While Emma caught up with friends in Kerikeri I thought I would duck out to do a quick activation of St Paul’s Rock ZL1/NL-090. Sadly becuase it was night time there are no photos so the photos here are ones found on the internet.
Night time activations are tricky because the bands are totally different than day time conditions. As such 3.7 MHz was where all but one of my contacts were made. It took over an hour to make a total of 5 contacts.
You can activate from the top of the rock however there is limited space to deploy an effective antenna. The ground at the bottom of the rock is probably within the activation zone and might be easier for setting up, however I like being on the top where possible.
Details
Summit – ZL1/NL-090 – Ohakiri (St Paul’s Rock)
Height – 213 m ASL (130 m ascent)
Access – End of Old Hospital Road. Follow track up to the rock. The track is steep and slipery in places. Use the chains to summit the rock. Track is well marked.
Nominal time to summit – 30 minutes walk up.
Mobile and internet coverage from the summit – Vodafone is OK at the summit.
Summit Marker – Trig.
Land Access Permission – DoC track – not required.