Hey everyone,

Over the weekend, I ended up working four passes of AO-51 running 300 milliwatts out of my Yaesu VX-7R HT, which was powered for these passes by 2 AA Duracell batteries. I used the Elk 2M/440L5 log periodic antenna - handheld - for all four passes.

Here are some numbers:

I made a total of 11 contacts in the 4 passes (1 with 4 contacts, 1 with 3, and 2 with 2).

The average elevation of the satellite during these 11 contacts was 34.1454 degrees. The average range was 1,364.0726 kilometers/847.5954 miles.

A contact with KG4ZLB at 00:26 UTC on 12 October found the satellite closest to me of any contact – 53.5 degrees at a range of 959.810 kilometers/596.3995 miles. A contact with WD9EWK at 01:09 UTC on 11 October found the satellite at its most distant for any contact – 12.3 degrees at a range of 2,197.771 kilometers/1,359.418 miles.

That was fun!

I’m now really looking forward to the last week of the month, when the “regular” FM pair is scheduled (based on what I read on the Web site Sunday night) to be configured for SSB up and FM down – the opposite of AO-16’s current, very unique mode (the downlink actually is dual sideband, and many of you likely have read in AMSAT Journal coverage of AO-16’s rebirth).

73 to all,

Tim – N3TL AMSAT Member No. 36820 Athens, Ga. – EM84ha