Hi!
The second day at the Yuma (Arizona) Hamfest was a very good day. More people were passing through the exhibit hall and visiting the AMSAT table along with the other tables and booths. Throughout the day, my satellite and ISS demonstrations were generally well attended.
The hamfest officially opened at 8.00am local time (1500 UTC), and as the hamfest started I was already working an AO-51 pass. Then a large crowd followed me outside for a VO-52 pass around 1720 UTC. Thanks to KG7EZ, AA5PK, and W7JPI for following me around the downlink for our quick contacts.
There was a scheduled ISS contact around 1820 UTC, through a ground station in California. I was outside the exhibit hall for that, picking up the signals around 1823-1824 UTC and hearing the remainder of the contact from that point. I was only using an IC-Z1 HT and my Elk Antennas 2m/70cm log periodic, with a loudspeaker plugged into the HT, which was more than enough to let the crowd hear Mike Fincke's side of the QSO. The ISS came by again around 2000 UTC, and the cross-band repeater was on. More QSOs then, as well as two SO-50 passes and an AO-51 pass around 0030 UTC to wrap up my demonstrations and the hamfest. At 0100 UTC, there was a barbecue dinner - very good food!
During the day today, I had two other hams who helped cover the AMSAT table when I went outside for the demonstrations. Thank you Alex XE2BSS/N2IX and David XE2DAK from the Red Digital del Noroeste radio club in nearby Mexicali. This is the club that I gave an impromptu presentation for on Thursday evening, recently formed and awaiting the issuance of its Mexican club callsign. Along with Alex and David, two other members from the club came out to the hamfest to visit the AMSAT table and see the other stuff at the hamfest - Antonio XE2SIV and Eliseo XE2TPJ. There were lots of hams stopping by, many of them "snowbirds" from the colder parts of the USA and Canada that live in and around Yuma during the wintertime.
Alex XE2BSS/N2IX has posted another web page with photos taken today at the Yuma Hamfest:
http://www.xe2bss.org/yumahamfest.html
Again, this is a "work in progress" as he goes through the photos he took along with other photos. The text on the page is in Spanish, so Babelfish or Google's web-page translation service can be your "friend" if you need it translated to English or some other language.
In all, WD9EWK was on 6 different passes Saturday from grid DM22qq - 2 AO-51 passes using the normal 145.920/435.300 MHz V/U transponder, 2 SO-50 passes, and one pass each for VO-52 and the ISS cross-band repeater - along with hearing the ISS school QSO. I logged 43 more QSOs today, for a total of 61 QSOs at the hamfest. As of tonight, I have logged 152 QSOs from grids DM22 and DM32 in Arizona, California, and Baja California since I left Phoenix on Wednesday. So far, a fun trip - with one more full day to go before heading home. More activity is planned from somewhere on the FM birds and *maybe* VO-52/FO-29, probably still in DM22, on Sunday.
A special thank-you needs to go to Richard KC2LGR and the Yuma Amateur Radio Hamfest Organization. I was approached last summer by members of this group, asking if I could bring an AMSAT table to this hamfest. Richard and the group allowed me to set up a table, display AMSAT information and merchandise, and were very helpful for whatever I needed over the two days. The location in Yuma - near a freeway and within 3 to 4 hours' driving for many hams in Arizona, California, as well as northwestern Mexico - could help things improve in the coming years. I had good crowds for most of the demonstrations, even on Friday. And did I mention the great food at the barbecue this evening? :-) This was a good hamfest, put on by a lot of hard-working people in the ham community in and around Yuma, and I hope to return in 2010.
Good night, and 73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK - Calexico, California http://www.wd9ewk.net/