[amsat-bb] EM85 semi-rare?

[Philip Jenkins]

HI

After having a long - but awesome -  lunch with John KG4AKV after the
Raleigh Hamfest on Saturday, the urge to become more active on satellites
has increased :-)

I live towards the eastern edge of EM85, and I am curious how many might
need this grid-square. There is one fairly large city - Knoxville TN - and
another medium sized - Asheville NC - inside EM 85, so I'd be a bit
surprised if it is that rare. (I don't know any other sat ops in western
NC, but east TN may be a different story.)

I have equipment for both FM and analog sats, but taking a Kenwood TS 2000
portable can be a bit of a problem, so I would appreciate advice on
set-ups/radios (or SDR receiver?) for operating analog portable.  (It's
been 24 years since I have been on an analog sat - AO-13 - but that's
perhaps a short article for the AMSAT Journal.)

I don't live far from EM95, so that's a possibility, although I think N4UFO
keeps that one fairly active., Other nearby grids are a possibility too,
but only FM at first till I decide on what I want to do, rig-wise, for
operating SSB/CW portable. (Already have a great antenna, an M^2, for that,
and all the coax.)

Philip N4HF