Hi Ray!

My "KISS satellite station" (_http://gvarc.us_ (http://gvarc.us) ,  click on Technical Page) made 14 SKN QSOs this year, on AO-7, FO-29 and  VO-52.

Nice setup!

I'll send you my "official" SKN report directly. I improved on my SKN effort from last year. I made 5 QSOs with 4 stations on 3 different satellites within the first 90 minutes of the new year (UTC time). With the unusually cold weather that has hit the Arizona deserts in the past few days, I didn't stay out for later passes Friday evening and didn't go out yesterday. Too bad I wasn't able to hook up with your KISS station.

Friday was the start of my 3-day holiday weekend. I worked a VO-52 pass that morning from my "home QTH", a Phoenix city park on the DM33xp/DM43ap grid boundary. Then I drove north of Phoenix to see (from a distance) some snowcapped mountains. I worked a few passes in the afternoon from a rest area about 50 miles/80km north of Phoenix in grid DM34we, which represented my last activity for 2010. I drove back to Phoenix in time for SKN, back to the park where I had worked VO-52 earlier, for my first satellite QSOs in 2011 using my all-mode station (two FT-817NDs, Elk log periodic).

AO-51 was my first pass for SKN, at 0023 UTC. This was a nice pass, with maximum elevation of 26 degrees for those of us near the west coast. For a few minutes, I heard nobody else on the satellite. Kerry WC7V showed up as the satellite moved to the north, and we made a quick QSO near the midpoint of the pass. I did not attempt to work anyone else on the AO-51 pass, since I knew there was an FO-29 pass coming up at 0031 UTC. The FO-29 pass would be up to a maximum elevation of 66 degrees, and give me about 20 minutes to (hopefully) work at least one QSO there.

I picked out a spot on the FO-29 downlink, and started to call CQ. Several minutes into the pass, John W9EN heard me. We made a quick QSO, as someone else was very close to that spot. A few minutes later, George WA5KBH heard me and we made another quick QSO. At this point, I had exceeded my 2010 SKN QSO count (2), and I put some gloves on to deal with the cold breeze before AO-7 popped up at 0100 UTC.

Last year, since the 31st was a workday, I was only able to work one AO-7 pass on New Year's Eve (after midnight on the UTC clock) for SKN. This year, it was the third satellite I'd work. The pass went almost over my head, maximum elevation of 89 degrees, and the satellite would be in view for 22 minutes. I made 2 QSOs on the pass, both near the midpoint. Mike WA6ARA called me first, then John W9EN called me again. After I signed off with W9EN, I decided that would be my last QSO of the evening.

For the few times I work CW, I prefer a keyer and paddle over a straight key. Once in a while, like SKN, the straight key is fun again. Thanks to everyone who put up with my weak signals and so-so CW sending with my left hand while holding the antenna with my other hand.

73!

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