Hi!
Last Saturday morning, I had an AMSAT table at the Arizona Amateur Radio Club's "April Hamfest at DeVry", also known locally as the "DeVry hamfest", in Phoenix. This was the first time I hosted an AMSAT table at this event, and there seemed to be a good turnout for what is normally the smallest of the Phoenix-area hamfests.
As with others out here, the crowds started arriving before sunrise. I had my AMSAT table ready for AO-7 and FO-29 passes just before 6am (1300 UTC), and made a couple of contacts - AA5PK on AO-7, followed by Captain Yuri UT1FG/MM on FO-29 a few minutes later. There was a long gap until the next pass I could use for a demonstration, an AO-73 pass just after 9am (1600 UTC). No QSOs then, but it was easy to hear the downlink even with the pass having a maximum elevation of 5 degrees. The later AO-73 pass around 10.33am (1733 UTC) was much better. With a larger crowd than at 6am or 9am, I was able to work 4 different stations on this pass. Thanks to W5CBF in Texas, K6FW in California, KG5CCI in Arkansas, and WA5KBH in Louisiana for those contacts. It was a nice spread of stations, across much of the continental USA.
Beyond the demonstrations, there was much interest in the upcoming Fox-1 satellites. Fox-1 is more than just Fox-1A that is scheduled for a late August launch, and it has been fun to talk up the 3 satellites that have launches, with possibly two more satellites that will follow later. This contributed to the numbers of books and frequency guides flying off the table.
Thanks to the Arizona Amateur Radio Club for providing AMSAT a space at the hamfest, to the 6 stations worked during the demonstrations, and everyone who stopped by the AMSAT table on Saturday morning!
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK