Hi!
I am still getting caught up after my quick trip to eastern Arizona, but I wanted to thank everyone who made QSOs with WD9EWK at the White Mountain Hamfest in Show Low AZ on Saturday morning, followed by QSOs at two other locations after the hamfest Saturday afternoon/evening. It was fun to be up there at the hamfest, and also have the chance to put some of Arizona's rarely-heard grids on the birds for a few hours.
The hamfest was at a new location in Show Low, on a college campus along the main street (Deuce of Clubs Avenue) instead of at a high school a few blocks north of this location. A smaller parking lot, with trees all around, but not too many to block satellite signals. Being up at 6500 feet (1981m) elevation made for a very nice morning. I made 23 QSOs on several passes using 2 linear transponders (AO-7, VO-52) and 2 FM satellites (SO-50, SO-67) from grid DM44xf. It was good to hear Allen N5AFV operating as KK5W from Galveston Island in Texas throughout the morning and into the early afternoon. Thanks to Show Low's Kachina Amateur Radio Club for inviting me, so AMSAT could have a presence at eastern Arizona's only hamfest.
As with many hamfests here in Arizona, this was a half-day event. We have lots of these smaller hamfests, instead of having fewer large events that seems to be common in other places. After a quick stop for lunch, I set off for the DM54/DM55 boundary an hour or so northeast of Show Low along I-40.
Since I was not going to make it to the spot along I-40 on the grid boundary in time for the 2002 UTC AO-27 pass, I stopped at Holbrook - a town along I-40, about 15 miles (25km) west of the grid-boundary spot. I set up in a parking lot with a great view to the east in grid DM44ww along old US-66 north of I-40, and proceeded to log 11 QSOs on that 7-minute pass.
After this pass, I made the short drive over to the spot at the DM54bx/DM55ba grid boundary. This spot is along old US-66 just east of I-40 exit 303 in Navajo County. I wanted to stay there for a few passes, and ended up staying for more than I had originally planned. I worked many passes on several active birds - AO-27, AO-51, SO-50, and SO-67 in FM; AO-7 and VO-52 in SSB; FO-29 in SSB and CW. A total of 65 QSOs were logged here. I had operated from this spot almost 2 years ago, and I don't think DM55 has been on the birds since then. I worked from DM54 last year after the hamfest in Show Low, and I think it had not been heard on the satellites since then.
I need to print more QSLs for the DM54/DM55 QSOs, and make new cards for the two locations from earlier on Saturday. I have uploaded all of these QSOs to Logbook of the World as WD9EWK (I do not add anything like "/P" to my call for satellite QSOs from the continental USA). If you would like to receive a QSL card - even if you've received electronic confirmation through LOTW - please e-mail me directly with the QSO details. No need to mail me a card or SASE for those QSOs. I will be happy to send out the cards.
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/