I will start this article by rephrasing what a comment a fellow ham from Mt. Dandenong made to us during the contest: "You guys who put in courage by going into the Winter Field Day should really be congratulated, opposed to those pessimistic guys who predicted a failure of this contest and those who'd rather spend the day warm at home." I was really touched by this message so I immediately went to Andrew's (3aej) and David's (3ldr) car to pass this message on.

However, all our nightmares and predictions about the weather came true, it was actually worse. We had rain from arrival through departure with maybe only half a dozen or so five minute breaks with no rain and we were actually inside the clouds the whole time as well. To make worse it was fairly windy and very very cold with the temperature around 5 deg of C.

The Night before the contest we loaded everything into our vehicles. A big thanks goes to Gerard (3ger)! We loaded pretty much everything we needed & even more, just in case so that we don't have to improvise at the Mountain. The Next morning we woke up around 5am and then departed around 7am. We Stopped at the Petrol Station to fill the generator as well as an extra 10 litre canister. We made contact with Andrew after getting the petrol and he advised us he had already arrived in Warburton so he took another 30mins nap until we arrived :)

When approaching the mountain one couldn't see the whole mountain as it was hidden in the clouds. I was hoping that we might be lucky later during the day, or even better, from my past experience it can be sunny at the summit (above the clouds) and rainy in the valley. No this time though, this didn't happen, the clouds were much higher and there was rain and wind as well.

At the summit we met two Park Rangers Ian and Joanne with whom I had an email correspondence. We've exchanged a couple of courtesy words, thanking them for the use of the site.

Due to harsh weather conditions it took us double the time to setup everything compared to the time we spent the weekend before setting up in front of the club. The Decision was made to not erect FM antennas due to freezing cold fingers, running noses, wind, rain and even my CFA waterproof boots somehow leaked... We finally completed setup of all equipment and antennas around noon and then started calling CQ Contest. The First hour was finished with 12 contacts on all three bands. Then BANG! Leigh VK2KRR was telling me that we've got a very strong signal in Wagga Wagga NSW and it is a shame not too many people took part in this Contest.

6m progress was fairly slow going, only a handful of contacts over the first few hours while 2m was the busiest band and 70cm not too far behind.

A couple of hours later it was very relieving when Andrew fired up his portable BBQ. Warm pumpkin soup and hot sausages gave us plenty of energy to continue. Five and half hours later we realised there was no purpose in calling CQ anymore as nobody was on the air anymore. My radio started playing up with high SWR, I suspect the coax or antenna connector became wet due to constant rain. We then packed everything within just 1 hour and departed the site. On the way home the wildlife on the Mountain was very lively, Andrew saw a big deer who was running along his car :)

All in all, not too much activity in this contest.

Here are some contest statistics:
Location: Mt. Donna Buang Summit, QF22UG, 1250m a.s.l.
Total number of contacts: 72
Operation time : 5hr 20min

6m
The longest distance: 72km (VK3AVJ)
Number of contacts : 7
2m
The longest distance: 301km (VK2KRR)
Number of contacts : 41
70cm
The longest distance: 169km (VK3VHF)
Number of contacts : 24

Operating Equipment used:
6m - IC706MKIIG, J-Pole Vertical Ant
2m - FT100d, Amp Dick Smith K-6313, 12el Yagi, Rotator
70cm - IC706MKIIG, 23el Yagi, Rotator
Kipor 3000 Generator, BBQ by Andrew :)