[amsat-bb] Field Day (whew)

[David Swanson]

 So since I was mentioned, and it sure feels like people are whining about
me, I feel I better speak up. Believe or not, there was a method to my
madness. Yes, I was operating as N5AT and yes I made more than 1 contact on
an FM bird.  Stay with me here..

I originally did not plan to operate field day. Since getting my 488 last
year there's really nothing left for me to chase, I still rove - but
besides that I don't get on the birds much these days. Being the local
'Satellite Guy' though, multiple clubs had asked me to come operate for
them this FD, but only 1 actually wanted something other than their 100
points. The ARES club here in central Arkansas had a plan to bring in a
large number of kids and public officials, and they wanted me to perform a
demonstration of Satellite capabilities rather than just pad their score
for them. This seemed like a noble cause, so I decided to give them a hand.

I made plans to operate 1 FM pass and 1 linear pass, just to show the folks
how they are different, when the crowd was going to be there around 1900z.
AO91 was up first, and I did indeed make 3 contacts on the first AO-91 pass
at 1845z. I was on a tall hill with a great view to the south, and the pass
was ascending. The first station I heard about 10 seconds after AOS that
seemed to have a clue was W5RRR - I called them, got the QSL, got the 100
points, and a decent sized (1, 2, 300 or so people) crowd of hams, 4-H
kids, and Boy Scouts all cheered. Only a few had ever seen a satellite
contact, and everyone was very happy. Immediately afterwards I got a called
by a bunch of other stations, I ignored them - then I heard TI2CDA call me.
Charlie is an all around good guy and a rare DX to hear on the Satellites,
and I believe he's also an FM only op. I also knew he would be approaching
LOS and was probably calling me to get HIS bonus, so I went ahead and
answered him. That group of people that were excited about making a single
contact on the birds? Now they just saw me make a DX contact. They were
ecstatic. After wrapping up with Charlie, YS1MS called me. I took the same
approach with Jose - I knew he was approaching the end of his window, and
he might be hunting for his bonus, and he was FM only. I went ahead and
answered him too. Other US stations kept calling me, but I ignored them
all, they still had plenty of time to make contacts, and I was already
getting peppered with hoots, hollers and questions from the audience.

After the chaos of AO-91, I prepped to get ready for CAS-4B at 1929z. This
time, I pulled out the stops. I tuned up quickly at AOS, and started
calling CQ with all the watts, smack dab in the middle of the passband.
There were stations all around me, but none of them were hearing each
other.. as opposed to them, I could actually hear.  I worked KB6LTY
quickly, followed by WD9EWK, and then just kept following the bird east. 12
minutes later I lost the bird behind some buildings after working a VE2. 14
total stations logged, California to Quebec, in 1 pass. The crowd went
nuts. I spent the next 2 hours showing local hams how to improve their
arrows by using things like good coax, and a couple of the kids mentioned
how sitting around with headphones turning dials was boring, but working
satellites looked like fun. After that I packed up my stuff and headed back
home, and didn't make another contact til after 1800z on Sunday.

If anyone has an issue with me making more than 1 contact on an FM bird,
they can get bent. I'm perfectly aware of the rules, and I didn't have the
N5AT loggers claim 'extra credit' for my 2 extra QSOs. What I did do though
is use the long lost art of situational awareness to further the community
goals and impress on some kids how fun satellites can be. I calculated 85
passes between 1800 on Saturday and 1800 on Sunday. If my (or ANY
operator's) 2 minutes of air time answering some DX caused you to miss out
on your 100 points, then maybe you should try practicing, using better
gear, and just generally not sucking before whining on the bulletin board.

-Dave, KG5CCI