[amsat-bb] Re: WD9EWK @ Indiana/Ohio state line early Saturday (19 May)morning

[Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)]

Zack,

After flying home yesterday, I'm able to sit down and get caught up on
e-mails and other stuff.  The weekend was fun - both at the Hamvention,
and my travel around that part of the country before flying home.  :-)

> In addition to Patrick's email, I thought I would throw in my 2 cents of the
> events on Friday.  It was great getting to meet a few new faces including
> finally getting to meet Patrick, WD9EWK, face-to-face!

It was good to meet many who have been on the air in the past couple of
years, since my last trip to Dayton.  I was a on a plane to Australia during
the start of the 2011 Hamvention.  I had no interruptions from my office
during this trip, which was much better than in 2010 when I missed the
banquet due to an issue that kept me on the phone with the office for
almost 4 hours!

> Thank you to the stations that we worked on Friday - the crowd was very
> attentive during the operations and many showed interest in getting started
> with satellite operations.  I was at the AMSAT demo area all day Friday, and
> it was nice hearing all of the familiar calls and voices still on the air
> after my recent absence due to school.  Keith, W5IU and Roger, WA9ZPL put a
> lot of time and effort into these demos, and I know they appreciate the
> participation.  They deserve a nice round of cyber applause for their
> commitment over the many years.

Keith and Roger were very happy to put others on the mic at the demo
station.  Along with the passes I worked Friday afternoon, I also worked
some passes Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.  I heard and
saw Doug KD8CAO on the mic Saturday morning, and I worked Doug
on a VO-52 pass when I was on the Indiana/Ohio state line Saturday
morning.  If nobody else was around to move the antenna array, Keith
or Roger would happily do that.

I was told of a ham from southern Indiana (Ken KC9TTR) who visited the
Hamvention over the weekend.  Ken took interest in the AMSAT booths,
saw demonstrations, and decided to give this a try.  He bought an Arrow
antenna, took it home, and on Sunday he tried SO-50.  On one pass
at the end of the Hamvention, the crowd (including a couple of people
who know him) heard his call come through. Later in the afternoon, he
worked me while I was parked on the Indiana/Ohio state line after
the Hamvention.  He e-mailed me, saying that I was his first satellite
contact, and asking how he needed to log the contact in LOTW so he
would see the confirmation for both states.  Not long after I replied
to him and uploaded my QSOs from Sunday, he saw the confirmations
in his LOTW account, and two states via satellite toward WAS.

AMSAT does a great job with its presence at the Hamventions, with the
booth located next to the larger ARRL presence and the demonstration
area outside.  The Hamvention does a great job of supporting AMSAT.
They provide a fenced area for the demos, and give a contribution to
AMSAT at each of the last few Hamventions (including this year).

73!





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