October 2015 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

Re: [amsat-bb] Antenna Setup
by Rupert Hamblin 16 Oct '15

16 Oct '15

Hi Guys, Really appreciate all your comments / feedback here, just one additional question from me, In real world / every day use - what difference does using X-Pol (Cross Polarized) antennas versus a straight beam mounted vertically ? - How much of a difference does it make to the received signals ? Thanks again for your thoughts.. Cheers RH G0TKZ On 14/10/2015 03:47, Lou Michaels wrote: > Hey Rupert > > Here's the list I am working with on my ground tests, which have been > going well: > > |Yaesu G5500 Az.El Rotor > Fox Delta SatTracker 2 RS232 Interface > Arrow II dual band yagi > Arrow II Mast Mount > Comet CF416 Duplexer > 3 Foot Tripod (Radio Shaft) > 2 x 5 foot mast (Radio Shaft) > Andrew Heliax FSJ2-50 > Yaesu 8800 for FM birds (complete station will use Icom 9100) > 2 x 60ft Rotor Control Cable (DX Engineering) > | > > The above is basically the portable setup. I could take it anywhere to > work an FM bird. I thought of trying some EME with JT65. Buddy of mine > has the rig, amp, and Cushcraft yagi that would get the job done. > > I'm waiting for the two antennas to be delivered. My ground tests > should be done by the time they arrive, so I'll do one or two more > ground tests with them, then put everything on the roof. > > The antennas I'm going with are available in a package, but are under > production (m2 doesn't keep stock apparently) - M2 LEO Pack: > > |M2 2MCP8A 4x4 Circularly Polarized 2m Yagi > M2 436CP16 8x8 Circularly Polarized 70cm Yagi > | > > And in the future I'll be adding preamps, but sitting on them for now. > For some weak birds, preamps would be very helpful. > > As far as software used in the sat shack: > > |SATPC32 - Tracks birds and controls VFO > Orbitron - Alternative Sat tracking - much better interface > UISS - Used for ISS APRS > SoundModem - Software TNC for APRS > VSPE - needed for COM port sharing / routing (a real bitch) > ICOM Keyer - app to key radio for APRS > Ham Radio Deluxe - Digital Modes & Basic Sat Tracking > | > > And as far as online resources: > > |Online tracking > > www.heavens-above.com <http://www.heavens-above.com> > www.N2Yo.com <http://www.N2Yo.com> > http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/predict/index.php > > Find Modes & Frequencies > > http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/satslisf.htm|| > ||Hope this gives you some insight :)| > > On Tue, Oct 13, 2015 at 5:16 PM, Rupert Hamblin > <rupert.hamblin(a)gmail.com <mailto:rupert.hamblin@gmail.com>> wrote: > > Hi AMSAT, > > I am looking for some guidance regards antenna setup for a fixed > installation to work both FM sats & linear transponder satellites. > > My initial thought was: > > AZ / EL Rotator > 2M xpol beam 5 ele ? > 70cm xpol beam 9 ele ? > LNA for both 2M & 70cm receive feeds > ...plus some spare space on the boom, perhaps for 3 ele for LEO wx > sats..? > > I appreciate this will probably cost a few $$ - but hopefully worth > it....obviously > won't build all this in one go..! > > Appreciate your thoughts / comments here..? > > Regards > > RH > G0TKZ > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org <mailto:AMSAT-BB@amsat.org>. AMSAT-NA > makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. > Opinions expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official > views of AMSAT-NA. > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite > program! > Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > >

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AO85 on Orbitron
by John Geiger 15 Oct '15

15 Oct '15

I am using Orbitron for satellite tracking, and just updated the keps (I haven't used it in a while). They new Chinese satellites are appearing for satellites to select, but I can't find AO85 on it. Is anyone else using Orbitron and if so, what is it calling our new FM satellite? 73 John AF5CC

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FoxTelem maxFreqBoundkHz Parameter?
by Bob 15 Oct '15

15 Oct '15

Hi, I have a spur that appears around 145.993 MHz, thanksfully higher than I've ever seen AO-85. With the default settings for Fox-1A, I will sometimes find that it has locked onto the spur and misses all telemetry decodes if i leave things unattended. I went into the "FOX1A_fm.dat" file and saw that there was a parameter: maxFreqBoundkHz=145990 i changed that to be (and restarted the program): maxFreqBoundkHz=145985 I figured that with the spur now 8 KHz above the maximum frequency bound there is no way the program would find the spur and lock onto it. However, testing indicates that FoxTelem will still lock onto the spur despite a lower maxFreqBoundkHz setting. Perhaps I misunderstand what that is used for, or perhaps it is not working as anticipated. Any thoughts? 73, Bob, WB4SON

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A tip for Gqrx users and report of the copy of FIREBIRD-II FU3/4 19k2 FSK.
by M.Sc. Pavel Milanes Costa 15 Oct '15

15 Oct '15

I'm playing this night with my linux box and rtl-dsr + Gqrx + Gpredict to see the 70cm satellite sub-band... And found a way to identify the sat from the spectrum at a glance in 70cm using the bookmarks of gqrx... very handy feature of this software... just linux here, not know if windows sdr soft has this feature... After playing with satlist.csv (from http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/satslist.htm) and parsing it to make it work with gqrx... I fire the Gqrx software, put up the antenna and watch for any suspicious signal... and the bookmarks on top of the signals are there, nice.... ... (a few minutes after) ... haja !!!! A packet like signal around 437.4 Mhz, zoom it.... wow, to wide for normal packet... let's widen the filter to fit... ~25 Khz is enough, hum... it's bigger than 9600 bauds... lets see what the bookmarks on the screenm says... FIREBIRD-II FU4 19k2 FSK within the +/- 10khz of doppler... bingo !!! Let's run Gpredict to check.... right on the spot... and also FIREBIRD-II FU3 incoming on range... let's check... right... So if you use linux and some SDR hardware with Gqrx, you can use the bookmark function to this purpose, you can actually click & zoom and then read of the screen to approximate which is the satellite who tx that signal... all at a glance... If any of you want to play with this I can send you my bookmark file of the entire 70cm satellite sub-band, updated with the last info from http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/satslist.htm just email me a private msg. I was not trying to decode, just to prove the usefulness of this feature, I use the latest gqrx & gpredict from ubuntu PPA. BTW, none of the FIREBIRD satellites are in the http://www.amsat.org/status/ page, so I can't update it's state. 73 from Cuba, CO7WT

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2015-10-15 19:30 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 15 Oct '15

15 Oct '15

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2015-10-15 19:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Saku Children’s Science Dome for the Future, Saku City, Japan, direct via 8NØSDF The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Kimiya Yui KG5BPH Contact is a go for: Thu 2015-10-22 09:52:21 UTC 54 deg (***) West Michigan Aviation Academy, Grand Rapids, MI, direct via W8ISS The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS Contact is a go for: Thu 2015-10-22 17:14:55 UTC 40 deg (***) **************************************************************************** ** Interested in hosting an ARISS contact? The window is now open from 2015-09-01 to 2015-11-01. These proposals will be for school contacts during the second half of 2016. Go to http://www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact or http://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html for full details. To help organizations in preparing their proposals, the ARISS Program Coordinator will offer hour-long online information sessions. These are designed to provide more information regarding US ARISS contacts and the proposal process and offer an opportunity to ask questions. While attending an online information session is not required, it is strongly encouraged. These will be offered Thursday, September 17, at 2000 UTC; Tuesday, September 22, at 2000 UTC, and Wednesday, September 30, at 2300 UTC. Advance registration is necessary. Email ARISS (ariss(a)arrl.org) to sign up for an information session. **************************************************************************** ** >From 2015-12-20 to 2016-01-04, there will be no US Operational Segment (USOS) hams on board ISS. So any schools contacts during this period will be conducted by the ARISS Russia team. **************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts. ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance. Feel free to send your reports to aj9n(a)amsat.org or aj9n(a)aol.com. **************************************************************************** Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. That has now been changed to http://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do? How about receiving DATV from the ISS? If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details. Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video. http://www.ariss-eu.org/ If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight. Contact Kerry at kbanke(a)sbcglobal.net **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Gaston ON4WF with 121 Francesco IKØWGF with 114 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 111 **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed and new ones have been added. If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. Note, all times are approximate. It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8061 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS The complete schedule page has been updated as of 2015-10-15 19:30 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 999. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 964. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 46. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: Arkansas, Delaware, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ QSL information may be found at: http://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** The successful school list has been updated as of 2015-10-15 07:30 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction .rtf Listing of ARISS related magazine articles as of 2006-07-10 03:30 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ARISS_magazine_articles.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 43/44 on orbit Scott Kelly Mikhail Kornienko RN3BF Exp. 44 on orbit Oleg Kononenko RN3DX Kimiya Yui KG5BPH Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS Exp. 45 on orbit Sergey Volkov RU3DIS **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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WD9EWK @ IN/MI/OH border tripoint, now
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 15 Oct '15

15 Oct '15

Hi! I am now at the Indiana/Michigan/Ohio border tripoint in grid EN71oq, and will work some SO-50 and FO-29 passes over the next couple of hours. The tripoint is on a road, so I will carry my radios out to the spot. Not the same as the Four Corners in the southwestern USA, but at least I didn't have to pay a few dollars to see the spot here. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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Bring your DTMF HT to Amsat Symposium
by Robert Bruninga 15 Oct '15

15 Oct '15

Bring your old DTMF HT to the AMSAT Symposium in Dayton this weekend if you want to help test out the next DTMF satellite. The transponder will be at the symposium and active all weekend. All you have to do is preload your DTMF callsign and Grid Square into a DTMF memory on your HT and you can then uplink to the satellite and make QSO’s. The satellite responds with voice confirmation and an APRS downlink to confirm the contact and to route it to the usual APRS web pages. Info will be available on how to encode your callsign and grid into 16 digits total. Or you can take a look here: http://aprs.org/qikcom-2.html About half way down is how to encode your call. Bob Bruninga Wb4APR

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2015-10-15 07:30 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 15 Oct '15

15 Oct '15

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2015-10-15 07:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Bay View Elementary School, Burlington, WA, telebridge via IK1SLD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS Contact was successful: Wed 2015-10-14 19:41:44 UTC 59 deg (***) Saku Children’s Science Dome for the Future, Saku City, Japan, direct via 8NØSDF The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Kimiya Yui KG5BPH Contact is a go for: Thu 2015-10-22 09:47:21 UTC 62 deg West Michigan Aviation Academy, Grand Rapids, MI, direct via W8ISS The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS Contact is a go for: Thu 2015-10-22 17:10:02 UTC 36 deg **************************************************************************** ** Interested in hosting an ARISS contact? The window is now open from 2015-09-01 to 2015-11-01. These proposals will be for school contacts during the second half of 2016. Go to http://www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact or http://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html for full details. To help organizations in preparing their proposals, the ARISS Program Coordinator will offer hour-long online information sessions. These are designed to provide more information regarding US ARISS contacts and the proposal process and offer an opportunity to ask questions. While attending an online information session is not required, it is strongly encouraged. These will be offered Thursday, September 17, at 2000 UTC; Tuesday, September 22, at 2000 UTC, and Wednesday, September 30, at 2300 UTC. Advance registration is necessary. Email ARISS (ariss(a)arrl.org) to sign up for an information session. **************************************************************************** ** >From 2015-12-20 to 2016-01-04, there will be no US Operational Segment (USOS) hams on board ISS. So any schools contacts during this period will be conducted by the ARISS Russia team. **************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts. ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance. Feel free to send your reports to aj9n(a)amsat.org or aj9n(a)aol.com. **************************************************************************** Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. That has now been changed to http://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do? How about receiving DATV from the ISS? If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details. Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video. http://www.ariss-eu.org/ If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight. Contact Kerry at kbanke(a)sbcglobal.net **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Gaston ON4WF with 121 Francesco IKØWGF with 114 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 111 **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed and new ones have been added. If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. Note, all times are approximate. It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8061 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS The complete schedule page has been updated as of 2015-10-15 07:30 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 999. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 964. (***) Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 46. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: Arkansas, Delaware, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ QSL information may be found at: http://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** The successful school list has been updated as of 2015-10-15 07:30 UTC. (***) http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction .rtf Listing of ARISS related magazine articles as of 2006-07-10 03:30 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ARISS_magazine_articles.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 43/44 on orbit Scott Kelly Mikhail Kornienko RN3BF Exp. 44 on orbit Oleg Kononenko RN3DX Kimiya Yui KG5BPH Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS Exp. 45 on orbit Sergey Volkov RU3DIS **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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Jamboree on the Air this weekend.
by Tom Schuessler 14 Oct '15

14 Oct '15

This weekend, besides being the AMSAT Space Symposium, will also see the annual partnership of Amateur Radio and Scouting for the 58th Jamboree on the Air. JOTA is the largest single scouting event in the world and sees participation from affiliated scouting organizations in 165 countries. If you hear "CQ JOTA" on any satellite passes between the evening of Friday the 16th and the end of the day Sunday the 18th, make it a point to come back to them. They will have young people watching and hoping that you do. I will be again running a large JOTA event at the National Scouting Museum in Irving, TX, EM12nt, and our site will again be using the call, K2BSA/5. My satellite opportunities this year will be limited to two SO-50 passes, 1656Z and 1835Z on 17 October. The first pass will be low angle with obstructions but the second will be high and slightly westerly. Please listen for me, or any other JOTA stations for that matter, and do give us a call. It is fun to see the eyes of young Scouts light up when they realize they have been involved with this type of satellite communications. These kids are our future. 73 Tom Schuessler N5HYP

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WD9EWK - Wednesday evening in Indiana, working AO-85...
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 14 Oct '15

14 Oct '15

Hi! After flying from Phoenix to Indianapolis, I drove up to Fort Wayne for the night. On the 125-mile drive, I made two stops to work AO-85 passes. I have worked from EN70 and EN71 before, but those past occasions were times I operated from Ohio. Between a freeway rest area and a parking lot for a large store, I was able to give out these two grids and have fun on the new bird. Between pass predictions I printed at home last night and my AmsatDroid Free app on my mobile phone, I had a good idea when I could work passes. I decided to focus on AO-85 tonight, even though I basically have my complete satellite station with me. I decided I would stop about 25 to 30 minutes before the first of the two AO-85 passes I worked, so I could disassemble my suitcase and carry-on bags enough to get my gear ready for the pass. I assembled an Elk antenna, pulled out everything related to my 8-inch HP tablet and SDRplay receiver, my IC-2820H 2m/70cm FM mobile radio (that was an item of interest in the Phoenix airport this morning, especially with its faceplate packed away from the radio), and accessories like an audio splitter, diplexer, coax, etc. I had everything ready in time to take some pictures, and tweet a couple of them before the pass. I used the same setup that I have used at home a couple of times with this satellite - Icom IC-2820H 2m/70cm FM mobile transceiver for the uplink, set to transmit in narrow FM; SDRplay SDR receiver, 8-inch Windows 10 tablet with HDSDR, all connected through a diplexer to my Elk log periodic. I plug an audio splitter into the tablet's headset jack, and split the receive audio between earbuds for me and a Sony audio recorder. I know I could also have HDSDR write an audio recording at the same time it writes an RF recording, but I don't want to risk overloading the tablet. When 2305 UTC came, I could hear AO-85 after it was up about 2 to 3 degrees elevation. It sounds like most stations were using narrow FM on the uplink, as most signals sounded pretty good this evening. I was able to log QSOs with 7 stations, including Paul N8HM on top of the parking garage next to the Crowne Plaza hotel in downtown Dayton, site of this weekend's AMSAT Symposium. During this pass, I could hear XW-2F passing by - just like I did on Sunday evening back in Phoenix. I saw stations working the XW-2F transponder, and also saw XW-2F's CW beacon, as I worked AO-85. After that pass, I drove north to Fort Wayne. I realized that Fort Wayne is basically at the EN70/EN71 grid boundary, but did not want to try to find a good spot for that boundary in the dark. I have only been through Fort Wayne once before, so I'm not familiar with the area. I kept an eye on my TH-D72A's GPS location, waiting to see EN71 appear on the screen. Once that happened, I looked for an exit off I-69, and for something like a truck stop or large parking lot at a store or shopping center to park. Just north of the grid boundary, I exited the freeway, and found a parking lot just west of the freeway. After setting up my gear on the roof of my car, and waiting for AO-85 to pop up over the western horizon around 0051 UTC, I had no problems hearing it. I worked 8 stations during this pass, including someone else heading to Dayton (Wyatt AC0RA - he was in EN60 for this pass). It was also nice to hear stations from the western USA, like Larry WA6DIR and Jack KC7MG, from here in Fort Wayne, plus VE4AMU in Manitoba. Most stations sounded pretty good on both passes. The later pass was a little harder for me to hear, not keeping up with the fading as well as I had been doing on the earlier pass. I think more stations were transmitting in narrow FM tonight. A couple were not, and one sounded so-so at best - even after trying to adjust the FM settings in HDSDR in an attempt to clean up the audio. My portable setup worked well from the rooftop of my rental car in two different locations, a good sign for upcoming activities later on in the coming week. The SDRplay is working very well as my receiver for working satellites, including AO-85. HDSDR's AFC function works well, except in close proximity to the XW-2F CW beacon and/or transponder signals (the 2305 UTC pass had both AO-85 and XW-2F in view at EN70). Being able to fine-tune how narrow I heard the FM signals, and being able to raise the filtering on the low end of the received signals to eliminate any noise from the telemetry, makes this a very powerful way to work these passes. I will try to upload the telemetry from the RF recordings of both passes this evening. I have uploaded the audio recordings, along with photos and screengrabs, from both of these passes to my Dropbox space: http://dropbox.wd9ewk.net/ Again, press F5 if the file/folder listing doesn't appear immediately. I hope to be able to upload my RF recordings in a day or two from Dayton, depending on the Internet access at the Symposium hotel. I won't try to upload them using my mobile phone's hotspot, as they are too big to do without exhausting my monthly data allowance in a matter of a couple of days. I hope to have tonight's QSOs uploaded to Logbook of the World shortly, for those looking to get confirmations for EN70 and/or EN71. QSL cards will also be available after the trip; please e-mail me with the QSO details, and I'll send a card if you're in the log. Tomorrow will be a busy day, between making a quick stop at the border tripoint where 3 states come together (Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio) and driving down to Dayton to attend the AMSAT Symposium. Please follow my @WD9EWK Twitter feed (https://twitter.com/WD9EWK ) for updates on my activities, and my car should show up on APRS as WD9EWK-9 (visible at http://aprs.fi/WD9EWK-9 among other places). Day 1 was fun, and there is a week to go... 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK - Fort Wayne, Indiana http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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