Tonight, I worked into SO-50 for the first time. All it took was some patience and listening. My FT817 pair and Arrow antenna worked just fine.
I did notice that I could hardly hear anything at the beginning of the pass (330 AZ), but heard the signals quite loudly at the end (180 AZ). The elevation went as high as 70 degrees, and I had good copy from 70 degrees at peak all the way down on the descent. I presume this was due to the rotation of the satellite, which explains why I did not hear anything on the ascent.
Also, all I heard was courteous and professional behavior during the pass. I was impressed, there was no "gaggle" of rudeness.
Kudos to W8KHP and AA5PK who provided me with new grid squares and copied my 5 watts. To the other FB ops who called but I could not copy, my apologies. I will catch you on a future pass.
Thanks to all. This is the BEST hobby, and AMSAT has added a whole new level of excitement for me!
Now, the one remaining bird I have not worked is DO-64...
Mark Lunday WD4ELG [email protected] http://wd4elg.net