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{
    "url": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/email/SBKQ2VMIAGZP2DVNFPYGJGZDVAPRYP37/?format=api",
    "mailinglist": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/?format=api",
    "message_id": "[email protected]",
    "message_id_hash": "SBKQ2VMIAGZP2DVNFPYGJGZDVAPRYP37",
    "thread": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/thread/SBKQ2VMIAGZP2DVNFPYGJGZDVAPRYP37/?format=api",
    "sender": {
        "address": "amsat-bb (a) wd9ewk.net",
        "mailman_id": "21664df01bef4757931b7cdb42a9e768",
        "emails": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/sender/21664df01bef4757931b7cdb42a9e768/emails/?format=api"
    },
    "sender_name": "Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)",
    "subject": "[amsat-bb]  WD9EWK from DM54/DM55 - report",
    "date": "2009-08-09T22:32:27Z",
    "parent": null,
    "children": [],
    "votes": {
        "likes": 0,
        "dislikes": 0,
        "status": "neutral"
    },
    "content": "Hi!\n\nYesterday's road trip out to DM54/DM55 had been on my mind since my\nJuly 2008 road trip around northern Arizona.  I have worked from most\nof the Arizona grids, and had thought I would need to make a multi-\nday road trip along the Arizona/New Mexico border to reach these two \ngrids.  After lots of looking at maps, I found a couple of spots near\nthe I-40 freeway in eastern Arizona that could be reached in a day-\ntrip from Phoenix.  I e-mailed a few people, asking if they needed\neither grid (or both) and if they were available to be on the radio\nif I went out there.  Things fell in place, leading to yesterday's \n558.8-mile/899km road trip. \n\nAfter spending some time this morning transferring the QSOs from my\nmini-logbook to my log spreadsheet, I saw that I made a total of 69\nQSOs.  I worked 4 passes from the DM54bx/DM55ba grid boundary (2 \nAO-27 passes, 1 pass each on AO-51 and SO-50), and one shallow AO-51 \npass from a location northeast of the grid boundary in grid DM55ba.\nThe location that was not on the grid boundary was a different sort \nof boundary - the line between Navajo and Apache counties.  There \nwere 56 QSOs made at the grid boundary, and 13 more from the county\nline.  \n\nFor all of these passes, I used my normal FM-satellite setup when \nI do these road trips - Icom IC-2720H 2m/70cm FM mobile transceiver, \nElk Antennas handheld 2m/70cm log periodic, Sony ICD-P620 digital \naudio recorder.  I had another mobile radio as a backup (Yaesu \nFT-8800R) as well as assorted HTs I could have used in case of a \nproblem with the IC-2720H.  \n\nHere's a summary of activities from the two locations...\n\n*****\n\neast of Goodwater, Arizona, along old US-66 east of I-40 exit 303 in\nNavajo County (grids DM54bx and DM55ba)\n35 0.000 N 109 53.745 W\n\n\nIn recent weeks, I had identified this area as the easiest way to \nwork from DM54/DM55 in a day-trip.  This area is approximately 50 \nmiles/80km west of the Arizona/New Mexico border, where there is a\nportion of the old US-66 highway next to the I-40 freeway.  I was \nable to park at an Indian trading post to be on this grid boundary.\nThis part of Arizona is on a plateau, a desert without cactus, but \nthis particular spot is lower than the surrounding area.  Except for\nshallow passes to the east or west (below 10 degrees elevation), it \nworked well.  \n\nOnce I parked and took the photos to establish my location, I waited\nfor the first of two AO-27 passes at 2046 UTC.  This old satellite \nhas been performing well lately, and this was a busy pass covering \nalmost all of North America while the repeater was on.  I was able to\nwork 21 stations during this pass, so I guess there was some interest\nin this location.  :-)  The second AO-27 pass to the west at 2226 UTC\nwas not as crowded, with 8 more QSOs going into the log.  This pass\nwas the only time I worked a Canadian station at DM54/DM55 (VA6BMJ).\n\nLater in the afternoon, I worked two more passes from this spot - an\nAO-51 pass at 0042 UTC, followed by an SO-50 pass at 0137 UTC.  The\nAO-51 pass was a very high pass, with maximum elevation of 75 degrees\nat that location.  Other than a 3-minute span just after the midpoint\nof the pass when I could not hear myself through the satellite, this\nwas another good pass - 17 more QSOs, with stations from all over the\nUS and a couple of Mexicans.  SO-50 at 0137 UTC put 10 more QSOs in \nthe log, with more stations across the US plus a Mexican station. \nThis made a total of 56 QSOs logged at the DM54bx/DM55ba grid \nboundary, not bad for a handful of passes during a single afternoon.  \n\nI had mentioned before the trip that I might try working an earlier\nAO-51 pass from this spot.  Had I stayed here, I would not have had\na chance to see/hear the satellite, due to the local surroundings. \nThat's why I moved up the road a few miles/km for that pass, and I \napologize if that meant some of you were not able to work both of \nthese grids while I was out there.  There will be other trips I can\nmake to this area, now that I know of a quick way to get to DM54 when\nthere is no snow in northern or eastern Arizona.\n\n*****\n\nNavajo/Apache county line in eastern Arizona, along old US-66 3.4 \nmiles/5.5km east of I-40 exit 303 (grid DM55ba)\n35 1.122 N 109 50.694 W\n\n\nBetween the two AO-27 passes, I drove around the area to find a spot\nwhere I could possibly attempt a 7-degree AO-51 pass at 2306 UTC.  \nThis location was northeast of the grid-boundary spot, with a nice \nclear view down to the horizon toward the northeast - where AO-51 \nwould be.  Since the grid-boundary spot was not a location I could \nhave tried a shallow pass, I had a choice.... move to a better spot, \nor take a long break between the last AO-27 pass and the high AO-51 \npass around 0042 UTC.   Not wanting to lose a chance to make QSOs and\ngive out at least one of these two grids, I went down the road for \nthis pass. \n\nThe county line was at a cattle guard on the road.  I found a marker \non one side of the road that appeared to mark the county line, and \nsaw the signs on each side of the cattle guard announcing the county \nnames.  I took a series of pictures of the area including where I \nparked my truck, along with pictures of my GPS receiver's display.  \nOnce I did all of that, I drove away until just before the AO-51 \npass.  \n\nA couple of minutes before the start of the pass, I drove back onto \nthe cattle guard and set up my station.  I was surprised at how soon\ninto the pass I could hear the AO-51 downlink.  The increased power\nmade a difference!  I was able to work several minutes of the pass, \nlogging 13 QSOs.  A better way to spend that time, instead of driving\nto a nearby truck stop for an early dinner (I did that later).  \n\n*****\n\nIt was nice to have the additional power on the AO-51 downlink.  That\nhelped me with the shallow pass at 2306 UTC, where I heard it earlier\nthan on a similar pass last month up in Utah.  AO-27 has been working\nwell, and I had no problems on the SO-50 pass I worked up there.  I \ndid not stay out there for the later passes on AO-51 and SO-50, since\nI would have had to find another location with a better view to the \nwest for a 9-degree AO-51 pass.  The 3.5-hour drive home was also on \nmy mind.  There will be other times I head out there, now that I have\na nice spot where I can park and be off the road at the DM54/DM55 \ngrid boundary.\n\nI am printing QSL cards for yesterday's trip now, and those cards - \nalong with other cards from my road trip last month - will start \ngoing to the post office tomorrow.  If you worked me yesterday and \nwant to receive a QSL card for any QSOs, please e-mail me directly\nwith the information for each QSO.  If you're in my log, I will send\nthe card(s) for those QSO(s). \n\nThanks to AMSAT's AO-51 Operations Group for having another weekend\non AO-51 with a V/U voice repeater mode, as well as for the increased\npower on the 435.300 MHz downlink.  As K8YSE mentioned in a recent \npost to the -BB, stations on the FM satellites from unusual/rare \nlocations draw more activity to these passes.  And, as always, thanks\nto all the stations who made contacts with WD9EWK yesterday.  \n\n73!\n\n\n\n\nPatrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK\nhttp://www.wd9ewk.net/\n\n\n",
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}