----- Original Message ----- From: "Thomas Doyle" tomdoyle1948@gmail.com To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2011 9:58 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] Oscar-10
I sent this some time ago but I never saw it show up so - sorry if it is a re-post.
Hi Tom, W9KE
I remember your previous post !
If you have not been on satellites for a really long time (> 20 years) you may find this interesting. It explains why us old geezers say the old days were amazing. If you were on decades ago it may bring back memories.
I am on satellites since OSCAR-6 and I agree with you because only the old days were amazing .
I have been getting back into hamming after a long hiatus and have been listening to the satellites for a month or two while working on a controller project and decided it was time to try and make a contact. Thanks to K4MOA and W5MPC, today I made my first sat contacts in a very long time. A little later I almost made a cw contact (used my trusty old J-38 key) on another sat but lost him. I told you this was interesting and really exciting.
I suggest you to work linear satellites like the old OSCAR-7 ,VO-52 and FO-29 but forget for ever please the single channel FM satellites.
Thought I had better log the contacts and started looking for a logbook. Found a old slightly yellowed logbook with Oscar-10 written on the cover. As a group we hams (including me) are pretty cheap so I had saved this logbook because there were empty pages still left in it. I entered my new contacts on a fresh page (decided to splurge) and then looked back and found it was my first sat contact since 1983. I know you are still waiting for the exciting part.
Please look if my call letter i8CVS is included in your logbook because at that old amazing days I was active on OSCAR-10 every days except in august.
Here is a typical page from the log. I am in Wisconsin and believe it or not I had pile ups of europeans wanting to work Wisconsin of all things. It was a real thrill. Times change and I now have two grid squares - not sure what they are for but I have two and feel the need for more. There are 29 empty pages left in the logbook so I am good to go. Hope to work you.
Unfortunately time are changed because actually we don't have any HEO satellite in orbit like OSCAR-10, OSCAR-13 and AO40 but we have only three linear LEO satellites like the old OSCAR-7, VO-52 and FO-29 and the rest of single channel FM satellites are good for nothing.
I was looking on your logbook page and I am not included on it because during the month of august I was normally in vacations from my job but I found in it i3EIE Mario and i7LIT Rino both my good satellite friends at that early days. Please look before and after the month of august 1985 and I sure that you will find me as well.
We only hope that AMSAT-DL will be able to launch a new HEO satellite P3-E wich is similar to OSCAR-10 and OSCAR-13 but unfortunately we don't have actually a launch contract and AMSAT.DL need donations from the Ham satellite community all over the world.
If you can please subscribe to AMSAT-DL and ................Pull for P3-E !
73 tom... W9KE
73" to you my old friend Tom ,W9KE
i8CVS Domenico