I will be in VK4 last week of August and first 2 weeks in September. We will go from Brisbane to Cairns in a Camper and stay for 5 day in Port Douglas in a hotel at the end of our trip. I´m am wondering whether it makes sense to take along amateur radio equipment. I have an Elecraft QRP TRX (3..5 W) for 80/40/30/20m CW. Antenna is a wire of about 16m length. Travelling around in Europe, I usually take along this rig. It´s tiny and fits between two towles in the suitcase. Range is about 1000...2000km, so I can work almost all over Europe. Last year I was in SV9 for a week and even managed to work 3 stations in the US.
Alternatively I could take along my FT-897 with ATAS-120 mobile antenna. This rig works fine from a car and often DX is possible. Drawback would be that effort is much higher to take it along, as I need PS, Tuner, Mike, etc. I would need an extra suitcase and weight would be some 8 Kg.
Taking propagation into account (sunspots and season), what would you recommend ? I plan holiday style operation, so not more than an hour per day (although a whistle-stop to Mellish reef would be attractive).