Hi!
Yesterday's quick trip down to Lukeville at grid DM31 in southern Arizona was a perfect day for radio. After leaving a pre-sunrise rain shower in the Phoenix area on my way down there, it was only sunshine for the rest of the day and about 68F/20C in the afternoon. Much better to be there in December, than in the summertime when it can be well over 100F/38C in the shade. I worked 12 passes while I was down there - three passes on SO-50, one on VO-52, and two each on the others (AO-27, AO-51, FO-29, and HO-68).
I left Phoenix around 0615 local (1315 UTC), after making a stop to get some breakfast for the drive out of the city. I was running my new TH-D72A HT as my APRS tracker and to monitor repeaters on the drive, but planned to use my normal radio setup for the satellites - IC-2820H on FM, two FT-817NDs for SSB - with my Elk log periodic. After a quick stop at the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument visitor center about 5 miles/8km north of Lukeville and the USA/Mexico border, I made it to the parking lot at "Gringo Pass", the group of shops and fuel station just before the border crossing, a few minutes past 1600 UTC. This opened up one more pass I could work from DM31, a VO-52 pass just before 1700 UTC to the west.
Due to the security situation along this part of the USA/Mexico border, almost all of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument west of the AZ-85 highway was closed to the public. There are mountains all around that area, and going as far south as I could - without crossing the border - would give me the best chances to work shallow passes. I operated from the same spot I used in 2009, a parking lot on the west side of AZ-85 in grid DM31ov (31.88192 N 112.81712 W). During the day, I was visited by US Border Patrol agents patrolling in vehicles and on foot. I was asked a few times if I saw people walking north from the border (I didn't, other than Border Patrol agents), and near the end of the day one agent took an interest in my radio gear and chatted for about 10 minutes. Considering where I was and their jobs, I was happy they would pass by while I was sitting down there.
I was ready for VO-52 when it popped up, and that was a great pass to start the day. Four QSOs went in the log, starting with Kerry WC7V warming up the 145.910 MHz downlink that I stayed around for the pass. :-) Since Kerry was calling CQ there when I came on, I was going to QSY. Kerry said I could stay there, and so I did. Then it was time to set up the IC-2820H for the HO-68 pass at 1751 UTC. This was busy, despite the satellite moving away from the east coast. I was able to log 20 QSOs with stations all over the USA on this pass, then get lunch at the restaurant before the second HO-68 pass. Even though HO-68 barely popped up over the mountains to my northwest, I was able to log 4 QSOs in a 5-minute span.
The first pass I worked that was good for stations along all of the US east coast was on AO-27 at 1952 UTC. I was not able to hear the 20-second data burst before the repeater switched on, but I did hear Drew KO4MA calling me in the first few seconds after the data burst. I answered his call, and then went on to work 16 more stations on that pass. My log already had 45 QSOs for the first 4 passes, but there were more passes to work in the afternoon.
There was an hour after that AO-27 pass until the next couple of passes - first SO-50 on a shallow pass to my north, then the west- coast AO-27 pass. Four QSOs on SO-50, and 8 on AO-27. Then almost an hour until the next group of passes on 3 different satellites (FO-29, SO-50, AO-51).
The FO-29 pass had a maximum elevation of 10 degrees to my east. Not a lot, but enough to clear the mountains in that direction and still hear it OK. Four QSOs in 10 minutes, not a bad count considering there are fewer working SSB via satellite than FM. The SO-50 pass went up almost over my head, with maximum elevation of 73 degrees. Eight QSOs there, including one with another satellite ham using the new TH-D72A for FM satellite work (Ramon XE1KK, in Mexico City). We briefly chatted about the new HT. Ramon said he was happy with the radio. He used to travel and work satellites from many different locations, and maybe we can hear him on from there (grid EK09) and maybe other places as he travels all over.
At 2300 UTC, I had two passes I could work. AO-7 was still in mode B, or I could work AO-51 with its V/US configuration that was turned on for a few days. Both were to my east, but AO-51 was higher in the sky. Even though I enjoy working AO-7 mode B with my QRP SSB satellite station, and I'd be able to work it just before the change to mode A, I went with the AO-51 pass. Six more QSOs for the log, with stations from both the eastern and western USA.
After that AO-51 pass, I had an hour before the last group of 3 passes I'd work before driving home. FO-29 was still to my east, but up to a maximum elevation of 78 degrees. Four more QSOs there, then a very shallow SO-50 pass to the southwest. Thanks to Don W6AJP for also being there for a QSO. I started packing up my SSB gear at this point, since I had about 15 minutes until the last pass I would work, an AO-51 pass. Six more QSOs on that pass wrapped up my operating for the day.
Of the 12 passes I worked from DM31, four had maximum elevation of 10 degrees or less. Even though those passes yielded few QSOs, there were stations worked on those four passes I didn't hear at any other time in the day. It's a fun challenge to work these passes, to see how low I can go and still hear the satellite.
Thanks to everyone for all the QSOs yesterday. As with many other grids anywhere, I could go back to DM31 periodically and it would still be a new grid for someone. I have already been asked about my next trip there, and I may try to go back there before next summer. As with my other trips, there's no need to send me a QSL card or SASE to get a DM31 QSL card from me. Just an e-mail with QSO details is sufficient. I need to print more QSL cards for yesterday's trip, and those will go to the post office in the next week or two.
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/