Linear Birds

I was excited today to receive my new FT-857D to use on the linear birds. I realize the 857 will only provide half-duplex operation, but paired with my other handheld, it will be adequate. I'm looking forward to having additional passes available each day. I need to now work on some satellite antennas. Perhaps a couple of eggbeaters and a mounted yagi.

In a few days I should receive my 70cm preamp. I'm hoping it will allow me to hear birds like SO-50 that have only 500mW or less power output. It will be yet another set of satellite passes to work.

In light of the recent dire forecast of no sunspots for decades, I'll at least have one aspect of ham radio to still enjoy.

Duplex

So after over half a year of working the birds I finally pulled out an handheld receiver and worked AO-51 full duplex this afternoon. It was nice to actually hear my downlink and know that I was getting through. I guess I should've done this a long time ago. I need to figure out how to raise my audio level. I'm wondering if the hand microphone I've been using is very effective. It may be time to look for a replacement.

After finally getting some experience in tracking the satellites, I can focus on other areas of making my setup better. It's also ironic that the recent problems of AO-51 have actually made it easier to work it since the power output has been increased. I've now worked over 40 grid squares and am halfway to VUCC Satellite.

Aging Satellites

The past week there has been a lot of talk about AO-51 being offline. This has been my favorite satellite to work because it's been very easy. It's kind of sad to see it have issues, and just at a time when I have really gotten interested in working the birds as often as schedule allows.

I guess it's good to know now about the problems before I make a big investment in equipment to work satellites. I hope it can be successfully restored. If not, I hope that it's future replacement is launched sooner rather than later. I suppose I need to realize that traveling that high and fast in space put satellites in an extreme enviorment which makes for shorter rather than longer life expectancies.

Yuri's Night

On April 12th I marked the 50th anniversary of the first human in space and the 30th anniversary of STS-1 by making some satellite contacts on AO-51 and an HF contact with R3K - a special event station from ARC Energia in Korolev, Russia (Russian Mission Control Center.) It's nice to dust off my arrow satellite antenna and make some new satellite contacts now that the weather is slowly getting warmer.

Got to see the final launch of Space Shuttle Discovery. It was neat to be a part of history. Here's a video I took of the launch.

HT Stand

I've been wanting to clean up my desk for some time now. I saw Scannermaster sells a stand to put your handhelds on, but the price was more than I was willing to pay.

This week my father in law was kind enough to help me build my own stand and all it cost me was the price of some stain. It's nice to organize the desk and have the HTs where I can see them and read their displays.

Digital Scanner

I took advantage of Radio Shack's recent sale and purchased a new Pro-106 digital scanner. Most of the traffic here in Utah is analog, but Hill Air Force Base uses a digital system. It's always interesting to listen to something new.

I'm looking forward to using it next week in Florida to hear preparations for the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery.