All,
We are planning our second Symposium preparation meeting and pot luck dinner
to be held at our house in Silver Spring/Burtonsville this Sunday June 22
starting at 5:30 pm. We would love to have you attend and support our
upcoming symposium.
Those that have never supported a symposium in the past, do not be
intimidated. We have some great "starter jobs" that will also introduce you
to our world-wide ham radio satellite team. I guarantee that there will be
lots of fun and camaraderie as we prepare for and conduct the symposium.
If you plan on attending, please let me know by direct e-mail at
ka3hdo(a)verizon.net. I will then provide you additional details. Also, let
us know what you plan to bring for the pot luck. And don't forget..Spouses
are most welcome!
73,
Your co-hosts: Frank Bauer, KA3HDO and Janet Bauer
Good morning,
Thanks to all for the many QSOs on several passes of SO-50, AO-73,
AO-7, and FO-29 from the DC Mini Maker Faire at Yards Park (named for
the nearby Washington Navy Yard, which used to also occupy the area
that is now a park) on the Anacostia River waterfront in Washington,
DC. I got quite sunburned and will not be updating my log tonight, so
I'm not 100% sure how many QSOs were made. Despite some technical
problems on my end (didn't remember I had to turn my demo speaker on
to charge it's battery), we were able to demonstrate ham radio and
amateur satellites to many people. Being a Maker Faire, this was not
your normal hamfest crowd, and there was a good crowd of especially
younger people, who already possess some interest in electronics and
technical projects. Some have licenses but haven't done anything with
them, others have had licenses but have not been active in a while,
and still others indicated that they were thinking about getting their
license. Hopefully some will follow through with it and hopefully some
will get involved in amateur satellites and join AMSAT!
If there are any Maker Faires in your area, consider setting up
amateur radio and AMSAT exhibits. It is a good way to make
demonstrations to a different, but potentially interested crowd. After
all, the 2014 AMSAT apparel is branded "AMSAT: The Satellite Makers."
Thanks to Lee Ciereszko, N4TCW, for deciding to setup an amateur radio
exhibit at the outdoor faire (a last minute decision he made on
Thursday). He brought a TS-2000 (which we could have used for
satellites, but I used my normal 2 FT-817 setup), a solar panel,
batteries, and HF/VHF/UHF antennas. We also made a few HF QSOs during
the day.
By the way, the 436.795 MHz birdie on the TS-2000 is so strong, I had
to turn that radio off while working SO-50, despite being a good 10-15
feet away from it.
73,
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
Washington, DC
