First week as a satellite newbie
Greetings, all:
Bryan KL7CN/W6 here in CM98fn.
A week ago, the used IC-W32A and Arrow 146/437-10WBP I purchased from N3PKC via QRZ.com arrived. Hurray!
The very first night I stood in the back yard and waved the antenna above my head in one hand and held the IC-W32A in the other. I heard K6LCS on SO-50, but couldn't quite manage to get things aligned to get them to work.
The next night I brought the gear to our local Sacramento Java Users Group meeting. It might seem like a funny association, but there have been a couple members of the group who very recently got their radio licenses and I wanted to share the satellite experience with them.
So, later that night, Marnie KI6SXU and I stood on a darkened street corner between buildings in a business park in Rancho Cordova, and scanned the sky for SO-50 with the Arrow. Late-leaving workers and security guards made double-takes at us as they drove by, but then we heard him! Chris, KG7EZ in DN32! I stuttered through calling him back, and we made contact! Chris was very gracious and encouraging as we elatedly told him that he was our very first satellite contact!
After the thrill of first contact was done, we packed up the gear and went inside to look up the call sign and grid square -- sure enough, there he was! We spent the next hour looking at Google Maps, AMSAT.org, and QRZ.com. We completely skipped the rest of the meeting! Marnie, who's had her license all of two months, concluded that this was actually fun and that she could imagine herself chasing satellites with her retired grandfather at his middle-of-nowhere cabin in Arizona.
Since then, I've made 10 more contacts on both AO-51 and SO-50. It took a while to discover the mode schedule for AO-51; it sure started working better after the 17th when mode VU was turned on. I added an old tripod to the mix after watching K7AGE's excellent video tutorials which helps quite a bit. I've heard the ISS on 145.825 Packet but haven't heard anything else from them.
This is fun. It's inspiring! I keep imagining the science curriculum that could be written around this! I want to show it to my high-school age cousins!
Of course, I aspire to a lovely ground station with a wonderful computer-controlled high-power VHF/UHF transceiver and a fabulous antenna array mounted on rotors on a tower. But this manual operation makes it fun! I walk around outside on the sidewalk, moving the tripod so it has the best view of the pass. I make a complete fool of myself as I juggle the HT, the notebook with coordinates, the flashlight, and my cellphone to check the time. (Note to self: petition Icom to put a clock chip in their HTs -- obvious?) What a hoot!
Thanks for listening; I'll hear you on the birds -- I'll be the fellow that sounds like a noob.
-- bag
Hi Bryan,
Yep - "what a hoot" is appropriate. A hardy welcome to the wonderful world of amateur satellites and thanks for sharing your experience with us. I know you'll have many, many more fun passes.
With all the fun you're having - have you had a chance to join AMSAT??
Regards...Bill - N6GHz
Bryan Green wrote:
Greetings, all:
Bryan KL7CN/W6 here in CM98fn.
A week ago, the used IC-W32A and Arrow 146/437-10WBP I purchased from N3PKC via QRZ.com arrived. Hurray!
The very first night I stood in the back yard and waved the antenna above my head in one hand and held the IC-W32A in the other. I heard K6LCS on SO-50, but couldn't quite manage to get things aligned to get them to work.
The next night I brought the gear to our local Sacramento Java Users Group meeting. It might seem like a funny association, but there have been a couple members of the group who very recently got their radio licenses and I wanted to share the satellite experience with them.
So, later that night, Marnie KI6SXU and I stood on a darkened street corner between buildings in a business park in Rancho Cordova, and scanned the sky for SO-50 with the Arrow. Late-leaving workers and security guards made double-takes at us as they drove by, but then we heard him! Chris, KG7EZ in DN32! I stuttered through calling him back, and we made contact! Chris was very gracious and encouraging as we elatedly told him that he was our very first satellite contact!
After the thrill of first contact was done, we packed up the gear and went inside to look up the call sign and grid square -- sure enough, there he was! We spent the next hour looking at Google Maps, AMSAT.org, and QRZ.com. We completely skipped the rest of the meeting! Marnie, who's had her license all of two months, concluded that this was actually fun and that she could imagine herself chasing satellites with her retired grandfather at his middle-of-nowhere cabin in Arizona.
Since then, I've made 10 more contacts on both AO-51 and SO-50. It took a while to discover the mode schedule for AO-51; it sure started working better after the 17th when mode VU was turned on. I added an old tripod to the mix after watching K7AGE's excellent video tutorials which helps quite a bit. I've heard the ISS on 145.825 Packet but haven't heard anything else from them.
This is fun. It's inspiring! I keep imagining the science curriculum that could be written around this! I want to show it to my high-school age cousins!
Of course, I aspire to a lovely ground station with a wonderful computer-controlled high-power VHF/UHF transceiver and a fabulous antenna array mounted on rotors on a tower. But this manual operation makes it fun! I walk around outside on the sidewalk, moving the tripod so it has the best view of the pass. I make a complete fool of myself as I juggle the HT, the notebook with coordinates, the flashlight, and my cellphone to check the time. (Note to self: petition Icom to put a clock chip in their HTs -- obvious?) What a hoot!
Thanks for listening; I'll hear you on the birds -- I'll be the fellow that sounds like a noob.
-- bag _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Hello Bryan.
Thank you for sharing your first week with the BB.
What a breath of fresh air.
Welcome aboard.
73, Dave. G1OCN AMSAT UK 5766 IO80SM Portland. Dorset.
That is a wonderful narrative, and would make a real nice small article for the AMSAT Journal, maybe along with a few pictures!
Congratulations, and welcome to the satellites.
73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Operations
----- Original Message ----- From: "Bryan Green" bag@mac.com To: "AMSAT-BB" amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 1:21 AM Subject: [amsat-bb] First week as a satellite newbie
Greetings, all:
Bryan KL7CN/W6 here in CM98fn.
A week ago, the used IC-W32A and Arrow 146/437-10WBP I purchased from N3PKC via QRZ.com arrived. Hurray!
The very first night I stood in the back yard and waved the antenna above my head in one hand and held the IC-W32A in the other. I heard K6LCS on SO-50, but couldn't quite manage to get things aligned to get them to work.
The next night I brought the gear to our local Sacramento Java Users Group meeting. It might seem like a funny association, but there have been a couple members of the group who very recently got their radio licenses and I wanted to share the satellite experience with them.
So, later that night, Marnie KI6SXU and I stood on a darkened street corner between buildings in a business park in Rancho Cordova, and scanned the sky for SO-50 with the Arrow. Late-leaving workers and security guards made double-takes at us as they drove by, but then we heard him! Chris, KG7EZ in DN32! I stuttered through calling him back, and we made contact! Chris was very gracious and encouraging as we elatedly told him that he was our very first satellite contact!
After the thrill of first contact was done, we packed up the gear and went inside to look up the call sign and grid square -- sure enough, there he was! We spent the next hour looking at Google Maps, AMSAT.org, and QRZ.com. We completely skipped the rest of the meeting! Marnie, who's had her license all of two months, concluded that this was actually fun and that she could imagine herself chasing satellites with her retired grandfather at his middle-of-nowhere cabin in Arizona.
Since then, I've made 10 more contacts on both AO-51 and SO-50. It took a while to discover the mode schedule for AO-51; it sure started working better after the 17th when mode VU was turned on. I added an old tripod to the mix after watching K7AGE's excellent video tutorials which helps quite a bit. I've heard the ISS on 145.825 Packet but haven't heard anything else from them.
This is fun. It's inspiring! I keep imagining the science curriculum that could be written around this! I want to show it to my high-school age cousins!
Of course, I aspire to a lovely ground station with a wonderful computer-controlled high-power VHF/UHF transceiver and a fabulous antenna array mounted on rotors on a tower. But this manual operation makes it fun! I walk around outside on the sidewalk, moving the tripod so it has the best view of the pass. I make a complete fool of myself as I juggle the HT, the notebook with coordinates, the flashlight, and my cellphone to check the time. (Note to self: petition Icom to put a clock chip in their HTs -- obvious?) What a hoot!
Thanks for listening; I'll hear you on the birds -- I'll be the fellow that sounds like a noob.
-- bag _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Bryan Green wrote:
This is fun. It's inspiring! I keep imagining the science curriculum that could be written around this! I want to show it to my high-school age cousins!
It's great, isn't it?
Of course, I aspire to a lovely ground station with a wonderful computer-controlled high-power VHF/UHF transceiver and a fabulous antenna array mounted on rotors on a tower. But this manual operation makes it fun! I walk around outside on the sidewalk, moving the tripod so it has the best view of the pass. I make a complete fool of myself as I juggle the HT, the notebook with coordinates, the flashlight, and my cellphone to check the time. (Note to self: petition Icom to put a clock chip in their HTs -- obvious?) What a hoot!
Heh. I think handheld operation is the best, especially if you get a couple of good clear passes and AO-51 in QRP mode. While I'd like to have a whole load of steerable aerials and all the goodies, standing there with a handheld and a homebrew cross dipole just seems more hardcore ;-)
Gordon
On Nov 19, 2008, at 7:19 AM, Gordon JC Pearce MM3YEQ wrote:
Heh. I think handheld operation is the best, especially if you get a couple of good clear passes and AO-51 in QRP mode. While I'd like to have a whole load of steerable aerials and all the goodies, standing there with a handheld and a homebrew cross dipole just seems more hardcore ;-)
Thanks, Gordon!
I have discovered quite a bit in the past week. This morning was particularly fun, since I got up very early and made the far-eastern AO-51 pass at 1330Z (05:30 local), and made contact with 8 stations including a VE2 in FN36. I also learned a very valuable lesson: always take your keys with you when you go outside -- I managed to lock myself and my wife out of the house. She had actually gotten up with me to hear me talk to space aliens as she calls it, and was bemused at my mishap. I took her to breakfast later to make up for it.
The best part so far has been being on the other end of a demonstration for a ham radio class conducted by KL4E in Anchorage -- second best has been explaining to the neighborhood kids exactly what I'm doing.
So, there you go. See you on the satellites!
-- bag
participants (5)
-
Andrew Glasbrenner -
Bill Ress -
Bryan Green -
Dave Aitch -
Gordon JC Pearce MM3YEQ