Every now and then someone asks about the possibility of making a satellite QSO when the bird is below the horizon. Once in while it happens as it did with Adrian, AA5UK/KH6, on FO-29 this morning at 0849utc.
Adrian has been operating from KH6 and trying to give out WAS to the deserving. Many have made their first Hawaii QSO thanks to his efforts. I had a 0.8 degree pass this morning on FO-29 but when Adrian was at 3 degrees, I was at 0.0 degrees. There was a short window of opportunity after that point.
As I was waiting for FO-29 to come up over the horizon I started hearing Adrian at -0.9 degrees. At -0.5 I called him and we had a qso that ended about 2 seconds after my AOS. My recorder is configured to start recording at AOS and it only captured a few seconds of my last transmission. Doug KD8CAO had his recorder running so you can hear my qso that took place below the horizon. I have my ground elevation in the setup so the calculations should be accurate.
The best opportunity for a below the horizon contact occurs when the satellite is skimming the horizon rather than going away from you. If it is skimming there is much more time at the critical -1.5 to 0.0 degree elevation and that is what happened this morning. Recordings are on my website. http://www.papays.com/sat/general.html
A big thank you to Adrian for making the effort to work the difficult passes and stretch the limits. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.
73, John K8YSE