Hi!
Yesterday was a busy - and enjoyable - day spent in southern Arizona and (briefly) southwestern New Mexico. A hamfest, followed by a drive toward the Arizona/New Mexico border, for a total of 549 miles (883km) including my drive down to Tucson on Friday evening.
The hamfest was the Old Pueblo Radio Club's annual hamfest in Tucson. I attended this event last year, which was a very cold morning. For yesterday, it was warm enough so I didn't need a jacket. In fact, it was getting rather warm by mid-morning. The better weather meant a larger crowd showed up - buyers and sellers. I brought the AMSAT "flag" back to this hamfest, and set up next to the ARRL table. There was a regular stream of traffic by the table, and good crowds for the demonstrations (one AO-51 pass, two SO-50 passes, and two VO-52 passes - although I did not work stations on the first of the two VO-52 pass).
The AO-51 pass started just before the official start of the hamfest at 7am (1400 UTC). Despite the fact that this pass went by to my west, there were 12 QSOs made with stations across much of the USA along with stations in Canada and Mexico. Not a bad start. There was a VO-52 pass at 1537 UTC I had hoped to work, but I had problems hearing the downlink. Normally, I have not had problems with the 2m downlinks, even with an air force base a couple of miles/km east of the hamfest. I apologize to those who were hoping to hear - and work - me on that pass.
SO-50 first came just after 1600 UTC, and there were a couple of JOTA stations from Texas on there. I worked one of them, along with 4 other US stations. Then the second (western) VO-52 pass showed up an hour later. This time, I had no problems hearing the downlink. Glenn AA5PK in Texas and Bob W7LRD in Washington state answered my CQ calls. Thanks for the contacts - they helped bring out a "that's cool" remark from a long-time ham who was previously active on AO-10 and AO-13, seeing me work SSB via satellite with two FT-817s and a handheld antenna. The final SO-50 pass came by a little after 1800 UTC, and 3 more stations were logged.
Thenks to the Old Pueblo Radio Club for providing me the space for the AMSAT table, and also to those stations who worked me (and, on the first VO-52 pass, tried to work me). Having the crowd hear where the other stations are located helps to show that our satellites cover a large area - even if the footprints are not what we might hope for.
After the hamfest, I decided to spend my afternoon and early evening around the Arizona/New Mexico border. I've operated from several locations in southeastern Arizona on trips earlier this year, so I wanted to do something a little different. Instead of parking on a grid boundary, this trip would be to the state line. From Tucson, I drove about 135 miles/217km - a little less than 2 hours - on the I-10 freeway to reach the state line. There is a freeway exit very close to this spot, and from there I drove on a dirt track up to the state line (grid DM52lf). Along with the signs on the freeway showing the state line, there was a concrete marker across the freeway on the state line. I lined up my truck so the radio gear in the back of it sat on the state line, and took lots of photos of that and the area - along with the GPS readout. Then I waited for the 2235 UTC AO-27 pass. Once the AO-27 repeater switched on, I worked 5 stations on that pass.
This location was a good one for passes to the west, or high passes to the east. For the AO-51 pass around 2318 UTC, which was a shallow pass to the northeast, a hill blocked me in that direction. I drove 5 miles/8km east of the state line to reach the town of Road Forks in New Mexico (grid DM52mf). From here, I had good visibility to the northeast down to the horizon, and I was ready for this pass. The first few minutes were busy, when I worked 10 stations in a 3-minute apan. After that, several minutes passed with many signals or QRM clogged the uplink. Just before the end of the pass, I was able to work two more stations before the satellite went away from me. Even with the period where I logged no QSOs, that was still a good pass.
I went back to the state line for the second AO-51 pass, at 0054 UTC. This was a very high pass, approximately 65 degrees maximum elevation to the west, as the sun was setting behind mountains to the west. Stations were heard from southern Mexico to Alaska and western Canada, and across most of the USA. Clint's JOTA station was on the air, and David XE3DX was also operating a JOTA station with a group of Mexican Scouts (Drew - I will get you more information on the XE JOTA satellite activity shortly). WD9EWK logged 17 QSOs on this western pass. Whether it was the rarely-heard grid DM52 or the fact I was working from a state line, it was an enjoyable pass.
When AO-51 went away for the last time, I quickly disassembled my antenna and packed up for the 240-mile/386km drive home. Between the hamfest and the post-hamfest activity at or near the Arizona/New Mexico state line, I logged a total of 56 QSOs. I will mail QSL cards to all of those who worked WD9EWK at the hamfest. If you worked me after the hamfest and want a card, please e-mail me with the QSO details. I plan on mailing cards from Saturday's activity, along with the cards from my east-coast trip last week in the coming week.
Thanks to everyone for the QSOs, and especially the QSOs at the hamfest during my demonstrations. Having some regular satellite operators show up and make contacts with me - especially when we are mentioning where the other stations are located - makes a great impression on the crowds listening in.
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/