Hello from Vancouver!

I am enjoying this quick vacation to Canada. I made my trip to grid CO80 - the ski resort at Whistler, north of Vancouver - on Friday. Due to constant rain and some snow, I did not attempt to work the radio from up there. I was able to do some operating on Saturday from the Vancouver area, and hope for a little more tomorrow (Sunday).

For Saturday, I parked near an elementary school in the suburb of Burnaby, east of downtown Vancouver. It was on a high spot in this city built on hills, and a good spot for satellite operating. On AO-16, I used one of my FT-817NDs (I did not bring both of them) with a Maldol AH-510R telescoping whip. To avoid stressing the BNC connector on the radio, I put a short length of coax on the radio with an adapter so I could hold the antenna away from the radio. I used the strap on the radio's carrying case to put the radio around my neck, and used the mic with my other hand. I was able to do a good job with the antenna in this unusual configuration. It was a challenge to break through the eastern wall of stations on the first AO-16 pass, but was able to work 7 stations on the 2237 UTC pass and one more QSO on the later pass at 0016 UTC.

Later in the evening on AO-51, I used the same AH-510R whip directly on my IC-T7H HT. For the first pass I tried at 0150 UTC, I worked 8 stations. Thanks to Angelo N5UXT, for trying to cut a hole in the early part of the pass so I could get in with my HT/whip station. I knew I would be at a disadvantage in leaving my Yagi and log periodic antennas at home, but it helped to keep my checked bag a little lighter - and less for the airport security to get curious about. I worked 3 more stations on the western pass at 0330 UTC.

I may be able to get on AO-16 Sunday afternoon. There is a slight possibility I might get on VO-52 in the late morning. It may be on a western pass only. I now have a small "netbook" laptop, which has been very useful on this trip. I can run a tracking program - for this experiment, VO-52 - and follow the program's display to set my transmit frequency up to the satellite if I try a pass. I do not have both of my FT-817NDs with me, and I have only had this laptop since last Tuesday - not enough time for me to get the CAT cable working between this laptop and the radio. I will start my experimenting with this laptop to control both of my 817s, which would help me out a lot. :-)

For anyone who works CJ7EWK this weekend, I will be happy to QSL our contact(s). Please e-mail me the QSO information, and I will send you my CJ7EWK QSL after I return to Arizona if you are in the log.

73!

Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK (CJ7EWK on the satellites this weekend) http://www.wd9ewk.net/