Hi!

I just returned home in the past hour, after a fun day away from Phoenix in the mountains and trees of northern Arizona. It was a little breezy, some snow was still on the mountaintops and in shady spots in the areas around 7000 feet/2134m elevation or higher, and a great day to play radio.

I used the same spot I went to twice in 2008 to park on the DM35/DM45 grid boundary (112 degrees North). In fact, I was able to put my radio gear in the back of my truck exactly on the spot I used for those two trips last year, and then take the now- obligatory photos for VUCC documentation. I was along old US 66 just north of the I-40 freeway 20 miles/32km west of FLagstaff AZ:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=35+15.570+n+112...

I worked two AO-27 passes and two AO-51 passes from here this afternoon/evening. The ISS gear was turned off for the spacewalk, and remained off into the evening. SO-50 was passing by at almost the same times as the two AO-51 passes, and I decided to work the AO-51 V/U repeater instead of SO-50. I made 11 QSOs on each of the AO-27 passes, 10 on the first AO-51 pass to the east, and 6 on the later western AO-51 pass. Stations from southern Mexico to Alaska and Canada went in the log from there. Making 38 QSOs on 4 passes, and avoiding the heat in Phoenix... not a bad day.

This was my first time on AO-27 since it was brought back from the dead earlier this month. Nice to see so many stations on those 7- minute passes. Hopefully it stays operational for a long time, to fill in those afternoons before AO-51 comes by later in the day (for those of us in the western USA). Of course, the first AO-51 pass I had was full of stations. Not too many, later in the day, on the western pass.

Before I went out to the DM35/DM45 line, I took a bunch of pictures of the Flagstaff area including the Lowell Observatory that is above downtown Flagstaff. I'm thinking about taking the pictures I have from today, and making a small slide show and making it available to whoever wants it. With a digital camera I bought a year ago, I now have lots of pictures and - with the trips I've done in the last year - lots of stories I could put to "paper".

If I missed working you from DM35/DM45 today, I will be back in that area during the upcoming summertime. There is a hamfest in Williams, a small town about 10 miles/16km west of where I stopped today, and I would probably make a trip back to this spot like I did before the same hamfest last year. Plus any open weekend I have could be a good time to go there, when it is over 110F (44C) here in Phoenix.

Good night, and 73!

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