Hi!
The hamfest in Yuma, Arizona, started out very well yesterday afternoon. Many more people here compared to the Fridays of the past two hamfests. Thanks to the stations who called WD9EWK on two passes yesterday, on AO27 and FO29.
This hamfest also has a focus on emergency preparedness, with a sizable presence from different organizations from the Yuma area. Not a bad thing, considering a 5.1 earthquake hit this area yesterday morning (no damage here; it was centered about 45 miles/70km southeast of Calexico and El Centro CA in Baja California), lots of rain this morning, and the power has been out here at the hamfest site for the past 60 minutes or so. Once the lightning stops outside, I can still do demonstrations later with my portable station. :-)
Again, please feel free to call WD9EWK if you hear me on passes later today. I appreciate the fact most stations were giving more than just a grid locator yesterday, to help illustrate the coverage of our satellites for the crowds.
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK - Yuma, Arizona http://www.wd9ewk.net/
Hi Patrick,
"Started out very well" ?
- Earthquake - Rain - Power out - Lightning
I'd hate to be around when you're having a bad day...
Greg KO6TH
Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2011 07:46:11 -0800 From: amsat-bb@wd9ewk.net To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Yuma AZ hamfest, day 2
Hi!
The hamfest in Yuma, Arizona, started out very well yesterday afternoon. Many more people here compared to the Fridays of the past two hamfests. Thanks to the stations who called WD9EWK on two passes yesterday, on AO27 and FO29.
This hamfest also has a focus on emergency preparedness, with a sizable presence from different organizations from the Yuma area. Not a bad thing, considering a 5.1 earthquake hit this area yesterday morning (no damage here; it was centered about 45 miles/70km southeast of Calexico and El Centro CA in Baja California), lots of rain this morning, and the power has been out here at the hamfest site for the past 60 minutes or so. Once the lightning stops outside, I can still do demonstrations later with my portable station. :-)
Again, please feel free to call WD9EWK if you hear me on passes later today. I appreciate the fact most stations were giving more than just a grid locator yesterday, to help illustrate the coverage of our satellites for the crowds.
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK - Yuma, Arizona http://www.wd9ewk.net/ _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Hi Greg!
"Started out very well" ?
- Earthquake - Rain - Power out - Lightning
I'd hate to be around when you're having a bad day...
Well, it *did* start out well on Friday. Even with the earthquake. I have felt lighter earthquakes in the past on trips to California, and one time when working in Phoenix about 20 years ago. But never anything like I felt yesterday, and nothing where the severity was 4 or higher (yesterday's was reported at 5.1 on the Richter scale).
This morning was a perfect storm, so to speak, for a hamfest that also doubles as an emergency-preparedness show. I had my portable gear, flashlights, and jumpstart battery packs ready to go. I loaned one of my flashlights (it has a deployable mini-tripod and the light head is on a hinge that can be directed downward) to the ARRL DXCC card-checker table, and they were able to work on applications and look at lots of cards until the power came back on after 2.5 hours. The power outage affected much of Yuma, and not just the hamfest site.
All in all, it was a good event. At the end of the hamfest, there was a large barbecue in the main hall. Almost 300 were there to have some really good food. Now I'm back where I have been staying for the past couple of nights in California, before I drive back home tomorrow afternoon.
By the way, thanks to those who worked WD9EWK on 3 different passes this afternoon - AO-27 around 2135 UTC, then in a 30-minute period starting at 2235 UTC on FO-29 followed by AO-51.
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK - Calexico, California http://www.wd9ewk.net/
participants (3)
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Greg D. -
Patrick STODDARD -
Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)