SOTA Mount Kaputar

After activating Mt Coryah VK2/NW-004 decided had just enough time to do nearby Mount Kaputar before driving back to Narrabri in the dark. The road up from Coryah Gap was steep, the last climb to the summit is dirt and would be more suitable for AWD/4WD vehicles.

Base of the wooden stairs to the summit. Note height, 1510 m, this is a 10 pointer.

There is a large wooden deck on the top of the stairs that leads to the trig

A great view. Nameplate on the trig, "Kaputar"

View looking back towards Narrabri

Set up the 40 m dipole in the middle of the wooden deck.

The wind was very strong, raised the squid pole up to about 5 m and decided this was as far as I dared go as it was swaying and wires flaying about in the wind.. Set up the shack at the base of the squid pole on the deck.

Put my feet out over the edge of the deck, bit like fishing on a pier :) Put a call out on 40 m, Peter VK3PF called me and spotted me. Next caller, Peter VK3FPSR vanished as one of the dipole legs pulled out in the wind...quickly fixed it. Worked VK3CAT, VK3EK, VK5WG and VK3MCD mobile, Brian, who was having trouble with the copy. He was near Tony VK3CAT's place so popped in and worked me on Tonys station.

The wind was still very strong, light fading so packed up having got enough contacts to qualify and headed back down to Narrabri. Managed to just make it out of the park before the light went. I am nervous driving at dusk in the country as animals, eg kangaroos come out to feed and can cause damage if hit.