On Mon, Dec 12, 2011 at 9:28 AM, i8cvs domenico.i8cvs@tin.it wrote:

----- Original Message ----- From: "B J" va6bmj@gmail.com To: "amsat-bb" amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 5:42 AM Subject: [amsat-bb] 1961-12-12: OSCAR 1

...

It's quite amazing when one considers the historical context:

1957-10-04: Sputnik 1 launched 1959-09-12: Luna 2 launched to moon, impacted 1959-09-13 1960-08-12: Echo 1 launched 1961-04-12: Vostok 1 with Yuri Gagarin 1961-05-05: Freedom 7 with Alan Shepard 1971-07-21: Liberty Bell 7 with Gus Grissom 1961-08-06: Vostok 2 with Gherman Titov 1961-12-12: OSCAR 1 launched 1962-02-20: Friendship 7 with John Glenn 1962-07-10: Telstar 1 launched 1962-08-27: Mariner 2 launched to Venus, closest approach 1962-12-14

73s

Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

Hi Bernard VA6BMJ

Received the beacon of Sputnik 1 on 20,002 MHz with a RX Hallicrafters SX-28 and a long-wire antenna 40 meters long.

Received two beacons of Echo 1 on 108,000 and 108,030 MHz with homebrewed converter and Hallicrafters SX-28 as a 40 MHz IF and a 3 elements yagi.

Received the beacon of OSCAR-1 on 144,983 MHz with 2 meters homebrewed converter and Hallicrafters SX-28 as a 28 MHz IF with 6 element yagi.

Wow--you've been involved with it from the very beginning.

I was born 2 years before Sputnik, so I grew up with this as well. My earliest recollection was of a news item I saw on TV about an American launch. I was 3 or 4 years old at the time so I don't recall what the payload was or when it took place.

It's a privilege to be of a generation that got to see it all first-hand.

73s

Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL