Wyatt Dirks AC0RA is very passionate about his satellite operations. Having started with a home brew antenna, he has experimented with several portable station configurations including LPDA’s, commercial Arrows, and recently added a 13-element M2 beam.
Just today, January 28, he made a 6,941km contact with ON4HF using AO-7 mode B. While this is several hundred kilometers below the distance record for mode B contacts, it is important to note that Wyatt performed this feat completely portable, without a set of cross-polarized beams, without automated antenna tracking, and more importantly – out in the cold Iowa weather.
He’s recently been making contacts with other stations in Europe. This does not come easily in a portable setting from the mid-USA states. Many folks who have been around for a long time, who have “been there and done that,” may not see this as much of an accomplishment. I assure you if we had satellites capable of greater distance contacts, Wyatt would be on them pushing the limits of their capabilities with minimal equipment.
Not only does Wyatt posses the right equipment, he demonstrates skill and dedication, something uncommon in young men his age just shy of 20 years old. We should encourage operators of this caliber as they will be our future engineers and friends in the space frontier.
73, Clayton W5PFG