[amsat-bb] Re: Satellite contact between Cuba and UK

[Rich/wa4bue]

Great Hector.  You always have a booming signal in VA.

Back in the 80s on OSCAR 07 I worked a lot of Europe, the America's, and one 
African station.  The challenge and excitement just keeps getting better.  I 
Hope you work 5 more Europe tomorrow.

R

W4BUE

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Hector, CO6CBF" <co6cbf at frcuba.co.cu>
To: <amsat-bb at amsat.org>
Cc: "'Peter Atkins'" <peterjohng4dol at aol.co.uk>
Sent: Sunday, October 20, 2013 3:46 PM
Subject: [amsat-bb] Satellite contact between Cuba and UK


> Hello to all
>
>
>
> I am pleased to report that yesterday I had my first contact on satellites
> with UK.
>
>
>
> Peter, G4DOL (IO80so) and I (EL92sd) completed a contact successfully on
> FO-29. It is the result of a long history which began six months ago.
>
> We tried several times but Peter never could hear below a degree toward my
> location. I have the same problem in my home station and I usually go to
> specific spots to try these kinds of contacts. So, I suggested him 
> assemble
> a portable station to operate from a better spot. He did so and his first
> smoke test was on October 15th, we almost completed a contact but Peter
> could not hear my report; I couldn't reach a good spot due to the rain.
> Yesterday, I went to a very tall building, I got access to the building `s
> top and operated from there. Actually, it is a very good spot, it allowed 
> me
> a great horizon visibility toward Europe; I was able to work FO-29 until
> -1.5 degrees.
>
>
>
> We had a very narrow window but there was enough time to exchange reports,
> grids and greetings. Our maximum elevation was 1.1 degrees. I believe it 
> is
> the first contact between UK and Cuba on FO-29! It is a 7286 km contact, a
> new grid and new country for us!
>
>
>
> Please, note that our success was on the 2301z pass, it was very late in 
> the
> night for Peter. He had to load his car with antennas, radio, a battery 
> and
> drive five miles from his home looking for a good spot in the windy and 
> dark
> coast. He was running 50W into a 10 elements yagi and was using 19 
> elements
> yagi for the downlink; He mounted both antennas on a big tripod and had to
> manage with a "heavy weigh". Needless to say that Peter did the difficult
> part and a very good job!
>
>
>
> I was running a FT-817nd, a 50W homebrew power amplifier and ELK antenna.
> Everything was supplied by a 12V 7A Gel battery. I was operating 
> Half-Duplex
> but we ran the frequency calculations based on the great feature 
> implemented
> on SatPC32 V12.8b. So, it was very easy to find each other in the pass 
> band.
> It was my 8th transatlantic contact with Europe on FO-29!
>
>
>
> Right Now, FO-29 has a big footprint. Please, if you are into the 
> footprint
> and want to try a long distance contact, just drop me an email. I will try
> until complete a contact with you. Unfortunately, Cubans cannot operate on
> AO-7B; FO-29 is our only chance for DX contacts.
>
>
>
> Thanks very much to Peter for this exciting contact!
>
>
>
> 73!
>
>
>
> Hector, CO6CBF
>
> El92sd
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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