This past weekend on the birds was second to none that I've experienced in the past two years. We had grid dxpeditions on the east and west coast, two hamfest demonstrations, the Boy Scout Jamboree stations and an Alaska Statehood special event station operating.
Patrick, WD9EWK, was at the Old Pueblo Radio Club Hamfest in Tucson and made a big detour to continue down I-10 to the Arizona/New Mexico state line where he operated from in the afternoon. Doug, KD8CAO, was at the Holland Michigan Lakeshore Super Swap Hamfest and put on a demonstration there.
Mark WA8SME operated on one AO-27 pass from the DN00/DN01 grid boundary, two very rare Nevada grids. John W6ZKH operated from DM07 but had some trouble with his equipment on this particular pass. He said he will go back some day. Mark also said he might be able to operate from DM07 in the near future.
Then we had the Boy Scouts Jamboree on the Air with quite a few different stations operating on all of the FM birds including K2BSA/5, W0S, K5B etc.
The most prominent grid dxpedition this weekend was by Richard, N2SPI. He had originally planned to operate from FN53, FN56, FN57, FN66 and FN67 but he found a way to also operate from FN55 and FN65 as well. He worked on the FM birds as well as VO-52. This operation began Saturday morning and finished up Sunday afternoon, about 30 hours from the first qso until the last on AO-27 at 1853z. Richard operated at least one pass in each of seven grids and never operated on a grid boundary. This was quite a trip! Richard returned back to Massachusetts late Sunday night.
The weekend rounded out with an announcement to look for KL5O, an Alaska Special Event Station, on the birds. The AO-7 pass Sunday evening at 0043Z had at least 14 different stations operating including WV9E, KE5GFJ, WA4NVM, AA4FL, AA5PK, K6CDW, KE2CKO, K0OU, K3SZH, AJ9K, KD8CAO, W7LRD, K8YSE and KL5O! KL5O was down around 937 late in the pass. So if you think that there is no one on AO-7, this should put that thought to rest. Many of them were talking about KL5O. A special event does draw people to the birds just like it does on the HF bands. Of course working Alaska is a special treat under any situation. I believe KL7XJ was the operator.
Activity is on the rise on the SSB birds in general. Many that have been active on the FM birds are getting equipment set up for the SSB/CW birds. It's nice to be able to have a qso that involves more than a callsign and grid exchange. We hope to have FO-29 back soon but VO-52 and AO-7 are there for us every day.
A big thanks to all of the grid dxpeditioners who spent a lot of time and money operating from places away from their homes. They have given us many new grids. I hope this encourages others to try their hand at operating from other grids. It's a lot of work but you will have a lot of fun and satisfaction doing it.
73, John K8YSE
John Papay john@papays.com
DITTO!
73 Bob W7LRD
Seattle
----- Original Message ----- From: "John Papay" john@papays.com To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 7:19:46 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: [amsat-bb] Weekend on the Birds
This past weekend on the birds was second to none that I've experienced in the past two years. We had grid dxpeditions on the east and west coast, two hamfest demonstrations, the Boy Scout Jamboree stations and an Alaska Statehood special event station operating.
Patrick, WD9EWK, was at the Old Pueblo Radio Club Hamfest in Tucson and made a big detour to continue down I-10 to the Arizona/New Mexico state line where he operated from in the afternoon. Doug, KD8CAO, was at the Holland Michigan Lakeshore Super Swap Hamfest and put on a demonstration there.
Mark WA8SME operated on one AO-27 pass from the DN00/DN01 grid boundary, two very rare Nevada grids. John W6ZKH operated from DM07 but had some trouble with his equipment on this particular pass. He said he will go back some day. Mark also said he might be able to operate from DM07 in the near future.
Then we had the Boy Scouts Jamboree on the Air with quite a few different stations operating on all of the FM birds including K2BSA/5, W0S, K5B etc.
The most prominent grid dxpedition this weekend was by Richard, N2SPI. He had originally planned to operate from FN53, FN56, FN57, FN66 and FN67 but he found a way to also operate from FN55 and FN65 as well. He worked on the FM birds as well as VO-52. This operation began Saturday morning and finished up Sunday afternoon, about 30 hours from the first qso until the last on AO-27 at 1853z. Richard operated at least one pass in each of seven grids and never operated on a grid boundary. This was quite a trip! Richard returned back to Massachusetts late Sunday night.
The weekend rounded out with an announcement to look for KL5O, an Alaska Special Event Station, on the birds. The AO-7 pass Sunday evening at 0043Z had at least 14 different stations operating including WV9E, KE5GFJ, WA4NVM, AA4FL, AA5PK, K6CDW, KE2CKO, K0OU, K3SZH, AJ9K, KD8CAO, W7LRD, K8YSE and KL5O! KL5O was down around 937 late in the pass. So if you think that there is no one on AO-7, this should put that thought to rest. Many of them were talking about KL5O. A special event does draw people to the birds just like it does on the HF bands. Of course working Alaska is a special treat under any situation. I believe KL7XJ was the operator.
Activity is on the rise on the SSB birds in general. Many that have been active on the FM birds are getting equipment set up for the SSB/CW birds. It's nice to be able to have a qso that involves more than a callsign and grid exchange. We hope to have FO-29 back soon but VO-52 and AO-7 are there for us every day.
A big thanks to all of the grid dxpeditioners who spent a lot of time and money operating from places away from their homes. They have given us many new grids. I hope this encourages others to try their hand at operating from other grids. It's a lot of work but you will have a lot of fun and satisfaction doing it.
73, John K8YSE
John Papay john@papays.com
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On Monday, October 19, 2009 at 9:19 PM, John Papay wrote:
Activity is on the rise on the SSB birds in general. Many that have been active on the FM birds are getting equipment set up for the SSB/CW birds. It's nice to be able to have a qso that involves more than a callsign and grid exchange. We hope to have FO-29 back soon but VO-52 and AO-7 are there for us every day.
John, you should have been on AO-7 Mode A during the ~0140Z pass. There were six stations (that I know of) on that pass. Most Mode A activity I've ever heard.
Glenn AA5PK
John and all,
Well-said.
It's sad that some continue to intentionally and maliciously jam AO-51 during operations like Richard's, but it appears to be something with a history. I heard (off the board) of cases just like the one I posted about over the weekend that date back almost a decade involving other satellites. It's sad.
You're also very right about how a Special Event can, indeed, draw folks to the satellites. The 13 Colonies and K5E events earlier this year are other examples. I hope more people will consider including the satellites, moving forward, as they plan their special events. If you are reading this and learn of a special event coming up that interests you but does not include the satellites, contact the operators and ask them to think about including the birds.
Thanks to everyone for taking the time and making the efforts to make this weekend so dynamic on the satellites. It was great fun!
73 to all,
Tim - N3TL
________________________________ From: John Papay john@papays.com To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 10:19:46 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] Weekend on the Birds
This past weekend on the birds was second to none that I've experienced in the past two years.. We had grid dxpeditions on the east and west coast, two hamfest demonstrations, the Boy Scout Jamboree stations and an Alaska Statehood special event station operating.
Patrick, WD9EWK, was at the Old Pueblo Radio Club Hamfest in Tucson and made a big detour to continue down I-10 to the Arizona/New Mexico state line where he operated from in the afternoon. Doug, KD8CAO, was at the Holland Michigan Lakeshore Super Swap Hamfest and put on a demonstration there.
Mark WA8SME operated on one AO-27 pass from the DN00/DN01 grid boundary, two very rare Nevada grids. John W6ZKH operated from DM07 but had some trouble with his equipment on this particular pass. He said he will go back some day. Mark also said he might be able to operate from DM07 in the near future.
Then we had the Boy Scouts Jamboree on the Air with quite a few different stations operating on all of the FM birds including K2BSA/5, W0S, K5B etc.
The most prominent grid dxpedition this weekend was by Richard, N2SPI. He had originally planned to operate from FN53, FN56, FN57, FN66 and FN67 but he found a way to also operate from FN55 and FN65 as well. He worked on the FM birds as well as VO-52. This operation began Saturday morning and finished up Sunday afternoon, about 30 hours from the first qso until the last on AO-27 at 1853z. Richard operated at least one pass in each of seven grids and never operated on a grid boundary. This was quite a trip! Richard returned back to Massachusetts late Sunday night.
The weekend rounded out with an announcement to look for KL5O, an Alaska Special Event Station, on the birds. The AO-7 pass Sunday evening at 0043Z had at least 14 different stations operating including WV9E, KE5GFJ, WA4NVM, AA4FL, AA5PK, K6CDW, KE2CKO, K0OU, K3SZH, AJ9K, KD8CAO, W7LRD, K8YSE and KL5O! KL5O was down around 937 late in the pass. So if you think that there is no one on AO-7, this should put that thought to rest. Many of them were talking about KL5O. A special event does draw people to the birds just like it does on the HF bands. Of course working Alaska is a special treat under any situation. I believe KL7XJ was the operator.
Activity is on the rise on the SSB birds in general. Many that have been active on the FM birds are getting equipment set up for the SSB/CW birds. It's nice to be able to have a qso that involves more than a callsign and grid exchange. We hope to have FO-29 back soon but VO-52 and AO-7 are there for us every day.
A big thanks to all of the grid dxpeditioners who spent a lot of time and money operating from places away from their homes. They have given us many new grids. I hope this encourages others to try their hand at operating from other grids. It's a lot of work but you will have a lot of fun and satisfaction doing it.
73, John K8YSE
John Papay john@papays.com
_______________________________________________ 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
John Papay wrote:
This past weekend on the birds was second to none that I've experienced in the past two years. We had grid dxpeditions on the east and west coast, two hamfest demonstrations, the Boy Scout Jamboree stations and an Alaska Statehood special event station operating.
Patrick, WD9EWK, was at the Old Pueblo Radio Club Hamfest in Tucson and made a big detour to continue down I-10 to the Arizona/New Mexico state line where he operated from in the afternoon. Doug, KD8CAO, was at the Holland Michigan Lakeshore Super Swap Hamfest and put on a demonstration there.
Mark WA8SME operated on one AO-27 pass from the DN00/DN01 grid boundary, two very rare Nevada grids. John W6ZKH operated from DM07 but had some trouble with his equipment on this particular pass. He said he will go back some day. Mark also said he might be able to operate from DM07 in the near future.
Then we had the Boy Scouts Jamboree on the Air with quite a few different stations operating on all of the FM birds including K2BSA/5, W0S, K5B etc.
The most prominent grid dxpedition this weekend was by Richard, N2SPI. He had originally planned to operate from FN53, FN56, FN57, FN66 and FN67 but he found a way to also operate from FN55 and FN65 as well. He worked on the FM birds as well as VO-52. This operation began Saturday morning and finished up Sunday afternoon, about 30 hours from the first qso until the last on AO-27 at 1853z. Richard operated at least one pass in each of seven grids and never operated on a grid boundary. This was quite a trip! Richard returned back to Massachusetts late Sunday night.
The weekend rounded out with an announcement to look for KL5O, an Alaska Special Event Station, on the birds. The AO-7 pass Sunday evening at 0043Z had at least 14 different stations operating including WV9E, KE5GFJ, WA4NVM, AA4FL, AA5PK, K6CDW, KE2CKO, K0OU, K3SZH, AJ9K, KD8CAO, W7LRD, K8YSE and KL5O! KL5O was down around 937 late in the pass. So if you think that there is no one on AO-7, this should put that thought to rest. Many of them were talking about KL5O. A special event does draw people to the birds just like it does on the HF bands. Of course working Alaska is a special treat under any situation. I believe KL7XJ was the operator.
Activity is on the rise on the SSB birds in general. Many that have been active on the FM birds are getting equipment set up for the SSB/CW birds. It's nice to be able to have a qso that involves more than a callsign and grid exchange. We hope to have FO-29 back soon but VO-52 and AO-7 are there for us every day.
A big thanks to all of the grid dxpeditioners who spent a lot of time and money operating from places away from their homes. They have given us many new grids. I hope this encourages others to try their hand at operating from other grids. It's a lot of work but you will have a lot of fun and satisfaction doing it.
73, John K8YSE
John Papay john@papays.com
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
Hi John,
Yes it was a busy weekend and yes it was I, KL7XJ operating as KL5O special event station. I was the only Satellite op from Alaska. We had numerous HF stations on state wide. This our states 50th statehood anniversary year. I was contacted shortly before and asked to do the satellite ops. Did not have much time to get a message out to let folks know about the event. The dates were selected as the anniversary when the US purchased Alaska from Russia for 2 cents an acre. I want to thank all the stations that participated. I know there were others that were trying to get the contact. Again I apologize for not getting more info out in time.. The www.KL5O.com website will have the QSL info. My logs have been submitted.
73, Dale - KL7XJ
participants (5)
-
Bob- W7LRD -
Dale Hershberger -
Glenn AA5PK -
John Papay -
Tim - N3TL