[amsat-bb] Re: Weekend on the Birds

[Tim - N3TL]

John and all,

Well-said.

It's sad that some continue to intentionally and maliciously jam AO-51 during operations like Richard's, but it appears to be something with a history. I heard (off the board) of cases just like the one I posted about over the weekend that date back almost a decade involving other satellites. It's sad.

You're also very right about how a Special Event can, indeed, draw folks to the satellites. The 13 Colonies and K5E events earlier this year are other examples. I hope more people will consider including the satellites, moving forward, as they plan their special events. If you are reading this and learn of a special event coming up that interests you but does not include the satellites, contact the operators and ask them to think about including the birds. 

Thanks to everyone for taking the time and making the efforts to make this weekend so dynamic on the satellites. It was great fun!

73 to all,

Tim - N3TL




________________________________
From: John Papay <john at papays.com>
To: amsat-bb at amsat.org
Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 10:19:46 PM
Subject: [amsat-bb] Weekend on the Birds

This past weekend on the birds was second to
none that I've experienced in the past two
years..  We had grid dxpeditions on the east and
west coast, two hamfest demonstrations, the Boy
Scout Jamboree stations and an Alaska Statehood
special event station operating.

Patrick, WD9EWK, was at the Old Pueblo Radio Club
Hamfest in Tucson and made a big detour to continue
down I-10 to the Arizona/New Mexico state line where he
operated from in the afternoon.  Doug, KD8CAO, was at
the Holland Michigan Lakeshore Super Swap Hamfest and
put on a demonstration there.

Mark WA8SME operated on one AO-27 pass from the DN00/DN01
grid boundary, two very rare Nevada grids.  John W6ZKH
operated from DM07 but had some trouble with his equipment
on this particular pass.  He said he will go back some day.
Mark also said he might be able to operate from DM07 in the
near future.

Then we had the Boy Scouts Jamboree on the Air with quite a
few different stations operating on all of the FM birds including
K2BSA/5, W0S, K5B etc.

The most prominent grid dxpedition this weekend was by Richard,
N2SPI.  He had originally planned to operate from FN53, FN56,
FN57, FN66 and FN67 but he found a way to also operate from FN55
and FN65 as well.  He worked on the FM birds as well as VO-52.
This operation began Saturday morning and finished up Sunday afternoon,
about 30 hours from the first qso until the last on AO-27 at 1853z.
Richard operated at least one pass in each of seven grids and never
operated on a grid boundary.  This was quite a trip!  Richard
returned back to Massachusetts late Sunday night.

The weekend rounded out with an announcement to look for KL5O, an
Alaska Special Event Station, on the birds.  The AO-7 pass Sunday
evening at 0043Z had at least 14 different stations operating
including WV9E, KE5GFJ, WA4NVM, AA4FL, AA5PK, K6CDW, KE2CKO, K0OU,
K3SZH, AJ9K, KD8CAO, W7LRD, K8YSE and KL5O!  KL5O was down around
937 late in the pass.  So if you think that there is no one on AO-7,
this should put that thought to rest. Many of them were talking about
KL5O.  A special event does draw people to the birds just like it
does on the HF bands.  Of course working Alaska is a special treat
under any situation. I believe KL7XJ was the operator.

Activity is on the rise on the SSB  birds in general.  Many that have
been active on the FM birds are getting equipment set up for the
SSB/CW birds. It's nice to be able to have a qso that involves more
than a callsign and grid exchange.  We hope to have FO-29 back soon
but VO-52 and AO-7 are there for us every day.

A big thanks to all of the grid dxpeditioners who spent a lot of time
and money operating from places away from their homes.  They have given
us many new grids.  I hope this encourages others to try their hand
at operating from other grids.  It's a lot of work but you will have
a lot of fun and satisfaction doing it.

73,
John K8YSE


John Papay
john at papays.com

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