[amsat-bb] Saturday (23 July) on the satellites...

[Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)]

Hi!

Thanks for all the QSOs when I was out at the DM32xx/DM42ax grid
boundary south of Phoenix yesterday afternoon.  Normally the Arizona
heat is a dry heat, but there was enough humidity mixed with the 
104F/40C heat that I didn't stay out there the whole afternoon.  I
worked two AO-27 passes, followed by one pass each on FO-29 and AO-51, 
before heading back to Phoenix.  Before and after that quick road trip,
I did some operating from my "home QTH", a Phoenix city park on the 
DM33xp/DM43ap grid boundary.  I will send out QSL cards from yesterday's 
activity tomorrow morning.  If there isn't an SASE in the envelope, 
there's no need to send a card back to me.  For a few, I have included 
an SASE, as I would like to receive your QSL card in that case.  I 
uploaded yesterday's QSOs to LOTW last night, and have seen a few 
QSLs out of those QSOs already.  

Before I drove out to DM32xx/DM42ax, I tried AO-7 in mode A from
the city park in the morning.  I had played around with this during 
Field Day last month, and I was determined to complete a QSO this 
time.  I had no problems hearing the downlink using an FT-817ND 
with a Buddipole portable dipole in an "L" configuration on its 
tripod and 8-foot mast.  I heard Leo W7JPI calling CQ.  He was 
very easy to hear, and I proceeded to line up on his frequency.
After a couple of minutes, we made a quick QSO.  Thanks, Leo, for 
pulling me out of the noise!  I need to work on either more antenna 
gain than what I have from my FT-817ND and Elk log periodic on the 
2m uplink, or more transmitter power, so I can have a better signal 
on the mode A transponder.  Or just confine my attempts to higher 
passes, as yesterday's pass was only up about 19 degrees from the 
horizon.  

During the AO-51 pass just after 2200 UTC yesterday afternoon out at 
the DM32xx/DM42ax boundary, I worked KO6E for my 10,000th satellite 
QSO as WD9EWK.  Thanks, Merv, for the quick contact - even though I 
wasn't in Utah, Nebraska, or any of the other places you were looking 
for on the satellites.    

With the exception of possibly a dozen or so of the QSOs, all have been 
completed with portable equipment and not from a home/fixed station.  
Except for a pair of QSOs on SO-35 in 2000 and one QSO on UO-14 in 2003, 
all of my satellite QSOs have been made since December 2005, when I 
first worked AO-51.  Lots of hot summer afternoons (like yesterday), 
some cold days, and some nights - all out trying to make QSOs, and 
having fun.  :-)  

73!






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