Hey everyone,
At 21:33 UTC today (12 April), G1WPR answered my "CQ DX" on AO-7/Mode B. I was sending CW with the straight key I picked up for Straight Key Night on AO-51, and Terry called me in SSB - so we completed a cross-mode QSO of more than a minute with a few exchanges. I am thrilled!
I used a Yaesu FT-857D for TX and a Yaesu FT-817ND for RX (both used radios), and a Diamond MX-72H duplexer to connect them to my dual-band Elk log periodic, which I hand-hold and manually track the satellites. I mention all of that because I have learned that (1) one doesn't absolutely need all the bells and whistles to enjoy any - and all - of the amateur satellites currently in operation, and (2) the Elk rocks!
That being said, I will confess that adding computer Doppler control has made a huge difference here with the linear satellites. I was using Simon's HRD Satellite Tracker on that pass, but I also have SatPC 32 and Orbitron set up and successfully Doppler tuning here. It's nice to test and experiment with all of them.
I want to sincerely thank everyone who has provided insight, guidance and encouragement over the past 10 months, and I especially want to thank Joe, K3SZH, who has told his longtime AO-7 friends in western Europe that there might be a CW signal from EM84 down the passband.
Happy Easter, and 73 to all,
Tim - N3TL Athens, Ga. - EM84ha