Author Archives: Bob Beatty

Sad Day for AMSAT – AO-95 RX Malfunction

Posted on December 10, 2018 by Bob Beatty

AMSAT has reported that “during the next steps of commissioning we discovered an anomaly with her receive capability. After a few days of tests, analysis, and discussion, it appears that Fox-1Cliff/AO-95 will not be commissioned as our fourth Fox-1 amateur … Continue reading →

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One Billion LotW Closing in

Posted on December 9, 2018 by Bob Beatty

On Dec 1, LotW was sitting at 993,013,173 QSOs in the database.  Today, 8 days later, it is now at 996,282,776 Qs.  So in 8 days it has gone up a bit more than 3 million.  If that trend holds, … Continue reading →

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Congrats to AMSAT for Fox-1Cliff (AO-95)

Posted on December 6, 2018 by Bob Beatty

AMSAT launched another Fox FM Cubesat, Fox-1Cliff, on December 3.  It’s downlink is 145.920 MHz (Uplink 435.300 with a 67.0 Hz tone).  The satellite is still being tested and is not available for use yet, but you can easily hear … Continue reading →

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LotW Rapidly Approaching a BILLION QSOs

Posted on December 1, 2018 by Bob Beatty

As of today, LotW is sitting at 993,013,173 QSOs in the database.  A bit more than two days ago it was at 991,853,472 QSO.  In other words, adding about a million QSOs every 2-3 days.  At that rate, we might … Continue reading →

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6-meters: The Magic Band

Posted on November 17, 2018 by Bob Beatty

I usually do a bit of 6-meters operation during the spring and early summer for chance openings, but I’m not a 6-meter OP by any stretch of the imagination. I was checking my LotW account this morning to see where … Continue reading →

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First JS8Call QSO

Posted on November 12, 2018 by Bob Beatty

I’ve been reading the email about the new JS8Call keyboard QSO mode.  If you think FT8 but allowing free-text messaging, you’ve got the basic idea.  The exchange rate isn’t very fast, equivalent to 10-15 WPM CW, but it has similar … Continue reading →

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All likely bands completed with VP6D

Posted on October 29, 2018 by Bob Beatty

This morning I picked up VP6D on 30 and 40 meter CW.  While the 30 meter contact came up on DXA quickly, the 40 meter contact took a very long time.  I had read that they were having some network … Continue reading →

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Sure enough – VP6D FT8 QSOs in log

Posted on October 27, 2018 by Bob Beatty

As I mentioned the other day, there appears to be an issue with the DXA.com application failing to show FT8 QSOs as they occur.  I made two the other day, and neither showed up on DXA, but they did show … Continue reading →

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Success with FT8 for VP6D

Posted on October 26, 2018 by Bob Beatty

Yesterday I had four bands on CW plus a SSB contact, so I needed a Digital contact have Ducie Island on all three modes.  VP6D was on 15-meter FT8 today and I worked them around 18:38 UTC.  I hadn’t run … Continue reading →

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VP6D Ducie Island

Posted on October 25, 2018 by Bob Beatty

I’ve been a bit under the weather, plus my inverted-L had blown down in a recent storm, so I haven’t had much on-air activity.  My friend Willy W1LY came over a couple of days ago and got the antenna back … Continue reading →

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