[amsat-bb] thanks for QSOs on Friday and Saturday

[Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)]

Hi!

After a brief pause in my satellite operating (real life gets in the
way, from time to time), I was able to get on the air for some passes
Friday and today.  Thanks for all the QSOs when I was out at the hamfest
in Mesa AZ this morning, and yesterday while on a quick road trip to
southern Arizona. 

This morning's hamfest almost was washed out.  Just as things were
getting started and I was on an AO-7 pass around 1245 UTC, rain 
began to fall.  It was a light rain, which ended around the LOS time
on that pass.  After that, the crowds - buyers and sellers - started
showing up for the half-day hamfest.  I was able to get on 6 different
passes, two each on 3 different satellites (AO-7, SO-50, VO-52).  Thanks
to all who worked WD9EWK this morning, and especially for giving more 
than just a call and grid - getting a name and QTH helps illustrate the
coverage of our satellites.  I apologize to Joe K3SZH for not answering
your call on the later AO-7 pass; by that time, I was fighting QRN from
a series of noisy generators at the hamfest that were swamping my 2m 
downlink receiver.  Once again, thanks to the Superstition Amateur Radio 
Club for inviting AMSAT to their hamfest.  My next hamfest, including 
on-air satellite demonstrations, will be at the Thunderbird Amateur Radio 
Club's hamfest on Saturday, 7 January 2012, in Phoenix.  

http://www.w7tbc.org/hamfest.html

Yesterday (Friday), I originally planned to make a day-trip to Flagstaff
in northern Arizona.  Due to bad weather throughout much of Arizona in 
the past day or two, I did not want to drive on the snowy and icy I-17
freeway up there.  Rather than stay home or give up the scheduled day 
off, I took a drive to southern Arizona and worked from a couple of 
locations in southern Arizona near the I-19 freeway between Tucson and 
the USA/Mexico border.  Both locations were in grid DM41 in Santa Cruz 
County AZ - an area I have visited many times in the past, but this was 
the first time I've worked satellites from this Arizona county (the last 
of the 15 Arizona counties I've worked from).  I was able to work an 
SO-50 pass followed by two AO-27 passes before driving back home in the 
late afternoon. 

The Friday QSOs have already been uploaded to the Logbook of the World
system.  Today's QSOs from the hamfest should be uploaded this evening
or tomorrow morning, depending on the status of the LOTW web site.  If
anyone would like to receive QSL cards for QSOs with WD9EWK at either
the hamfest and/or my Friday road trip only need to drop me an e-mail
with the QSO details.  If you're in the log, I will be happy to send 
you a card.  

73!





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