[VHFcontesting] Mt. Washington NH & Acadia National Park- Cadillac Mount

[Leandra MacLennan]

I rove in southern New England for the VHF contests.

For September, if the weather is good, I will drive out to FN51 (four hour drive round-trip, this is four hours of not operating during the contest!) and give it out for the two hour period while I am set up. I bring a phone list of contestants to call when I am out there, because it's very difficult for me to find other random contestants on the air because they are all pointing their antennas west, and not east at the ocean.

If there is anyone who would like to get on my phone list to call when I am roving in FN51, send me an e-mail: My callsign at arrl.net

All the big mountains in NH and MA are in state parks. Some of the parks close at 4:00 P.M. and remainder close at sunset. So, no operating from the summits after dark. I need to plan my rover route to these summits to be during the daylight hours and work from the low rise locations on public roads during the evenings.

The summit of Mt. Washington has a great (RF) view when there is good weather. Unfortunately the majority of the time it is foggy or rainy or has high winds. You need to filter out the high levels of RF from all of the transmitters. The parking lot on the summit only has a view to the south and to the east. And there is $39 fee to drive up the privately-owned 7.5 mile road to the summit. It's at least a 4 hour commitment to drive up and work from the summit then drive down. So, it's rare for a rover to work from the summit of Mt. Washington during the VHF contest. There are a hardy few who work from Mt. Washington for the 10GHz contest, though.

From https://mt-washington.com/hikinginfo 

"Weather conditions change incredibly fast on this mountain and it’s not unusual to find that the temperature is 30 degrees cooler on the summit than at the base. Calm air at the trailhead could increase (and frequently does) to hurricane force on the summit. Hurricane force winds occur, on average, every 4th day on Mt. Washington. One hundred mile an hour winds occur in every month of the year. This little mountain has recorded the highest windspeed ever observed at any land based, manned weather observatory, with a record of 231 miles per hour.

Clear skies in the valley frequently yield to a summit enshrouded in fog with visibility reduced to mere feet -- the summit is in the clouds ⅔ of the time. June, July and August have average daily temperatures in the 40’s. Therefore, it’s absolutely possible that on any day in August you might find yourself on the summit with a temperature below freezing, 75 mph winds, 20 foot visibility and snow, sleet and freezing rain"

   -Leandra, AF1R

-----Original Message-----
From: VHFcontesting <vhfcontesting-bounces+leandra=leandramac.com at contesting.com> On Behalf Of Mike VE9AA ve9aa at nbnet.nb.ca
Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2022 2:30 PM
To: vhfcontesting at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] Mt. Washington NH & Acadia National Park- Cadillac Mount


Hey Chris

Long time no hear. What I can offer is pretty old and anecdotal.
IMO, FN54 is not rare on 2m...there has always been 1-2 active ops there. Above 2m; not sure.
To me, FN51 is quite rare. Took me a long long time to work it. Can't recall if I finally got it on 6 and 2 both, but one band. Was a guy in a contest sitting in his car I think. K1ZM has a house out there (I think) Jeff may know more about that area.

I have operated from Cadillac Mtn but it was in 1992 and only for an hour or so.  I used 25w SSB (2m) and a funny looking horizontal collinear antenna much like a Hz dipole on a fiberglass stick on a Plymouth K-Car trunk.  IIRC I was able to work as far south as PA with that rinky dink setup.(I may have switched to CW for the PA QSO)

I've been up Mt. Washington a few times and listened on the FM radio and I think kerchunked a few dozen FM repeaters with a 1w HT but no real operating. I bet it's fantastic on VHF SSB/CW.

I also bet both mountains have restrictions about operating at night !

The New England boys will be along soon and give you much more fresh and accurate into.

73 de Mike VE9AA FN66 next door in NB
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