Monday the 17th: Took Kenwood D7 H/T ,compass and arrow antenna out into a 10 acre field and waited for an AO-51 pass.....it was right where it was supposed to be and I was able to follow it with no problem.....heard QSO's for most of the pass....had somewhat of a sound similar to sideband transmissions.I'm excited.....just a week before I thought I would need a digital compass and inclination meter to pinpoint the bird all through the pass :)

Tuesday the 18th:

Went out again and thought I would try to make a contact myself.....tracked the bird ok threw out my call and grid square but never heard myself in the downlink.......after the pass I get on a local repeater with the same H/T and the guys say I'm having a hard time getting into the repeater.......I don't usually use the Kenwood for voice...its primarily my portable APRS radio......I've known since day one it didnt have the "range" my Yaesu H/T's did.....

Wednesday the 19th

I decide to check the power output on the Kenwood H/T.....1 watt on high on VHF...5-7 watts on UHF depending on battery or external power......Now I'm thinking this explains a lot....I bet the VHF was bad all along.....I'm just amazed how well it had worked for APRS the past few months with 1 watt.

Thursday the 20th

I use the Kenwood to receive on UHF and a Yaesu VX-170 to transmit on VHF.....bypass the duplever on the Arrow antenna but I just couldnt point the antenna hold both ht's....the mike cord....headphone cable and coax from both radios were more than a handfull :)

Friday the 20th

I set up on a camera tripod.....got the wire jungle a little more under control and was able to hear myself in the downlink.....no one came back to me....there were a lot of stations in the mix......

Cant wait to get the Kenwood D-7 back.....I think its gonna be a lot easier to get a contact under my belt with just one radio to contend with.......But all that said I'M EXCITED......Hearing my own voice in the downlink just proved that it can be done !!!!!!!!!

73

KI4OVO

AMSAT # 36579