Hi!
Except for a couple of minutes on the west-coast AO-51 pass around 0312 UTC tonight, I have not even tried the 145.880/435.150 MHz repeater while I have been operating from different locations in grid DM22 over the past few days. I have been following the comments on the -BB and from others in private e-mail about how the K5D satellite effort has been going. I saw this message from KO4MA earlier today:
<snip> > > We heard lots of others but people were looking for 2nd and 3rd > confirmations > and cost other a Q. That too bad. We are having fun.
I'm still trying to digest the extreme poor operating I heard on the last pass. If it continues we may switch the 2nd repeater off before the end of the DXpedition rather than to allow the behavior to continue.
If AMSAT is going to make an effort to solicit equipment for use on DXpeditions like K5D, coach at least one of the DXpedition crew on how to use the gear, and then schedule AO-51 to be available for that purpose, there should not be any threats to shut down the repeater like the one KO4MA posted above. Especially if whoever sent that e-mail to Drew says they are having fun. Let it work like on any other band - if K5D is fed up with whatever has been happening on AO-51 while they are trying to work stations, they can go back to working other bands or doing other stuff. Let them decide, and don't prematurely pull the plug on their satellite effort if they are still trying to work stations on the birds.
For what it's worth, I have only run into one really bad time trying to get into a satellite while I have been on my current trip - Thursday evening (Friday UTC) on an eastern AO-51 pass using the normal 145.920/435.300 repeater. I've kept slugging away to get through at times, even on an AO-51 pass tonight where I had a maximum elevation of 6 degrees! More on that pass to come in a separate e-mail. As for working the DXpedition over and over, those working on AO-51 should realize that is not a good thing. Call out those who insist on working them repeatedly, but let the DXpedition control things on the air as best they can - including shutting down the satellite station, if necessary.
Here's hoping for better times for K5D in the remaining time they are on the island. Sounds like they are still making lots of QSOs overall. 73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK - back in Calexico, California, for tonight http://www.wd9ewk.net/