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