Hi Dave!

I'm not going to do much with PSAT this weekend. If there are PSAT passes when I have a break, I might give the 2m digipeater a shot. Otherwise, I'll try PSAT after the weekend. ISS passes, on the other hand, will be attempted if I'm not driving. Please use APRS messages, or insert a ">" before typing a line of text, so that I see more than just your call on my screen. If I only see a call on my screen, even if you were typing at me, I won't log that as a QSO.

I was not planning to do much from DM46, but Saturday evening via AO-73 is probably the best chance for that. Maybe Sunday morning, if I get up very early, where I can work an early FO-29 or AO-7 pass before I set out for DM47/57. I won't have the benefit of freeways in my travels up there, so I will need to watch my speeds on the highways across that part of Arizona (and southern Utah). I'm hoping the APRS digipeater on Navajo Mountain has some coverage where I'm going, being several thousand feet higher than the surrounding area. When I was last out this way in 2009, I didn't have anything for APRS with me.

73!

Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

On Tue, Jun 2, 2015 at 10:10 PM, David W0DHB dave@w0dhb.net wrote:

Hey Patrick

I'll be listening for ya . I need DM46,47,57. Might try ISS.. Would like to try PSAT, but it looks like that isn't working well.

Dave

-----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) Sent: Tuesday, June 2, 2015 10:14 PM To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] WD9EWK @ Show Low AZ hamfest & weekend grid expedition (6-7 June 2015)

Hi!

I will be on the road this weekend, starting this Friday evening (5 June) with a 3-hour drive to eastern Arizona before a Saturday (6 June) morning hamfest. After the hamfest, I will be driving and operating from grids in northern Arizona and southern Utah before I return home Sunday night. I'm not able to extend my weekend, so this will be a rapid-fire road trip covering over a thousand miles and several grids.

My activities will start with the White Mountain Hamfest in Show Low, in eastern Arizona. This hamfest is a half-day event, and I will have an AMSAT table at it, complete with satellite demonstrations during the morning. If you hear WD9EWK on the air Saturday morning, please call and be a part of the demonstrations. I hope to be on some AO-7, SO-50, and AO-73 passes before the hamfest wraps up around midday (1900 UTC).

After the hamfest, I will head north up to I-40. If the timing is right, I may be able to make a stop at the DM54/DM55 grid boundary for the AO-7 and FO-29 passes between 2030 and 2100 UTC Saturday afternoon. If the timing isn't right, I will at least try for grid DM54 near the hamfest to get that on the air once, before heading west to Flagstaff.

Once I'm done with DM54 or DM54/DM55, it will be a 4-hour drive to Page AZ, at Lake Powell and the Arizona/Utah state line, passing through Flagstaff as I leave I-40 and start on US-89. I may be able to work from grid DM45 on the way to Page - including some ISS passes. Between Flagstaff and Page, I don't plan on making many stops, as US-89 passes through the Navajo Nation reservation. If all goes well, I will wrap up Saturday in Page, in time to work the AO-73 pass around 0353 UTC. Since the Arizona/Utah state line - and the DM46/DM47 grid boundary - are very close to Page, I *may* be able to work from that grid boundary. At this part of the Arizona/Utah state line, the grid boundary is just inside northern Arizona.

Sunday (7 June) morning... my plans are to leave Page early, and make it to a spot in southern Utah north of Monument Valley (grids DM47 and DM57) in time for the SO-50 and AO-73 passes in the morning. I am not planning to make stops along the road between Page and the DM47/DM57 grid boundary, as I will need around 2 hours to get to that spot in time for the first SO-50 pass around 1510 UTC. The first AO-73 pass at DM47/DM57, around 1545 UTC, has a maximum elevation of 4 degrees. I should be able to work a few minutes of that very shallow pass out there, if my memory of that area from being out there in 2009 is correct.

Depending on how well the morning passes go, and how the weather is on Sunday, I may try to stick around for the first FO-29 pass up there at 2135 UTC. If I work lots of stations on the morning passes, I will move to one of two other locations for the 2135 UTC FO-29 pass: DM56/DM57 grid boundary just inside southern Utah, or the Four Corners Monument (only in grid DM56, about 100 yards/meters south of the DM56/DM57 grid boundary) to work from 4 states during that pass. If the weather goes bad, I may start my drive home early, but still try to work passes as I return to Phoenix. Wherever I end up for the 2135 UTC pass, that will probably be the last pass I work up there before I (quickly) drive home. From that area, I will have a 5- to 6- hour drive to get home.

If I can work the 2135 UTC FO-29 pass from the Four Corners Monument, I will probably use only one of my FT-817s and work the pass half-duplex. This would make it easier for me to walk around the marker where the four states come together. Otherwise, I'll work FO-29 with my normal SSB satellite setup wherever I happen to be at that time.

Logistics... I will use APRS as I drive, squawking as WD9EWK-9 as I normally do on these trips (visible at http://aprs.fi/WD9EWK-9 among other online places). This should do OK for much of my trip, but coverage could be spotty in northeastern Arizona and southeastern Utah east of Page and Lake Powell. There is a digipeater on a 10000-foot mountain near Page, but I'm not sure how well it will cover across the high deserts up there. I will also use my @WD9EWK Twitter feed to post updates during the weekend. If you do not use Twitter, it is visible online at http://twitter.com/WD9EWK without signing up for Twitter. Depending on how the mobile-phone networks across the Navajo Nation reservation have improved since I was last up there in 2009, I may be limited to using SMS messages to post updates to Twitter.

For all of my operating over the weekend, I will upload my QSOs to Logbook of the World after the weekend. I will also prepare QSL cards for each of the locations I work from. Just drop me an e-mail with the QSO details, and I'll send you a card (or cards). No need to send me cards or an SASE for this trip.

73!

Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb