[amsat-bb] WD9EWK road trip to Pacificon, starting Thursday...

[Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)]

Hi!

I will be at the Pacificon convention in San Ramon CA, east of San
Francisco, this weekend. I plan on leaving Phoenix early Thursday
(13 October) morning, so I can make it to San Ramon in about 12 to
14 hours. The convention runs from Friday (14 October) through
Sunday (16 October), although I don't know at this point how long
I plan on being at the convention on Sunday. More information
about Pacificon is available at:

http://pacificon.org/

After the convention wraps up, I will drive home. I am planning on
stopping somewhere Sunday evening, and finishing the rest of my
drive home by Monday (17 October) afternoon.

I plan on doing demonstrations of satellite operating during the
convention, supporting Alan WA6DNR and his crew who traditionally
have an AMSAT tablet at Pacificon. I don't have a fixed schedule
for the demonstrations, but would look to work FO-29, FM satellites,
and any ISS passes that may come by while the convention is in
session. For now, my plan is to operate using my own WD9EWK call,
but there is a chance I could use W1AW/6 which will be on the air
from Pacificon.

As for operating on my drives between Phoenix and the Bay Area, I
am not going to work with a fixed schedule for passes and grids I
will plan on operating. Thursday, in particular, is going to be
focused on making the long drive in one day, so I might not make
many stops. I will have my AmsatDroid Free app and a printout of
passes starting on Thursday, and might be able to get on the air if
there is a safe place to pull off the highway or freeway to do so.
I will use either my TH-D72A or TH-D74A to run APRS as I drive,
with WD9EWK-9 as my APRS call sign. This should appear on various
web sites like http://aprs.fi/WD9EWK-9 once I am on the road. I
should have a fair bit of flexibility in how I make the drive home
on Sunday and Monday, which could involve visiting some rarely
heard grids and/or NPOTA sites.

I will upload my logs as WD9EWK to Logbook of the World. If you
would like to receive a QSL card for a contact with WD9EWK during
this trip, please e-mail me directly with the QSO details. There's
no need to first send me a card and/or SASE to get my card. If I am
able to use W1AW/6 at Pacificon, ARRL will take care of the QSLing
and LOTW uploadfor that call sign.

I will use my @WD9EWK Twitter feed to post updates while on the
road and at Pacificon. Pictures, too. If you don't have a Twitter
account, you can still see what I tweet. Point a web browser to
http://twitter.com/WD9EWK to see my tweets.

73!





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