Hi!

After being home for a couple of days, I am starting to go through the hundreds of photos, some video clips, and audio recordings I accumulated from my trip to the ARRL Centennial Convention in Hartford (and post-convention road trip to Maine) last weekend. We have no videos or audio recordings from AMSAT's training seminar last Thursday (17 July) or the forums on Friday (18 July) afternoon, due to a Connecticut state law forbidding the audio or video recording of those events. ARRL officials read a statement at the start of each forum when introducing the forum and presenter, with the reference to that state law. You are welcome to download the slideshows used during Thursday's training seminar (in PDF or PowerPoint formats) from:

http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=2914

I have posted one video of a demonstration from the plaza outside the Connecticut Convention Center in downtown Hartford - AO-7 at 2021 UTC last Saturday (19 July):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHd91H_t88o

During this short video, WD9EWK completed QSOs with 3 stations - PV8DX in Brazil, AA1UE in Massachusetts (he also worked me on the other AO-7 demo last Thursday, and visited the convention on Friday 18 July), and N5JF in Louisiana just before the satellite either switched off or switched to mode A. Thanks to Peter Portanova W2JV for working the camera during this demonstration, which occurred just after the end of the convention.

I have three other videos from the trip. These are not showing satellite operating, but are from either takeoffs or landings at airports. The aviation authorities in the USA now permit the use of small electronic devices that are in "airplane mode" throughout the flight, and the airline I flew on (Southwest Airlines) also permits the use of these devices, so I used my iPod Touch to make these videos. First, landing at Bradley International Airport (BDL) north of Hartford last Wednesday (16 July):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llShEdMy85o

Next, taking off from McCarran International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas last Monday (21 July) afternoon, and looking across the Las Vegas area as the plane turned toward Phoenix:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk1-WgIqlFM

Finally, for now, my flight from Las Vegas approaching the Phoenix area, touching down at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) about an hour after leaving Las Vegas, and taxiing to the terminal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaDogSSz-G0

This video shows parts of the north, east, and south sides of the Phoenix metropolitan area as the plane approached the airport.

Other videos will be coming in the next few days - slideshows with audio from the other AO-7 demonstration at the convention on 17 July, our ISS QSO on 19 July, and some of the passes I worked from grids FN56 and FN66 in Maine on 20 July.

73!

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