[amsat-bb] Re: SO-67 on Flea Power!!!!

[Tim Goodrich]

Maybe this should be a lesson for all those monster stations that like to
stomp all over everyone- satellite and HF included......

Tim
KI6VBY (exclusively QRP)



-----Original Message-----
From: Tim - N3TL [mailto:n3tl at bellsouth.net] 
Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2009 8:22 AM
To: amsat-bb at amsat.org
Subject: [amsat-bb] SO-67 on Flea Power!!!!

My profound thanks to John. K8YSE, for posting the recordings he's made of
SO-67 passes over North America. His most recent recording, which he began
at 15:00:38 UTC, provides proof that - even amid the chaos of a pass like
that one - very low power levels can work our amateur satellites. Anyone who
listens to the recording will hear the weak-signal call of N3TL at 8:51 into
the recording. I'm faint, but I'm in there ... on 50mW (.05 watt) from my
Yaesu VX-7R HT and Elk dual-band log periodic antenna. 

KI0G surprised the heck out of me when I heard him call me several seconds
later. When he did, I thought, "He must be calling me blind. There's no way
I made it through on 50 milliwatts." No matter - I spent the rest of the
pass transmitting QSLs for our contact, but K8YSE's recording shows that I
didn't make it back into the satellite before he (K8YSE) left the footprint.
If someone farther south has a recording that includes me QSLing Bob, KI0G,
by all means please email me a copy.

My signal made it into SO-67 beginning at 15:09:29 UTC and ending at
15:09:30 UTC. According to Orbitron, SO-67 was pretty much right at the
intersection of 30 degrees north x 90 degrees west, or right on top of the
4-grid boundary of EM40, EM50, EL49, EL59. She was at a range of 882.050
kilometers (548.0805 miles) to my handheld station in EM84 at 15:09:30
UTC. Based on those distances, my power level translates to 17,641
kilometers (10,961.61 miles) per watt. Given how busy SO-67 has been over
North America the past two weekends, I'll take that!

During that pass, I tried to time my transmissions based on Mr. Cresswell's
posts to the BB on 14 November about the two passes he worked and observed
that day over New Zealand. Specifically, I listened for people to
immediately return calls, then have their signal drop out when the
satellite's tail dropped out. When that happened, I transmitted - and on at
least one occasion that K8YSE captured in his recording, flea power found
its way to our newest amateur satellite.

Thank you, everyone at AMSAT-SA, for building, launching and orbiting SO-67.
She is a wonderful addition to the fleet, and one I'm proud to have worked
on .05-watt.

73 to all,

Tim - N3TL