On Mon, 2011-10-03 at 14:51 -0400, Sebastian, W4AS wrote:
Good points Mike.
I agree that not everyone on a satellite pass is interested in working the 'rare' grid.
However if someone goes to the trouble of setting up a portable station for the benefit of others to grab a new grid, I think those users who aren't interested in chasing grids should standby while the others attempt to make contact with that station. After all, with the short pass on the LEO birds, there isn't much time to do anything else; unless you get on during the early morning hours, or during the middle of the day when the activity isn't as high as on the weekends and you can actually have a 10 minute QSO with someone.
Ah yes .. those early morning 5 am passes :). Been there, done that. I guess what I meant by mentioning the other stations who don't care for that grid is that it doesn't make it easier. There are many things, one other being regular ops trying to work 10 or more contacts per pass without giving others a chance. I usually sit back after 3 or so and just listen if somebody is calling me.
As far as the linear birds are concerned, I have a Yaesu FT-847 that's dedicated for satellites. It's interesting that most of the time I get on the satellites, is on the FM birds! Unfortunately, that's because most of the time I get on the linear birds, there's either no one on there, or perhaps just one other station.
Hey I just checked. We worked on FO-29 :). But I know what you mean. I have a TS-2000 sitting here just for satellite stuff and it doesn't get used as much as I would like which sometimes makes me question the investment. But as soon as I had another nice QSO on VO-52 or FO-29 (AO-7 seems to be a challenge with my ant setup) all is forgotten and I know why I bought it. And AO-51 is the only FM bird I use at the moment given that birdie problem on SO-50 and AO-27.
It's funny that many times when I do make a contact on a linear bird, the other station wants to just follow the FM procedure of exchanging grids, and not much else, even though they still have a lot of time left in the footprint. I personally like to chew the rag on a linear bird (and on HF), but that doesn't happen very often on the satellites.
I hear ya. But isn't it up to us then to promote the idea that one QSO per pass is ok and not lost opportunity?
While we can all continue to hope for a HEO, and try to encourage those who do have the gear to get on the linear birds; the fact is the FM birds are a victim of their own success.
Agreed. Now the question again becomes as to why. Is it because there is so much information out there that tells people all they need is a HT and an Arrow antenna and off they go, or should we indeed focus more on operating practice on top of that? Fact of the matter is, at times it is not bearable and I simply turn the radio off when the situation on an FM bird get too much out of hand.
73 Mike K5TRI
Common Sense isn't that common anymore.