Hi!
The hamfest in Yuma, Arizona, started out very well yesterday afternoon. Many more people here compared to the Fridays of the past two hamfests. Thanks to the stations who called WD9EWK on two passes yesterday, on AO27 and FO29.
This hamfest also has a focus on emergency preparedness, with a sizable presence from different organizations from the Yuma area. Not a bad thing, considering a 5.1 earthquake hit this area yesterday morning (no damage here; it was centered about 45 miles/70km southeast of Calexico and El Centro CA in Baja California), lots of rain this morning, and the power has been out here at the hamfest site for the past 60 minutes or so. Once the lightning stops outside, I can still do demonstrations later with my portable station. :-)
Again, please feel free to call WD9EWK if you hear me on passes later today. I appreciate the fact most stations were giving more than just a grid locator yesterday, to help illustrate the coverage of our satellites for the crowds.
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK - Yuma, Arizona http://www.wd9ewk.net/