Mountain top portable

I went up the mountain for a few days (18th to 22nd April) to do some DXing, the intention was to do some HF, VHF, UHF and SHF, but mainly only did  VHF and UHF, being 2m & 70cm SSB for AE activity. EME was out as the moon in the wrong place/time. Made some contacts with the guys in VK1 and far south VK2, mid-north coast VK2 and VK3.  No luck with VK4 contacts this time. The first morning was difficult with high winds, trying to keep yagis still and the wind howling made listening to weak signals very difficult.

Did manage to do some more work on the mountain top shack, by adding some more desk and shelf space,  to spread out the equipment, plus a place to sit the notebook. Also shuffled a couple antennas around. Did some testing of receivers for 2 & 70 against the Dural 2m and 70cm back in Sydney, the 4 x 8el yagi stack versus a single 8 el yagi didnt seem to make much difference, as expected. At least the Kenwood TR9130 and TR-9500 are receiving well in comparison to the Icom IC-910

We reviewed the mast/tower options, Dave wishes to get a triangular section tower up with a electric  rotator fitted so we can swing  yagis around without using the Armstrong method.(hihi)

Also went to Macquarie River crossing down near the Bridle Track to catch up with Ashley VK2XSO who detoured down from the north via Hill End to pickup some TRS80 gear for his collection, before heading back towards Narrabri for a job the next day up at Mt.Kaputar.

Also caught up with John VK2EJM and Jeremy VK2FLE who came to visit the farm from Orange.  Also had Colin VK2BCC stop in on the way  to Orange the next morning to see what we been up to on the mountain top. Discussed Bob VK2ABP/VK0BP (SK October 2012) in depth and also about Bob and Colin's experiences in Antartica.

The background photo used on this blogger is in fact a pic of Bob VK2ABP/VK0BP up on the mountain top, a place he visited frequently, both in setting up and  operating from.