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AO-51 was packed tonight. Lots of doubles and people stepping on each other. I had a hard time working any station. I finally managed to work VE2AHD in Quebec right at the tail end of the pass, so it wasn't a total wash.

• Jan 31th, 19:20EST AO-51 pass (MP3, 11:07, 4.5MB)

Stations Worked:

• VE2AHD - FN35 - Tracy, QC, Canada

Worked AO-51 from my car while sitting in the parking lot at the Middleboro/Lakeville MBTA stop. For less then ideal conditions, I did quite well, making three contacts and one half contact. That's a record. I was able to work the satellite fairly well with 30 degrees elevation, which is impressive considering I was only using my mag mount.

Stations Worked:

• WB2SYK - FN13 - Syracuse, NY
• KC2SQZ - FN22 - Madison, NJ
• N8DDK - FM05 - Knightdale, NC

Stations Half-Worked:

• N4NAB - NC

Well, this was unexpected. During my commute this morning, after being delayed by a schoolbus, I was approaching the train station when my squelch breaks on my radio. Nothing big, but my ears did pick up because it didn't sound like a regular repeater. A large booming signal, I heard him chatting with someone. I looked down at my radio and saw "435.305" as the receive frequency. At first I thought it was someone accidently transmitting on the downlink frequency, but then my pre-coffee neurons starting firing and remembered that there was a 7:10AM EST pass of AO-51.

Of course... I jumped at the chance to work some morning satellite, despite my train leaving in under 10 minutes.

I managed to contact one station and heard N1AIA again very weakly into the satellite. The end of the pass was frustrating, as just when I was pulling into my space, a YV6 (Venezuela) station popped in. But I could tell it would have been near impossible to work him, and it would have made me miss the train.

But... I did consider it...

No recording this time, as I would have likely killed myself driving.

Stations Worked:

• N8DDK - FM05 - Knightdale, NC

It was a good night tonight. AO-51 came into contact at about 7:03PM, and I managed to make 2 QSOs, and 2 "half QSOs". I call them half QSOs because I was unable to get a Grid Square . I don't think they "count" as it were. I can tell that my Mag Mount radiates more outward and upward, as I had an easier time getting into the satellite during it's rise and fall rather then it was directly overhead. This makes sense I guess.

The Handi-Tenna continues to work like a champ, and I still find it amazing that I'm bouncing a signal off of a satellite in space. I did have one complaint, and I guess it seems to be somewhat common in satellite operation, is that people don't seem to listen before transmitting. I'm sure that some of it can't be helped, and I'm sure I do it on occasion, but I do lay off transmitting when I hear a QSO going on. I've seen the term "alligators" use for these folks, as their "ears" are much smaller then their "mouths." Quite a good description I think. The two "half QSOs" were stepped on by an "alligator" and we just never connected again. Oh well, water under the bridge. If you listen, you can guess who I'm peeved at, though.

But... There will be other passes...

• Jan 29th, 19:00EST AO-51 pass (MP3, 10:45, 4.3MB)

Stations Worked:

• WB2SYK - FN13 - Syracuse, NY
• WD0EQP - DN91 - North Platte, NE

Stations Half-Worked:

• N1AIA - ME
• N3UNM - MD

I've recently gotten back into Amateur Radio. Around mid October, I got bit with the bug and have started to get back into the hobby. Over the past couple of weeks, with major help from Steve, KB1MEH, I was able to install a FT-7800R in my car and build a Handi-Tenna courtesy of plans available from K5OE. It's quite a complicated setup to operate, as I have my FT-60R hooked into the handi-tenna listening to the downlink, while I transmit on the FT-7800, while I sit in my car.

I'm slowly getting the hang of it. I've successfully worked a few passes of AO-51 with some success. During one evening, sans, Handi-Tenna I was able to contact N4AC in Georgia solely with my FT-7800. He did fade out just as he was giving his grid square, but I am pretty sure he gave correct one.

I did, however, have my first confirmed QSO with K7WIN in Arizona (DM41), during a moderately high pass using my handi-tenna and my mobile. I haven't gotten the QSL card yet, but thanks to his web log book I was able to see that it was a success. Go me. I really like the idea of a web logbook. I'm going to take a look at what's available.

The next step that I'm trying to work out is recording passes. Since I have one hand holding the antenna, the other hand holding the microphone, and my brain trying to pick out call signs out of the noise and making sure that I'm on the right frequency, keep a log book is rather difficult. A constant recommendation is that one should record the passes, and pick out call signs later, so I'm taking that to heart. I have a simple flash voice recorder with an external microphone jack, so last night I went out and tested my setup on a 29degree westward pass:

• Jan 28th, 19:40EST AO-51 pass (MP3, 7:29, 3.0MB)

It worked pretty well, but I'm glad I tested the setup, as I found that the voice recorder transmits a distinct rapid clicking that you can hear for most of the pass. Thankfully, you can only hear the clicking if the recorder is in one of the receive paths of the antenna. Moving it out of them fixed the problem.

Next step, possibly getting a cheap, used, dual band HT solely for satellite work, as I dislike swapping the antenna on the FT-60R due to SMA connector horror stories.