Hi!
Weather permitting, I am planning to operate from the Tonto National Monument - east of Phoenix, NPOTA site MN70 - during the day tomorrow. This site is not in a rare grid, but the same grid I live in (DM43). Even though it is in DM43, it will take almost 2 hours to drive out there. I'll work various FM, SSB, and packet satellites throughout the day, hoping to start around 1600 UTC.
I have not been out there in a couple of years, but I remember that mobile phone coverage is spotty out there. I hope to be able to use my @WD9EWK Twitter feed to send out updates from the monument, which will show up in a web browser at:
APRS should cover me at the monument and along the highway that goes past the monument. I'll use WD9EWK-9 as my APRS call sign for the drive to and from the monument, and for any ISS and NO-84 passes I work from there. WD9EWK-9 should be visible at (among other sites):
The NPOTA activation will end no later than 2359 UTC, and probably some time before that. Between the drive back to the Phoenix area and wanting to record the WWV broadcast of the leap second at 23:59:60 UTC, I won't try to work every possible pass up to the end of the year on the UTC clock.
All QSOs made from Tonto National Monument will be uploaded to Logbook of the World after I return home, except for the QSOs made via BY70-1. BY70-1 QSOs will go into Logbook of the World once ARRL adds that satellite to the system. If you would like to receive a QSL card for any QSOs made with WD9EWK, please e-mail me directly with the QSO details. No need to send me your card or an SASE to get my card.
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK