Yes...Jim you were my first...(whens the last time you heard THAT? :) )

I understand the need to keep QSO conversation short--similar to contest work.

I think the skill for listening and processing phonetic calls and info is the same as I learned as an instrumnent rating in-training pilot. Its all new to the ear so we must get in the habit of decoding the information. Next time I'll have my recorder running so I dont have to write everything down.

Thanks Jim, Sebastion, and all...I'm going to try out SO-50 this afternoon. And will try AO51 again after that.

Curt KU8L EN82

Jim Danehy wrote:

I worked KU8L and I don't know if I was his first satellite QSO but glad to welcome him. See his post on being new to the birds. . . . he indicated we talk FAST . . . well Sebastian, W4AS covered why we do . . . nice comment Sebastian . . . . it is very nice to see newcomers post with comments . . . we need more of that . . . . we also need to lead by example by using intelligent operating procedures . . . AO51 is a great satellite . . . as Sebastian has pointed out , you can rag chew for 10 minutes on AO 7, VO 52 or FO 29 on SSB . . . AO 16 although not with us much longer, also has some "group discussions" on it . . . .

Keep up the good work . . . . when an expedition to a Grid Square is in operation PLEASE defer to that station who has put in a lot of time, effort and probably expense to give folks a new one . . . the operator of that new GRID should probably try to announce in some manner that he is operating a Grid Expedition so some who might not know will get the message .

GRID EXPEDITION GRID EXPEDITION

73 Jim W9VNE

---

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 Jim!

I worked KU8L and I don't know if I was his first satellite QSO but glad to welcome him. See his post on being new to the birds. . . . he indicated we talk FAST . . . well Sebastian, W4AS covered why we do . . . nice comment Sebastian . . . .

KU8L - if you were trying to work that 0050 UTC (1950 EST) pass last night, I did not hear you on my recording. I hope to hear you on in the near future, so I can put your callsign in my log - from wherever I happen to be operating from. Welcome to this corner of our hobby!

I, like many, sometimes talk a little faster to complete QSOs. Especially when the contact might be for a new location, so others can make a contact with that station. Also, if the contact is with a station that I have worked many times in the past. If I work someone who has any difficulty with my call, I will s-l-o-w down a lot when spelling out my call phonetically. Sometimes it may sound painfully slow, but it helps with the ultimate goal of completing that contact.

Listen to passes, try to make some contacts, and run a recorder and listen to the passes again at a later time. Then you will get acquainted with the operating techniques, different stations, and how all of this happens in the span of 10 to 15 minutes.

. . . . when an expedition to a Grid Square is in operation PLEASE defer to that station who has put in a lot of time, effort and probably expense to give folks a new one

Speaking as one who has made several trips this year and put different grids on the air, this would be the ideal scenario. This would be similar to a DXpedition or a big-time contest station on HF that has a frequency all to themselves. With single-channel satellites, this is not a realistic wish. The best I can hope for is for passes that are orderly. Those wanting a QSO with the station in the rare/unusual grid(s) gets the chance for that, and someone wanting to work another station on the pass can do that as well. For a new satellite operator, a contact with *any* station could be a new one for them.

If I didn't accept this reality about the single-channel satellites, I could confine my grid expeditions to the non-FM satellites like VO-52 and FO-29. Then I could pick a spot in the transponder and stay there, allowing those who wanted a contact with the grid(s) I happened to be in could do that. Anyone else could just tune past me and go to another point on the transponder. This also dramatically limits the potential number of contacts I could make on a pass, since there are many more operators that have the gear for FM satellites compared to the non-FM birds.

73!

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