All of the requests for QSL cards for contacts with K8YSE/7 in DM31, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, 18-19 November and DM51, 22 November, Bisbee, Arizona were put in the mail today.
About 50 different stations were worked from DM31 and 20 were worked from DM51. Organ Pipe was a real experience from both a radio standpoint as well as hiking through this amazing park. The campground was nearly empty; we had no one in view from our campsite. Every visible AO51 and SO50 pass was worked and only one pass netted zero contacts due to the extraordinary amount of east coast activity. All qso's were made from the campground.
DM51 was a night time pass on AO51. The location was scouted out in the afternoon when you could see where the mountains were. Then we drove back to the same gps coordinates later that day when it was pitch dark. This was the only way to insure that we would have a low horizon for the pass.
QSL cards for DM31 were printed from a photo taken by my XYL, W8ZJB. The DM51 cards are photos with labels printed for me by my son, KD8CAO. If you need a card for either grid, please send an SASE to my qrz.com address.
If you're looking for a little excitement, try doing a portable operation from a relatively inactive grid. There are plenty out there that are not that far from active stations. Take a photo, have them printed at your favorite discount drug store, cut them down to 3-1/2" x 5-1/2", put a label on them and confirm a new grid for those that are paying attention. And if you live in a rare grid, please try to get on the birds now and then. We all need something new to work to make it interesting.
A special thank you to WD9EWK, N5AFV, N5ZNL, KD8CAO, ND9M, VO1ONE (N8TLV) and all of the others who have made the effort to operate from grids away from their home QTH. They are the dxpeditioners of our satellite world and do all the work while we sit comfortably in our ham shacks.
73, John K8YSE [email protected]