
08:40z	VK5PAS/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7110 Paul
08:44z	VK3PCW/P	7MHz	SSB	R51 S59 7100
08:45z	VK2FHRK	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7105
08:51z	VK3CNE/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7120
08:55z	VK2HZ	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7127
08:58z	VK2AFY	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7134 Doug
09:06z	VK5RN/P	7MHz	SSB	R58 S59 7155
09:17z	VK1MT/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7095 Al
09:19z	VK3SIM	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7090
09:29z	VK2WG/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7080
09:47z	VK2ONZ	7MHz	CW	R539 S599 7030
10:12z	VK4IZ/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7090
10:18z	VK2TG/P	50MHz	SSB	R59 S59 50150 QF46PO
10:38z	VK3ANR/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7070
10:46z	VK3FOWL/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7095 Julie
10:48z	VK5FO/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7100 Bob
10:50z	VK2BBQ/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7105 Ken
10:57z	VK5WIA/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7143
11:01z	VK5KDK/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7135
11:11z	VK4QD/P	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7108
11:57z	VK3UX	7MHz	SSB	R59 S59 7090
12:07z	K4MF	14MHz	CW	R559 S559 14062
21:07z	VK1DI	3.5MHz	SSB	R58 S59 3645 Ian
21:11z	VK3YSP/P	3.5MHz	SSB	R57 S59 3645 Joe
21:13z	VK3FOWL/P	3.5MHz	SSB	R59 S59 3645 Julie
22:25z	VK3FOWL/P	7MHz	SSB	R55 S59 7155 Julie VK3/VC-002

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