[amsat-bb] Re: TALKING FAST

[Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)]

Hi Jim!

> I worked KU8L and I don't know if I was his first satellite QSO but
> glad to welcome him. See his post on being new to the birds. . . .
> he indicated we talk FAST . . .  well Sebastian, W4AS covered why
> we do . . . nice comment Sebastian . . . .

KU8L - if you were trying to work that 0050 UTC (1950 EST) pass last
night, I did not hear you on my recording.  I hope to hear you on in the
near future, so I can put your callsign in my log - from wherever I happen
to be operating from.  Welcome to this corner of our hobby!

I, like many, sometimes talk a little faster to complete QSOs.  Especially
when the contact might be for a new location, so others can make a
contact with that station.  Also, if the contact is with a station that I
have worked many times in the past.  If I work someone who has any
difficulty with my call, I will s-l-o-w down a lot when spelling out my call
phonetically.  Sometimes it may sound painfully slow, but it helps with
the ultimate goal of completing that contact.

Listen to passes, try to make some contacts, and run a recorder and
listen to the passes again at a later time.  Then you will get acquainted
with the operating techniques, different stations, and how all of this
happens in the span of 10 to 15 minutes.

> . . . . when an expedition to a Grid Square is in operation PLEASE
> defer to that station who has put in a lot of time, effort and probably
> expense to give folks a new one

Speaking as one who has made several trips this year and put different
grids on the air, this would be the ideal scenario.  This would be similar
to a DXpedition or a big-time contest station on HF that has a frequency
all to themselves.  With single-channel satellites, this is not a realistic
wish.  The best I can hope for is for passes that are orderly.  Those
wanting a QSO with the station in the rare/unusual grid(s) gets the
chance for that, and someone wanting to work another station on the
pass can do that as well.  For a new satellite operator, a contact with
*any* station could be a new one for them.

If I didn't accept this reality about the single-channel satellites, I could
confine my grid expeditions to the non-FM satellites like VO-52 and
FO-29.  Then I could pick a spot in the transponder and stay there,
allowing those who wanted a contact with the grid(s) I happened to
be in could do that.  Anyone else could just tune past me and go to
another point on the transponder.  This also dramatically limits the
potential number of contacts I could make on a pass, since there are
many more operators that have the gear for FM satellites compared
to the non-FM birds.

73!





Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK
http://www.wd9ewk.net/