Hi!

Thanks to all the stations who heard WD9EWK on AO-51 during two passes this evening (0152-0203 and 0329-0343 UTC). I was doing another presentation/demonstration for the ThunderBird Amateur Radio Club (W7TBC) at their monthly meeting, a follow-up to a presentation/demonstration I gave in March. This time, we were trying to get club members set up to make their first satellite contacts. We had success on that front tonight, for a couple of members. We were at the Thunderbird School of Global Management campus in Glendale, a west-side suburb of Phoenix, in grid DM33vo:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=33.6219+n+112.1...

At the club's June meeting, kits for a WA5VJB "Cheap Yagi" for the FM satellites were distributed (2 elements on 2m, 5 elements on 70cm, plus the 2m/70cm "duplexer" or band splitter). I think I counted 4 of them at tonight's meeting, plus a few other club members had HTs with telescoping-whip antennas ready to give it a try tonight.

The 0152-0203 UTC pass was a demonstration where the members tested their gear on a low (15-degree) pass. I made 7 contacts with stations in Florida, Michigan, Mississippi, Arizona, Minnesota, and central Mexico during that pass. Between the two passes, the club had their normal meeting and I had a question-and-answer session along with time to verify radio setups for the later - and better (45 degrees maximum elevation to the west) - pass.

The later pass had a fair amount of activity. Two of the club members made satellite contacts on that pass. Jeff W0NWA worked Bernardo 6I2HWB in southern Baja California (DL44), and Bob K7UNL worked me (a real "DX" contact, separated by 20 feet or roughly 6m) followed by Jeff K7WIN in southeastern Arizona (DM41). I ended up with 8 QSOs on the later pass with stations in California, Arizona, Mexico and Canada. A couple of members attempted to make contacts without success, and others just listened to the pass.

Despite the heat - for the 0329 UTC pass, 2029 local time and the sun setting about 30 to 45 minutes earlier, it was still 105F/41C outside with a bit of humidity. We had a great time, and for a couple of the club members they now have satellite contacts for their logs. We may do another of these hands-on demonstrations in a few months, when it is not so hot outside. I let the club officers know I would be happy to do this again with them at some later date.

Thanks to all the stations who made contacts with me along with W0NWA and K7UNL this evening. 73!

Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK - Phoenix, Arizona, USA http://www.wd9ewk.net/