The tenth and final summit of my “Goat or Bust” trip in the NSW Central Tablelands was Mt Tarana VK2/CT-008 located midway between Lithgow and Bathurst. There were enough SOTA activation points in this summit to put me past the magic one thousand mark so the yearning to complete this one was high.
Gerard VK2IO activating Mt Tarana VK2/CT-008
Nick VK2AOH had scouted out Mt Tarana a few times as access is via private property on all sides. He’d made contact with some of the owners. When one door closed he found a way to open another one. With some skilful negotiating with one property owner he organised access and a meeting time was arranged. We met the owner who promised that as long as we tippy-toed across the adjacent property there would be no issue. So, we set upon our journey to approach the summit from the northern side. We crossed the first property, and to our great surprise, the landowner of the second property was lying in wait for us. Nick’s negotiating skills would be put to the test once again – and he came right through. There were some anxious moments, but thankfully the expedition was allowed to proceed.
Nick VK2AOH at the base of the northern side of Mt Tarana
Following the fence line, up and up we went climbing into snowy ground. Through the boundary gate a wide clearing was found on the edge of a forest. We followed the clearing and it seemed to be leading us directly toward the summit. After a couple of kilometres the track looped back around and it was then apparent that its purpose was more as a firebreak. Jumping the fence we were in another forest and there was no track. We followed the GPS and it was only a few hundred metres to the summit where the trig point was easily found. It had been snowing on and off during the climb and the ground was carpeted with snow. It certainly looked a picture!
Gate into the wide clearing that leads to Mt Tarana
After a few happy snaps I sent off an advisory spot to SOTAwatch giving 15 minutes notice of our activation. The ZS6BKW antenna was set up using the trig point as a vertical support for the 10m squid pole. A patch of ground that was clear of snow was picked for the radio shack. It was about 5m away from the trig point. The KX3 was set up on a ground sheet there and set for 15 Watts output.
Putting out a call on 40m CW the response was an instant pile-up. It was late on a Monday morning and not quite what I was expecting. I’m not sure whether it was the mountain or the operator who was in high demand. The mountain had only been activated once before by Nick so it was certainly a rarity. We hoped to change that and give everyone an opportunity to get this summit in their logs.
Gerard VK2IO in the “shack” on Mt Tarana
Working through the callers there was Rick VK4RF and VK4HA then Ron VK3AFW. The fourth caller was Steve VK7CW and I was overjoyed making this contact as it made me an official Mountain Goat. I expressed my excitement in CW though it may have been more easily conveyed on SSB. Total radio time to achieve Goathood – less than three minutes!
A further five CW contacts were made and then I switched to SSB where more chasers were waiting. There was no need of a spot straight away as the pile-up would be overwhelming. Nev VK5WG was the first station worked on SSB. A stream of stations followed and the first SSB spot was put up 7 minutes later. Contacts on SSB continued for half an hour with 19 stations logged including ZL2ATH as a summit-to-summit. Obviously conditions were good as you don’t often make a QRP to QRP contact with New Zealand at midday on 40m!
Nick VK2AOH in the “shack” at Mt Tarana
Nick jumped on the radio, or rather, swapped in his own KX3 customised just the way he likes it. He worked 40m CW for half an hour before switching to SSB. Five contacts were made using just 5 Watts so it seems that all the chasers were exhausted. Having seen a spot from Mike VK6MB I was keen to try 20m SSB.
Gerard VK2IO at Mt Tarana trig point
My KX3 was swapped in again and I started calling on 20m. Band conditions were poor and only Paul VK5PAS was worked with my signal marginal to him. After 10 minutes with no callbacks it was time to go QRT. Before shutting down Nick and I took turns leaving the activation zone and working the other on 2m FM. That way we could claim the chaser points for working the hill.
The wind was certainly a lazy one and we were very happy to end the activation and warm up on the walk back. Total time on the summit was an hour and three-quarters. The low cloud that obscured the view on the ascent had cleared so some more distant views were possible, filtered by tall trees. Light snow was still falling at times, very unusual for the middle of the day.
Valley views on the descent from Mt Tarana
It was great to make Mountain Goat on Mt Tarana. It has taken 205 summit activations lasting 2.5 years in 25 SOTA regions over 8 countries. What a journey!
Thank you to Nick VK2AOH for company on this activation, sorting out the route and organising access to Mt Tarana.
Thanks to all the chasers for coming out of the woodwork on a weekday and making the activation a success. This was the coldest of the ten activations over the long weekend and also the most exciting for me!
Log
Date:27/Jun/2016 Summit:VK2/CT-008 (Mount Tarana) Call Used:VK2IO/P Points: 8 Bonus: 3
| Time | Call | Band | Mode | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01:30z | VK4RF | 7MHz | CW | |
| 01:30z | VK4HA | 7MHz | CW | |
| 01:31z | VK3AFW | 7MHz | CW | |
| 01:32z | VK7CW | 7MHz | CW | YAY! Now a Mountain Goat! |
| 01:34z | VK3CAT | 7MHz | CW | |
| 01:36z | VK3PF | 7MHz | CW | |
| 01:38z | ZL1BYZ | 7MHz | CW | |
| 01:39z | VK3BYD/P | 7MHz | CW | |
| 01:41z | VK5IS | 7MHz | CW | |
| 01:48z | VK5WG | 7MHz | SSB | |
| 01:49z | VK3LED | 7MHz | SSB | |
| 01:49z | VK5EE | 7MHz | SSB | |
| 01:50z | VK2NIJ/4 | 7MHz | SSB | |
| 01:51z | VK5FANA | 7MHz | SSB | |
| 01:52z | VK3PF | 7MHz | SSB | |
| 01:54z | VK2WOW | 7MHz | SSB | |
| 01:57z | VK4HNS/P | 7MHz | SSB | |
| 02:02z | VK3GGG | 7MHz | SSB | |
| 02:02z | VK3PMG | 7MHz | SSB | |
| 02:02z | VK3FLCS | 7MHz | SSB | |
| 02:03z | VK3SQ | 7MHz | SSB | |
| 02:03z | VK2YW/M | 7MHz | SSB | |
| 02:06z | VK2TH | 7MHz | SSB | |
| 02:10z | ZL2ATH | 7MHz | SSB | |
| 02:12z | VK2ZVG | 7MHz | SSB | |
| 02:13z | VK4RF | 7MHz | SSB | |
| 02:13z | VK4HA | 7MHz | SSB | |
| 02:14z | VK6JON/7 | 7MHz | SSB | |
| 02:53z | VK5PAS | 14MHz | SSB | |
| 03:05z | VK2AOH/P | 144MHz | FM |
VK2IO 
Congratulations Gerard.
And it was good to give you a hand with 100 of those points when you were here for the 8 days
best of luck with the next run
73 Rod VK2TWR
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Thanks, Rod.
Hope to get back to the Snowy Mountains for some more activations there soon.
Cheers, Gerard – VK2IO
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Hi Gerard
Congratulations on achieving Mountain Goat status. It is a remarkable result and daunting for someone looking on from outside. I am sorry I wasn’t around to give you two call signs as per usual. However, I am sure you won’t rest on your laurels.
And the pictures are great. When I saw the first picture in your Yahoo email I thought to myself your blog is going to be excellent and it is!
Cheers
John D
VK5BJE/VK5PF
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Hi Gerard,
Belated Congratulations on reaching “Mountain Goat”. It certainly is a massive achievement, well done! Sorry I missed you on the weekend, I didn’t manage to find you on the bands although conditions weren’t the best for making contacts anyway. All the best for the next 1000 activator points! 🙂
Cheers and 73,
Amanda
VK3FQSO
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Congratulations Gerard, a huge weekend of SOTA yet a very close call with the second property owner. Great outcome, once again congrats on making SOTA Mountain Goat status.
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Wow is all I can say, Gerard. A magnificent achievement by any standard!
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A great read Gerard. I was mobile to Brisbane and had been listening for you for quite sometime. Then when yo did appear, I couldnt hear you. Fortunately, you stayed long enough for me to be far enough away for me to get you in the log. So, again, well done and you did it under what I would describe as adverse conditions!
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Congratulations Gerard, what a great achievement and a great write up. It was certainly good luck to be able to make the summit to summit with you from ZL. (5 watts at my end). Checking my SOTA log I see it was my third S2S with you. I had no idea you were in the snow this time! Cheers, Wynne ZL2ATH
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Hi Gerard,
CONGRATULATIONS on reaching Mountain Goat. A great effort.
Best wishes,
Paul,
VK5PAS.
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