The annual post-Christmas trip to the Victorian High Country was kicked off by Andy VK2EAH and Geoff VK2WA, with Dom VK2JNA in hot pursuit. Dom caught up by Jindabyne and we headed down the Barry Way. We paused at Ingeegoodbee to take in the first scenic lookout:

After a quick swim in the fast-flowing (and very brown) Snowy River we had to contend with a river on the Barry Way – recent rains were coursing down the hill, over the road, and continuing into the valley. It was pooling in a tight corner and because of the silt, it wasn’t clear if the water was 1cm deep or had eaten away the road into a large washout. Someone in a Corolla was sizing up the puddle nervously until Dom volunteered to go first, with Geoff following so we could rescue in either direction. The puddle was shallow and the roadbase was still good but it was an interesting spot.

Making it to camp with no further challenges, we met up with friend-of-the-club Evan and settled in. The headwaters of the Buchan River were flowing enthusiastically, and wild brumbies that frequent the grassy areas came down for their evening meal:

The following day we headed off down Limestone Creek Track, and stopped for lunch at a small campsite next to the Murray River. We had just passed another driver with a broken 4WD system who was trying to get out, and after lunch it transpired over CB that they hadn’t succeeded in getting out the way we came in. We were heading on via McCarthy’s Track but they had already tried that route and were now stuck in the middle. Since we hadn’t evaluated the McCarthy’s Track we weren’t confident of recovering the car, and instead we took the driver and their belongings with us. Dom hightailed it out of the bush to take the driver to Omeo where they would meet up with a family member. The rest of the convoy continued touring via Misery Trail until it finished at Limestone Road. Settling back in at camp, we soon had a good fire going.

Next morning, Dom and Geoff went to see Ramshorn, a nearby granite outcrop with 360 degree views. Ramshorn Trail was a little rough but nothing too hairy, just good fun.

Having found a mobile network, Dom’s phone was pinging with voicemails and text messages. The driver he rescued had left their keys in Dom’s car! They were making their way back with a recovery truck and so Dom arranged to meet them at a nearby point (nearby being 22km of slow driving – 1.5 hours in time).

Geoff continued exploring, and found Roger’s Hut.. a nearby Alpine Hut. Although it has a fireplace and two beds it is a very basic structure, certainly would have been rough living for its original inhabitants!

Regrouping back at camp, we worked on the most important thing.. a warm fire!

The annual club trip is a wonderful way to see out the year, if you haven’t been then consider tagging along next year! Any car can make it to the campground but for the fun stuff you’ll want a 4WD (or jump in with someone who has one).

Oh yeah, this is a radio club! Dom and Andy have the well-regarded Terlin HF whips, and Andy set up a linked dipole at the campsite. All of these options kept us in constant contact on the club’s 40m frequency (7085kHz).

Geoff had an experimental setup – a 2.7m steel whip and a prototype loading coil tucked under the front bullbar:

..which subsequently got very muddy:

The switches allow band selection of 80-40-30-20m, as well as fine tuning the resonant point within each band. They also fine-tune the 50-ohm transmitter impedance match. A mobile whip looks like a capacitive load in series with a low resistance (very low radiation resistance plus substantial ground loss). Matching is easiest using a series inductor to compensate most of the capacitive reactance, and a shunt inductor for impedance-matching to the feedline. The aim of this experiment was to get a feel for all of that, and figure out what a more robust (and perhaps remotely tuneable) solution might look like.

The experimental setup worked (by the usual definition of “making contacts”). Geoff exchanged the club’s special VI100MB centenary call with another special call VK90AR, celebrating 90 years of Amateur Radio Magazine. Peter Parker VK3YE was using the call to activate a park and you can watch the exchange here. The average signal report, however, tells the other half of the story – this antenna system isn’t great for efficiency! The proximity of the coil to the metal bullbar is less than optimal. More experiments required…..