Mount Threeve is located to the south of Hastings and is a secondary transmitter site for broadcast radio. It once also broadcasted TV 4 and Hawkes Bay TV, however these transmitters were switched off during the move to digital. There are still FM broadcast and land mobile users on site.
While teaching in Hastings, I had an early finish and a free afternoon to go find a friendly summit to activate. The road to Threeve should not be tackled in the wet, as parts of it are steep. Fortunately the weather was dry today.
Once onsite I got set up swinging the dipole out between the tower and a pole. I was not effected to much by power supply noise to my delight, but I was by atrocious band conditions. Once on 40 meters a few contacts were made into ZL and VK, including a summit to summit into VK5. I jumped on to 20 meters to round up a few more contacts but they were sparse. By this time the sun had set and skip distance was increasing quickly. Back to 40 meters for a few more but despite hearing a regular chaser in Masterton the conditions were not favourable for him to hear me. Bugger! I thought maybe give 80 meters a go even though I was not equipt with an 80 meter antenna. I didnt get Neil in the log but I did manage a couple more contacts using the 40 meter dipole and working the ATU hard.
The view from the top is great – watching the streetlights turn on in town would have been impressive, however I had my focus on the radio. The weather was cool with a southerly breeze. Fortunately I set up on the lee side of the hill and was sheltered. Many other summits can be seen from this vantage point, all on my list. By the time I left it was dark and I discovered my torch had gone flat. Packing up with the light of the cellphone is not the best. Thanks to all the chasers for coming up and making contact. Thanks also to Emma who wasnt there with me this time but still can make crappy pictures taken on a cell phone look bearable for the blog
Summit Information
ZL1/HB-130 Mount Threeve
Summit height -400 mASL
Access via – “Threeve” Te Mahanga Road, via farm tracks. There are a few options to make so its worth having a GPS with you or taking someone who knows which way to the top.
Nominal time to summit – 15 minutes drive from roadside
Summit marker – Radio broadcast tower
Land access permission – Required from either the land owner (first house at the entrance way) or one of the transmission technicians who has access via agreement to the summit.