Mt. Hamilton is the home of Lick Observatory, originally built in the 1880's.

Here's a shot of the dome that houses the old 36-inch refractor telescope. My operating location was next to the flag pole just to the right of the dome in this picture.

Since my operating location was near the car, I brought the patio umbrella base to hold the telescoping mast. Due to its weight, this is a more stable platform if there is any wind blowing. The beam on top of the mast is my 4 element Arrow II Back Pack Portable 2m antenna. The antenna below is my Arrow II Satellite Antenna, minus the 2m elements. It is a 7 element Yagi that tunes up nicely on 432 MHz.

Here I am on the air with my Yaesu FT-817ND multi-mode portable QRP transceiver. For this contest, I was operating the radio at a power level of 2.5 watts using the internal NiMH battery pack. I could have used one more hand to juggle the microphone, pen, and clipboard holding the contest logs.

I took advantage of the front and back antenna connectors on the FT-817. The 2m beam was connected to the BNC connector on the front of the radio; the 7 element beam was connected to the antenna connector on the rear of the radio. I configured the radio to remember the appropriate connector for each band.

When I wanted to work 6m, I connected the stock flexible whip (rubber duckie) to the BNC connector on the front of the radio. That antenna can be seen in this picture. I was totally amazed that I was able to work WB6AAG in CM95 with this setup on 6m. He was operating in the mountains about 15 miles east of San Luis Obispo. After working him on 6m with the rubber duckie and 2.5 watts, I was able to work him without any trouble on 2m and 432 with the beams. He must have had one heck of a radio setup down there.

Later in the day there was a 6m opening to the Pacific Northwest. I was receiving CN87 stations at S7-S8 on the FT-817 with this antenna. I wasn't able to break the pile-ups to log a contact however. Perhaps 2.5 watts just isn't enough to do the job. Still, I could get to like this 6m band. Very interesting possibilities.

Toward the end of the day, I decided to take a break from the contest and do a little casual FM simplex work on 146.520. I rotated the beam 90 deg. to a vertically polarized configuration. I worked a couple of stations in Awahnee over near Yosemite National Park with 5 watts.

Here's a close-up shot of the new radio I like to use for FM simplex work. It is a Motorola Saber I. It has been programmed with several 2m simplex frequences. Running this HT at 5 watts, I received a "60 over" signal report from a station in San Francisco.

Here's another shot of my operating location near the flag pole. Hopefully it gives an idea of the fantastic views afforded from Lick Observatory. That's Loma Prieta in the distance just to the left of the antenna mast.

I had a terrific time up there working the VHF QSO Party. I think I could get hooked on this contesting thing. I was amazed at how many hams were on sideband that day.

This is a shot towards Copernicus Peak and the dome housing the 120-inch reflector telescope. Copernicus Peak (on the left) is actually taller than Mount Hamilton, but it is off limits to the public.