FN33kd Mount Equinox

Top of mountain North 43 9 57 West 73 7 4 altitude 3620 feet

Notch N 43 9 33 W 73 7 30 Altitude 3300 feet

This is a great site. It is privately owned by the Carthusion Monks with Toll road access to the top. I think it is $12 for the car and driver plus an additional $2 per passenger. Also, there are occasionally special events and the road is closed to the public. It is best to check first. Their web site is:

www.equinoxmountain.com

Telephone number: (802) 362-1114

The road to the top is paved the entire way and in reasonable codition for a mountain road. It is quite steep and you must use low gear decending The overhead clearance is adequate up to 11 feet or so, but you do have to watch for low trees and steer away from them It helps to have two people to watch for trees and traffic.

The top has two problems 1. generally in June and September WB1GQR is on the top with high power and the interference to each other is generally high enough to make it unacceptable 2.The trees have grown so high (details below) that unless you have high antennas you can not clear them. Therefore, we generally operate from the notch. It is not quite as high, but is a lot more open except to the north.

At the top there is an old hotel (now closed except for bathroom access) to the east. If you park on the south side of the parking lot, you have a relatively open (except the trees are getting high) view to the south and almost east. If you park at the north side of the parking lot you have a relatively open view to the North west, north, and north east. These views are shown below:

View to the North from the top: (from 75 to nearly 90 degrees there is a deck that is about 8 foot above ground so you need high antennas. As you can see, the trees have grown to be quite a problem.

View to the South from the top: (Mount Greylock is in the far distance) The closer you can get the masts to the stone wall, the wider a feild of view you have. We can only get to within about 8 feet of the wall and have the view shown.
We have found that operation from the notch, although a lower altitude, works better for us. The visibility is better in most directions aand the mountain blocks the path to the north (the top) and interference between stations is much less. Mount Greylock is just above the top of "little equinox" in the far distance. The following are the views from the notch:
The view to the northwest is through local trees. My camera was on a tripod about 5 feet off the ground at 10 feet up, you can see a lot of the horizon through the trees.