With the ACT coming out of lockdown this week it was great to get back out in clean fresh air and head to a nearby summit. Mt Gillamatong is just outside the town of Braidwood on the Kings Highway… The town is within “the bubble” surrounding the ACT in which we are free to roam without the need for permits or going into quarantine on return…..
I left home at 0800, and yes, along the way, I enjoyed the requisite caffeine hit via a drive through Maccas at Queanbeyan. An otherwise uneventful easy drive to the foot of the summit taking about an hour and 15 minutes (including the coffee stop!)
A half-hour climb and I arrive on the summit…As you can see, everything is lush green.. All the paths are completely hidden as I don’t think anyone has hiked up this mountain for quite a few months .. hmmm something to do with the lockdown! It was very hard going, but the obvious direction was UP!
There were four other local ham radio operators out on summits in and around the ACT region today, and we each made the most of the opportunity to claim valuable Summit to Summit or S2S points! When I uploaded my log to the SOTA Database this afternoon I was greeted with the news that I have now surpassed 1000 S2S points! No prize or reward, just one of those little things that make this such an enjoyable side of the hobby! I am also just 4 points shy of 2000 chaser points – something I hope to leap over in the coming week!
All in all, 7 VHF (FM) S2S contacts and a total of 15 HF CW contacts – with the 40m (7MHz) band keeping me busy with 12 CW contacts across NSW, the ACT, Victoria and South Australia, and then 3 contacts on 20m (14 MHz) into New Zealand.
S2S contacts all 146.5 MHz FM
Ian VK1DI on South Black Range VK2/ST-006
Andrew VK1DA on Mt MundoonenVK2/ST-053 (also 40m HF CW)
Wade VK1MIC on Mt Goorooryarroo VK1/AC-036
Andrew VK1AD on Booroomba Rocks VK1/AC-026
Chasers (40m)
Garry VK2GAZ, Peter VK3PF, Wallis VK2WP, Ron VK3AFW, Gerard VK2IO/P, Ian VK2MET,
Allen VK3ARH, Ian VK5CZ, Paul VK3HN, Ian VH5IS and Rob VK2MZ
Chasers (20m)
John ZL1BYZ, Andrei ZL1TM and Roly ZL1BQD
That was followed with finding my way back down the steep hillside in well hidden trails and lots of wildlife!
Some photos of the summit – all the communications infrastructure that is installed makes it easy for SOTA activators to just blend in!!
A great day out. Huge thanks to my fellow activators and many chasers!
Bill
VK1MCW
Bill VK1MCW SOTA Activation Reports 
Congrats on achieving 1000 S2S Bill! Another great thing about that is that you have made a lot of other activators happy too! 73 Geoff ZL3GA
On Sun, 24 Oct 2021, 10:43 pm Bill VK1MCW SOTA Activation Reports, wrote:
> VK1MCW posted: ” With the ACT coming out of lockdown this week it was > great get back out in the clean fresh air and head for a nearby summit. Mt > Gillamatong is just outside the town of Braidwood on the Kings Highway… > The town is within “the bubble” surrounding the ” >
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