Sandymount

With the annual NZART conference being in Mosgeil this year, of course it was yet another perfect opportunity to activate a couple of untouched Otago Summits before we jumped on our plane and headed home. The SOTA presentation at conference was well received and hopefully it may encourage some new SOTAteers in the future.

Monday morning bright and early to rendezvous with Kyle ZL2KGF and head out to the summit. Unfortunately low cloud was hanging around which spoiled the views a little but we managed to take in the scenery underneath the cloud-line.

This summit is true to its name. Beware you will likely get sand in everything – your lunch, backpack, and radio gear. The track is sandy but isnt difficult to walk. Only a short walk up to the top. I summited first while Kyle waited outside the AZ to chase me. Once we exchanged contact details on VHF he ascended to the top and we got set up on HF. While the trig makes a good antenna support there is little to tie the ends of the dipole off to. The antenna for the most part was resting on the scrub.

 

Contacts were a little slow coming but I managed 9 contacts. Kyle also worked a good handful of stations, allowing us to both gain an activator point from this summit. I descended first and once outside of the AZ worked Kyle for the chase and complete.

This is a nice easy summit for anyone in Dunedin with good views of the Otago peninsula and harbour (when the cloud isnt too low).