Easter SOTA Activations VK3/VW-020 & VW-022

Easter saw us in Horsham in western Victoria visiting christens parents, and this gave us the chance to activate some summits and explore the Grampians at the same time, as well as Mt Arapilies, a summit i have activated a number of times previously. First up, easter Monday we headed west to Mt Arapilies. VK3/VW-022.…

Sota Activation – VK3/VC-030 Flinders Peak

Because too much radio is never enough, having finished at midday a decent effort for the Summer VHF/UHF Field day as a home station, and because I’m trying to loose some weight and an afternoon mountain climb seemed like a good idea at the time. Sunday afternoon was warm, and we didn’t have anything else…

IC9100 Firmware Update E3 2015

Icom has Released a new firmware update for the IC9100 radio.  IC-9100 Firmware Rev. E3 is now downloadable form the Icom Japan website. It is a stand alone .exe file that will install the E3 firmware update. IC9100 E3 Firmware link The new firmware corrects one item on the radio The firmware update modifies the IC-9100’s…

Sota Activation – VK3/VT-060 Mt Oberon 2015

Last weekend, we took our annual family short holiday pilgrimage to Tidal River camp ground in Wilsons Promontory. Each year, we head to this lovely spot for a couple of days away to celebrate Nathan’s birthday. This year he was 7..   I always con the family into a quick Sota activation as part of…

Sota Activation – VK3/VC-031 Arthurs Seat 2015

Australia Day offers the opportunity to use a special callsign, Australian hams are allowed to use the prefix AX instead of VK on a handful of days throughout the year. I had to be in and around Melbourne this Australia day weekend with work commitments but had tentatively talked the family into a trip to…

Sota Activation – VK3/VE-204 The Paps

Work took me into country north eastern Victoria. A long day of tasks and driving, a 700km loop! I packed my sota backpack into the car just in case i had time to drop past a summit and undertake an activation. I actually ended up on two summits. I had to visit an air services…

Sota Activations – New Years 2015.

Sota rules allow one summit activation (for the activator points) per calendar year, and the program runs to UTC time. In Australia we are lucky that we are 10(11)hrs in front of the UTC date line, our new years eve change over is 11am normal people time! SO.. I lined up the family for the…