[amsat-bb] DM35/DM45 trip today - report

[Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)]

Hi!

I just returned home in the past hour, after a fun day away from
Phoenix in the mountains and trees of northern Arizona.  It was
a little breezy, some snow was still on the mountaintops and in 
shady spots in the areas around 7000 feet/2134m elevation or 
higher, and a great day to play radio.  

I used the same spot I went to twice in 2008 to park on the 
DM35/DM45 grid boundary (112 degrees North).  In fact, I was able
to put my radio gear in the back of my truck exactly on the spot
I used for those two trips last year, and then take the now-
obligatory photos for VUCC documentation.  I was along old US 66
just north of the I-40 freeway 20 miles/32km west of FLagstaff
AZ:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=35+15.570+n+112+0.00+w&jsv=107&ie=UTF8&ll=34.669359,-112.071533&spn=3.812693,7.734375&t=h&z=7

I worked two AO-27 passes and two AO-51 passes from here this
afternoon/evening.  The ISS gear was turned off for the spacewalk,
and remained off into the evening.  SO-50 was passing by at almost
the same times as the two AO-51 passes, and I decided to work the 
AO-51 V/U repeater instead of SO-50.  I made 11 QSOs on each of 
the AO-27 passes, 10 on the first AO-51 pass to the east, and 6 
on the later western AO-51 pass.  Stations from southern Mexico 
to Alaska and Canada went in the log from there.  Making 38 QSOs
on 4 passes, and avoiding the heat in Phoenix... not a bad day.  

This was my first time on AO-27 since it was brought back from the
dead earlier this month.  Nice to see so many stations on those 7-
minute passes.  Hopefully it stays operational for a long time, to
fill in those afternoons before AO-51 comes by later in the day 
(for those of us in the western USA).  Of course, the first AO-51
pass I had was full of stations.  Not too many, later in the day,
on the western pass.  

Before I went out to the DM35/DM45 line, I took a bunch of pictures
of the Flagstaff area including the Lowell Observatory that is
above downtown Flagstaff.  I'm thinking about taking the pictures I
have from today, and making a small slide show and making it 
available to whoever wants it.  With a digital camera I bought a
year ago, I now have lots of pictures and - with the trips I've
done in the last year - lots of stories I could put to "paper". 

If I missed working you from DM35/DM45 today, I will be back in that
area during the upcoming summertime.  There is a hamfest in Williams,
a small town about 10 miles/16km west of where I stopped today, and
I would probably make a trip back to this spot like I did before the
same hamfest last year.  Plus any open weekend I have could be a good
time to go there, when it is over 110F (44C) here in Phoenix.  

Good night, and 73!



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