Hi!

I did not plan on a lot of radio today, since I was in metro Vancouver and CN89 is not a rare grid. I worked a couple of AO-7 passes, and a few others from two different locations south of Vancouver. One of those locations was standing on the USA/Canada border, west of the Peace Arch at the border between Washington state and British Columbia.

The first location was in grid CN89ob, a few miles/km north of the USA border in the south-side suburb of Surrey. I was heading down to the town of White Rock, which has a beach and was rather crowded today due to the heat gripping British Columbia just as it has much of eastern North America. I worked 2 HO-68 passes, 2 AO-7 passes, and an AO-27 pass. Twenty QSOs went in the log at this location. After spending some time in the town of White Rock, just north of the USA border with a busy waterfront, I went to the spot where I had thought about working some passes before I came up to Vancouver - at the Peace Arch, on the USA/Canada border between Washington state and British Columbia, where the I-5 and BC-99 freeways come together.

Peace Arch Park is actually two separate parks divided by the border - a provincial park in British Columbia, and a state park in Washington state. Effectively, this is one large park that sprawls across the border, with the white arch standing on the border along with the other boundary markers in the park(s). As long as one exits the park the way it was entered, there are no border checks. I could not drive out to this point, but I could walk out there. I did that, taking my IC-T7H HT along with my Elk 2m/70cm log periodic, a camera, and my Garmin GPS receiver.

At this point on the USA/Canada border, it is supposed to be at 49 degrees North exactly. Surveying technology over 100 years ago is not what it is now, and the international border through the park is just north of 49 degrees North. I stood next to a metal marker west of the Peace Arch in CN89oa (49 0.119 N 122 45.438 W). I stood with one foot on each side of the border, and identified my station using both of my callsigns WD9EWK and VA7EWK during two passes - one AO-27 pass, followed by an AO-51 pass. This was the first time I had every worked satellites from Washington state, albeit with only one foot inside the state.

It was a hot day for this part of North America. Vancouver saw 95F/35C, and in the sunlight I was sweating a lot. I stood at the border to work the AO-27 pass at 2218 UTC, and 7 minutes was more than enough. I was able to log 6 QSOs with stations from central Mexico up to Vancouver itself on this pass. I had thought about heading back to Vancouver after this pass, but thought I might try the upcoming AO-51 pass around 2307 UTC. I stayed, sitting in the shade just north of the boundary until the AO-51 pass. Despite using only 5 watts sitting so far west on a pass to my east, I was able to log 10 more QSOs on AO-51. Then I walked north back to my rental car - sitting in a parking lot on the Canadian side of the border - to return to Vancouver for the rest of the day.

Around the time of the AO-51 pass, a couple of US Customs and Border Protection offices walked by me while escorting someone to the Canada Customs building on the north side of the park. A few minutes later, the officers passed by me as I walked back to my car. Other than pleasantries, there were no questions about the radio and antenna I was carrying with me. Had I tried to bring more gear, and especially if I carried the gear in a bag or backpack, it is possible there would have been more interest in what I was doing while standing on the international border.

Much of the border east of this park in this area has no fence, and only has the concrete border markers. There is water to the west. Between patrols by officials on both sides, along with cameras and other sensors that monitor for people crossing away from an official border crossing, I figured the park had to be the place I attempted this. I had no intention of trying this from any other point on the border, since I could stay within the boundaries of the two parks and freely cross between the two countries without issue. I did put my US passport in my pocket, just in case - but it was not needed.

I will have double-sided QSL cards prepared for the QSOs made at the border. One side will have information for the USA side of the border (Blaine, Washington, in Whatcom County), and the other for Surrey, British Columbia. For these QSOs, and any others during this trip, I will be happy to send you my QSL card(s) if you e-mail me with the QSO details. For contacts with VA7EWK, I *am* interested in receiving your QSL cards.

Tomorrow (Friday) will be my day-trip toward Whistler and grid CO80. Whenever I wake up, I will get ready for the two-hour drive up from Vancouver. I hope to be up there in time for passes in the afternoon, but may get up there earlier. I am not going to commit to a specific time or time window when to look for me, since it is now 0040 local (0740 UTC), and I need to get some sleep. I will work both FM and SSB satellites, including AO-7 after 0000 UTC when it should return to mode B. I may not be on every pass in the afternoon and early evening, but will try to make a decent effort to be on from CO80. If I have Internet access from wherever I stop and operate from, I will post a message to the -BB.

73!

Patrick VA7EWK/WD9EWK - North Vancouver, British Columbia http://www.wd9ewk.net/