This activation opportunity came about for me as my daughter was running in the Eastern Metropolitan Regional relay competition at Mt Evelyn all day on 1/12. The draw turned out that she was running early in the morning and late in the afternoon with about 4 hours between races. I calculated that there would be ample time for a 50km drive to Warburton and the the top of Mt Donna Buang, a bite of lunch at Warburton and a quick activation. The weather was fine and sunny and a great day for a walk in the fresh air at the top of a mountain.

I drove right up to the mountain top and then took my daughter for a walk to the bottom of the lower toboggan slopes with my backpack, ostensibly to check them out, but really to ensure I got out of the activation zone and back in un-motorized!

We climbed the observation tower (or rather she insisted we race to the top – she was in running gear!) and I considered operating from the top, but there was a stiff breeze and it would have got rather cold.

View from the top of the observation platform towards Melbourne

Hence I retreated to a convenient log on the edge of the cleared area. I managed to self spot with Rucksack Radio Tool and soon had half a dozen contacts on 146.5MHz FM with a clear line of sight to both Melbourne and the La Trobe Valley.

View from the top of the observation tower- operating position at the log on the top right of this photo

For this activation I used my Wouxun KG-UVD1P HT and a Slim JIM antenna fed with RG316 on a 4.6m ultra light squid pole. The setup worked well and is very light to carry.

Slim JIM antenna on a 4.6m ultra light squid pole fed with RG316 coax

With the activation complete, we hot footed it back to Mt Evelyn in time for the next relay race! A good way to kill a few hours.