I’ve
had a lot of fun working satellites! As an example, during November
2009 alone I’ve worked contacts in not only Missouri, but
Georgia, Mississippi, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Arizona, California,
Alaska, Mexico, and British Columbia!
I
find this activity exciting for several reasons. First, you can
make contacts over large distances of the continent on five watts.
Second, there’s the anticipation of the pass, and the thrill
of the chase! Waiting for the satellite to come over the horizon,
and being able to pick it out with your antenna, and keeping track,
not only by pointing in the right piece of the sky, but by adjusting
your frequency to account for the Doppler shift is a challenge.
Finally, the fast pace of communication is similar to contesting,
where not only do you want to be heard, you want to be acknowledged!
Over
the months, I’ve made small mistakes, and gained experience.
I’ve come up to speed in developing my technique to where
I can be successful, and have a lot of fun on nearly every pass!
Overall,
the equipment required is not that outrageous, considering I’m
only using my 5 watt, hand held radio, a hand held VHF/UHF Yagi
Antenna, and a digital recorder. Unless you have a photographic
memory, the last item is very important to capture the call signs
you have communicated with. It can be a tape recorder, but digital
recorders work well on several levels, which include uploading
the sessions to the computer, so I can share them with you! Click
on the following:
November 7, 2009
- November 9, 20009
- November 11, 2009
(You'll
note on a few of the recordings, I get excited, and forgot if
my grid square is EM28 or EM29! It happens.)
This
one is good! I sent the audio recording of our Satellite Contact
of November 12, 2009 to WA6RSV of Las Angelas, California. He
topped that by sending me a video recording of the same contact.
(Note that he's operating from indoors with his hand held equipment.)
That's me about 3 or so minutes into the video. After I clear
with WA6RSV, you'll hear another station trying to contact me;
W6FOG. He is a maritime operator somewhere out in the Pacific.
I missed him, as I had already shut down!
November
12, 2009
This
next one is my favorite contact! It is good enough that it has
it's own page. Click on the link below.
My
Favorite Satellite QSO, July 6, 2010
The
specific equipment I’m using is:
