Patrick, Thanks for your efforts to activate otherwise not-so-active grids in your part of the world. Many of us who work the satellites regularly appreciate it very much.
73 to all, Tim -------------- Original message from "Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)" <amsat...@wd9ewk.net>: -------------- > > Hi! > > Saturday was another fun day. A long day, starting out early at > the hamfest in Prescott, Arizona, and ending up at home just > after midnight (0700 UTC) after driving approximately 400 miles > (644km), but a good day. > > > Prescott Hamfest in Prescott, Arizona (grid DM34sn): > http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=34+34.413+n+112+29.8 > > 00+w&sll=37.579413,-95.712891&sspn=54.973803,78.574219&ie=UTF8&ll=34.070862,-112 > > .195129&spn=1.829153,2.455444&t=h&z=9 > > I started out at the hamfest. Officially, it did not open until > 0800 local, but I was there when the site was opened for those > setting up in one of the spaces two hours earlier. This let me > get on the air for an AO-51 pass around 1320 UTC. This pass was > more to hand out contacts with the grid for the hamfest (DM34sn) > than a demonstration, but a couple of people stopped by to listen > in while they were setting up their spaces. Thanks for the 16 > contacts with stations from across the USA, Canada, and Mexico. > The later AO-51 pass, just after 1500 UTC, added 5 more contacts > with a slightly larger audience - the hamfest officially opened > at the start of this pass. > > After a couple of hours where the crowds started building, VO-52 > passed by around 1710 UTC. As I've seen at other hamfests, the > VO-52 demonstrations seem to attract the largest crowds. It might > be the later pass time, or that SSB via satellite is more of a > curiosity than FM, but there was a nice crowd. For this pass, Ray > W1OTH - a ham from the Prescott area and AMSAT member - took care > of the antenna while I worked the radio. I forgot to mention in > my e-mail last week where I would camp out on the downlink, but I > started around 145.910 MHz where I made two quick contacts. After > not hearing anyone else after those contacts, I tuned around and > went down a few kHz to work two other stations near the end of the > pass. Four contacts on a VO-52 pass, where I'm not actively tuning > through the passband looking for every possible QSO, is not a bad > thing. The crowd liked it. > > Not long after that VO-52 pass, the skies darkened and it started > to rain. I felt, and then saw, hail falling. This did not last > for long, but the hamfest emptied out not long after this quick > burst of bad weather. Even with the storm, this was a good morning. > Lots of people stopped by, and there appeared to be more people > at the hamfest this year compared to last year. Thanks again to > Ray W1OTH for sticking around the AMSAT table for a little while > and helping with the VO-52 pass. > > After the hamfest, the Saturday road trip started. I was off to > the first of my two stops for the radio after the hamfest.... > > > near Drake, Arizona, east of AZ-89 at the DM34tx/DM35ta grid > boundary: > > http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=35+N+112+23.132+W&sl > > l=34.070862,-112.195129&sspn=1.829153,2.455444&ie=UTF8&ll=34.311681,-112.148437& > > spn=3.64763,4.910889&t=h&z=8 > > I stopped at this spot a couple of times in 2008, as a way to > operate from these two grids and not be parked along the nearby > state highway. This is just inside the Prescott National Forest > north of the city of Prescott, and about 15 miles/25km south of > the I-40 freeway and old US-66. Unlike in 2008, AO-27 and SO-50 > had overlapping passes in the mid-afternoon from this location. > I decided to work AO-27 when it was on, not using the PL tone > needed for SO-50. After AO-27 shut off at the end of its repeater > time, I would work SO-50 for whatever time was left on each pass. > > The first AO-27/SO-50 passes came around 2037 UTC. As usual, > there were many stations out for the pass. In 7 minutes, I logged > 15 QSOs before switching to SO-50. In the last few minutes of the > SO-50 pass, 4 more QSOs went in the log. Not a bad effort, other > than dealing with the overlapping footprints for the two satellites. > > A little later, the two satellites were passing by to the west of > my location. Again, starting with AO-27 while it was on, I worked > 7 stations from central Mexico to western Canada. My time on SO-50 > after AO-27's scheduled shutdown was limited by an impending > thunderstorm and a quick visit by a Forest Service ranger. The > ranger asked if I was looking for a missing dog, and I explained > that I was not tracking animals with my setup. I had a chance to > acknowledge 2 stations I heard on SO-50 after that, before I heard > some thunder near me. That was my cue to pack up and move on to my > last stop of the day. > > > Grand Canyon Village, Arizona - south of the lodges along the South > Rim in Grand Canyon National Park (grid DM36wb): > > http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=36+3.195+N+112+8.611 > > +W&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=55.279921,78.574219&ie=UTF8&ll=34.741612,-111.917 > > 725&spn=3.62886,4.910889&t=h&z=8 > > I drove through a hard rain to get from DM34tx/DM35ta up to the > Grand Canyon, but it stopped raining about 20 miles/32km before I > reached the national park entrance. The DM35/DM36 grid boundary > was right at the entrance, but that was not a good place to set > up. No places to park, and the line was right at the booths for > the park rangers to collect the admission fees. I planned to go > into the park and find the best spot I could, which would be > somewhere firmly in grid DM36. > > Grand Canyon Village is a small town inside the national park, > along the South Rim. Most of the lodges (hotels) on this side of > the park are here. I took some pictures as I drove from the park > entrance to the parking lot I decided to work from (Parking Lot > "E", south of the lodges at the South Rim), and waited for the > first AO-51 pass around 0028 UTC. > > I knew there were some hills that ringed Grand Canyon Village, and > those hills meant I had to wait almost 2 minutes after the predicted > AOS time before I could clearly hear the AO-51 downlink. Once I > heard it, I announced my location. Then the fun began - lots of QSOs > for stations across North America. In the span of 11 minutes, 22 > contacts were logged. No Canadians, but many from all over the > continental US and a couple of XE stations went in the log. I guess > DM36 was a rare grid for many on the satellites. :-) > > Between that pass and the later AO-51 pass to the west, I did some > sightseeing around the village and along the South Rim. A weird > (at first) sight was seeing some deer grazing in the rail yard at > the Grand Canyon train depot. This is still a working depot, for > the Grand Canyon Railway that runs daily between the Grand Canyon > and the city of Williams about 60 miles/100km to the south, a > favorite for tourists who do not want to drive into the park. Lots > of people were taking pictures as the deer ate some grass and > wandered around the railroad tracks. > > I went back to the parking lot after taking lots of photos, and > was ready for the western AO-51 pass that started around 0208 UTC. > I worked 8 stations on this pass - 1 in Alaska (thanks KL7XJ!), > the rest in the continental USA. I made another sightseeing stop > at another point along the South Rim as I left the national park, > to start my almost 4-hour drive back home. > > > For any contacts made with WD9EWK on Saturday - at the hamfest, or > after the hamfest - I will be happy to send out QSL cards. I have > cards ready for QSOs made at the hamfest, and will have cards for > the other two locations in the next day or two. No need to send > me QSLs or SASEs for Saturday - just e-mail me directly with QSO > details. If you are in my log, you'll get a card (or cards) for > the contact(s). I will also send out cards from my trip to Dayton > two weeks ago with these cards, all going out in the same envelopes. > > I was asked on the air if I was using my new Alinco DJ-G7T on any > of the Saturday FM satellite passes. I was not - I was using my > Icom IC-2720H 2m/70cm FM mobile radio. Since I'm still tweaking > that radio, I will leave that to other passes where I am not trying > to demonstrate satellite operation or when I'm parked in unusual > locations. > > Including my drive up to Prescott on Friday (29 May) evening, I > drove just under 500 miles/800km for this trip. The hamfest was > fun, the two stops after the hamfest - putting some rare Arizona > grids on the satellites for a few passes - went well. Thanks to > everyone who worked WD9EWK during the hamfest demonstrations, as > those contacts help show off the capabilities of our current > satellites and how it doesn't take lots of fancy (and expensive) > gear to enjoy this part of our hobby. > > 73! > > > > > Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK > http://www.wd9ewk.net/ > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via amsat...@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! > Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb _______________________________________________ Sent via amsat...@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
