[amsat-bb] DM31 and DM51 QSL card status

[John Papay]

All of the requests for QSL cards for
contacts with K8YSE/7 in DM31, Organ Pipe
Cactus National Monument, 18-19 November
and DM51, 22 November, Bisbee, Arizona were
put in the mail today.

About 50 different stations were worked from
DM31 and 20 were worked from DM51.  Organ Pipe
was a real experience from both a radio standpoint
as well as hiking through this amazing park.  The
campground was nearly empty; we had no one in view
from our campsite.  Every visible AO51 and SO50
pass was worked and only one pass netted zero
contacts due to the extraordinary amount of east
coast activity.  All qso's were made from the
campground.

DM51 was a night time pass on AO51.  The location
was scouted out in the afternoon when you could
see where the mountains were.  Then we drove back
to the same gps coordinates later that day when it
was pitch dark.  This was the only way to insure that
we would have a low horizon for the pass.

QSL cards for DM31 were printed from a photo taken by
my XYL, W8ZJB.  The DM51 cards are photos with labels
printed for me by my son, KD8CAO.  If you need a card
for either grid, please send an SASE to my qrz.com
address.

If you're looking for a little excitement, try doing a
portable operation from a relatively inactive grid.  There
are plenty out there that are not that far from active
stations.  Take a photo, have them printed at your favorite
discount drug store, cut them down to 3-1/2" x 5-1/2", put a
label on them and confirm a new grid for those that are
paying attention.  And if you live in a rare grid, please
try to get on the birds now and then.  We all need something
new to work to make it interesting.

A special thank you to WD9EWK, N5AFV, N5ZNL, KD8CAO, ND9M,
VO1ONE (N8TLV) and all of the others who have made the effort
to operate from grids away from their home QTH.  They are
the dxpeditioners of our satellite world and do all the
work while we sit comfortably in our ham shacks.

73,
John K8YSE
k8yse at amsat.org